Australia tops the tree

The first ISAF rankings list of the year shows Australia as the top nation with GBR in fifth

The first Olympic classes ranking of 2008 has been released with some interesting results at the start of this Olympic year. Perhaps the biggest notable change is the Australian Sailing Team now sitting comfortably at the top of the nationality table with three of their teams ranked world number one.

This is an impressive result indeed from a team who walked away from the 2004 Olympic Games and the 2006 Olympic Test Event in Qingdao without a single medal to their name. Since that time the Aussies have been on the up and this ranking result is the culmination of an impressive year for many of their top sailors.

The story is not so rosy for Skandia Team GBR with Britain now occupying fifth position overall in the ranking list. However, the top five teams (Australia, Italy, Spain, France and Britain) all have three teams in the top three so things are clearly very tight at the top.

Of interest:

Laser

-Tom Slingsby (AUS) continues to lead in the Laser.
-Paul Goodison (GBR) narrows the point’s gap to Slingsby following a successful winter ‘down-under’.

Laser Radial

-Jo Alleh (NZL) takes the top spot in the Laser Radial for the first time.

470 Men

-Nicolas Charbonnier and Olivier Bausset (FRA) jump four places to second, just behind leaders, Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page (AUS) in the men’s 470 fleet.

470 Women

-Guilia Conti and Giovanna Micol (ITA) maintain their lead in Women’s 470 for the fourth consecutive release.
-Japan holds second and third in the Women’s 470 with Ai Kondo and Naoko Kamata (JPN) in second and Yuka Yoshisako and Noriko Okuma in third.

49er

-Pietro and Gianfranco Sibello (ITA) take the lead in the 49er class.

Finn

-Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) completes his 15th consecutive release as number one.
-Ben Ainslie (GBR) moves up 32 places to sit at number 43.
-Ed Wright (GBR) moves into second position.

Tornado

-Darren Bundock and Glen Ashby (AUS) maintain their hold on the Tornado rankings.
-Iordanis Paschalides and Konstantinos Trigonis (GRE) have their best-ever ranking result climbing to third place.

Yngling

-Mandy Mulder (NED) has taken the top spot in the Yngling; she has achieved this with multiple crews thanks to a unique rotation system (see here).
-Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson (GBR) have slipped from first to fourth overall.

Star

-Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (POL) complete their third consecutive ranking release at the number one spot.

RS:X Men

-Joao Rodrigues (POR) takes the number one spot for the first time in his career.
-New World Champion Tom Ashley (NZL) leapt five positions to finish in fourth.

RS:X Women

-Marina Alabau (ESP) finishes a full year at the top of the ranking list.
-France completes the top three with Faustine Merret (FRA) and Charline Picon in second and third respectively.

Full Rankings:

Laser

Laser Radial

470 Men

470 Women

Finn

49er

Tornado

Star

Yngling

RS:X Men

RS:X Women