Ynglings underway

Women's racing taking place at ISAF Sailing Worlds at present PLUS photos from Peter Bentley

In contrast to yesterday's strong easterly wind conditions, today dawned bright, sunny, and windless over all the race areas on the Bay of Cadiz. As predicted though, the sea breeze filled in and two races were held each for the Ynglings and Europes.

Today was the first qualification day for the Yngling fleet, and the final day of qualification for the Europe class. Racing took place on both courses after a slight delay to wait for some breeze. When it did fill in, it began as a light gradient from the north-eastern quadrant.

The Ynglings, following two-days of measurement, were straight into their first championship race, as no one sailed in yesterday's practice race, preferring to save their kit from potential damage. A whole six knots were recorded at the start of race one, which got away first time, without incident.

In mentally demanding conditions, Dorte Jensen (DEN) came away from race one with a deserved victory from Russian sailor Anna Basalkina and her crew. Whilst Dorte is currently ranked third in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, and is expected to be a contender for the World Champion's title. Anna is a little further back in 14, and will be pleased with her first race result.

Dorte, who has a full time job as well as competing at the highest level of Olympic sailing, announced today that she would probably retire from the Yngling following Athens to concentrate on her career as well as match racing. Commenting on their performance, she noted, "the shifts and the pressure varied a lot, we got good starts and had a bit of luck being on the right side of shifts, it was hard sailing out there."

There are mixed pressures on the Danish number one, but she seems very philosophical about them. As well as the obvious World Championship there are also qualification issues at stake. "This the first qualification regatta and there are three more in the spring. It's a long period in which to perform." However, with only two Danish Ynglings in the frame, Dorte and the crew helmed by Trine Palludan, judging by current performance the odds are that Dorte will be in Athens.

In race two for the class, Jody Swanson, crewed by Cory Sertly and Elizabeth Kratzig (USA) took the gun from fellow US sailor Carol Cronin. This result for Swanson means that after day one, she leads from Jensen, who placed fifth in race two. Jody noted on her performance, "some days are better than other days, we managed to have good starts and got a couple of good lanes in which to take the shifts."

The route to qualification for a national Olympic team is varied, and no two sailors highlight the two ends of the spectrum more than Jody Swanson and Dorte Jensen. While the Danish system is a series of events, in the USA it's all down to one regatta. Jody commented. "With no pressure on us from a qualification perspective, we're using this as part of the learning process. US selection is one regatta in February, anyone can show up, and if they win, they go. So for Olympic qualification this [Championship]
means nothing."

Jody was delighted with the opening place, made sweeter that higher ranked US crews place below her, including the world's number one, Betsy Alison. Meanwhile, defending World Champion Monica Azon had a poor opener, with a 26 in the first race, but was back on form to take a further in race two, and now sits in fifteenth overall.

After a successful Pre-Olympic event, Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson has not have the best start to the championship. The first race in the Yngling class was started in six knots of breeze and Robertson, sailing with Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, finished the first day in 30th position overall. Fellow GBR sailors Cathy Foster, Jane Norris and Annie Lush scored two results in the top twenty to be placed 24th overall after the first day.

Today was the final day of qualification for the Europe class before the fleet is split into Gold and silver for the final three days of racing, which start on Tuesday. In the overall standings, all the race results excluding discards, including those in qualification, count towards the final result.

After the first race today (race 5) a discard came into place, which helped some, but others who managed to pull in two poor results after today's sailing. Sari Multala (FIN) seems to prefer the breezier conditions and has had a day she will no doubt wish to analyse, then forget. After a first race position of 32, she was still leading by a slim, two-point margin from Siren Sundby (NOR), but a 52 in race six has dropped her to eighth overall.

Sundby has now taken the overall lead in the regatta with a consistent score in which she hasn't finished out of the top five. Nine points behind her is Sarah Macky (NZL), who dropped a 29 place finish in the second race of the day, a score which she currently discards.

The two winners of race 6 in both groups, Petra Niemann (GER) and Blandine Rouille (FRA), are currently tenth and eleventh in the overall results.

Niemann, who is confident of being selected to represent Germany at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens is looking to improve her overall position in the final races, "I would be happy with a top five result here", she commented on coming ashore.

Among the Brits Laura Baldwin is currently leading the charge in 49th place overall.

Tomorrow, qualification continues for the Yngling class, and starts for the Mistral and Star fleets. The Europe class has a lay day before the finals start on Tuesday.

More photos on the following pages

Europes

Pos	Sail	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot
1	NOR 6	Siren Sundby	1	1	3	5	2	3	10
2	NZL 115	Sarah Macky	6	4	1	1	7	29	19
3	CZE 5	Lenka Smidova	2	8	5	8	3	4	22
4	DEN 11	Trine Julie Abrahamsen	3	7	7	2	7	24	26
5	USA 112	Mary Gaillard	9	4	3	7	5	8	27
6	POL 9	Weronika Glinkiewicz	25	7	14	2	4	2	29
7	NED 11	Carolijn Brouwer	12	2	6	6	10	21	36
8	FIN 7	Sari Multala	1	1	2	1	33	53	38
9	GER 14	Christiane Petzke	2	5	5	16	13	16	41
10	FRA 8	Blandine Rouille	39	10	11	14	8	1	44
11	GER 34	Petra Niemann	17	3	13	13	20	1	47
12	SLO 41	Cerne Teja	13	8	15	19	1	11	48
13	BEL 4	Evi Van Acker	27	17	16	6	2	7	48
14	DEN 3	Signe Livbjerg	18	12	12	4	19	10	56
15	BLR 7	Tatiana Drozdovskaya	4	6	1	19	41	27	57
16	POL 52	Monika Bronicka	16	11	15	9	6	24	57
17	BEL 1	Min Dezillie	10	16	14	20	9	9	58
18	ESP 6	Neus Garriga Turon	3	6	24	28	23	3	59
19	POL 41	Katarzyna Szotynska	5	10	18	12	15	19	60
20	IRL 1	Maria Coleman	15	15	12	17	12	6	60
21	DEN 4	Juul Ditte	20	17	2	3	21	25	63
22	BEL 923	Marie Amandine Van de Ghinste	17	13	17	8	11	34	66
23	RUS 21	Anastasia Maletina	21	34	26	11	5	6	69
24	ARG 123	Serena Bibiana Amato	30	21	17	26	4	2	70
25	CAN 39	Magalie Bonneau-Marcil	5	14	7	16	28	41	70
26	FRA 3	Manon Borsi	8	9	6	12	47	36	71
27	MEX 200	Tania Elias Calles	25	2	25	20	11	16	74
28	AUS 57	Sarah Blanck	11	18	DNC	23	12	12	76
29	SWE 17	Charlotte Stroby	13	15	4	4	41	43	77
30	CHN 107	Shen Xiaoying	15	13	37	9	8	32	77
31	CHN 101	Lu Chunfeng	7	16	24	26	14	17	78
32	POR 192	Joana Pratas	4	19	23	24	9	29	79
33	GER 12	Berit Berg	45	20	10	10	30	9	79
34	FRA 6	Solène Brain	19	35	4	5	19	33	80
35	GRE 808	Virginia Kravarioti	11	25	19	21	18	12	81
36	GER 18	Wiebke Schroeder	14	23	13	3	44	35	88
37	SWE 3	Emma Joensson	7	24	9	22	26	30	88
38	CHN 14	Shen Huanqi	18	23	25	30	6	18	90
39	FRA 5575	Sarah Steyaert	28	25	16	7	48	14	90
40	FRA 10	Sophie De Turckheim	27	11	9	14	39	37	98
41	ESP 20	Marina Gallego Duran	10	44	DNF	35	1	13	103
42	USA 110	Krysia Pohl	6	DNC	11	10	42	34	103
43	CAN 36	Claudia Strobele	24	14	29	27	13	31	107
44	SWE 2	Helena Skarp	32	5	29	28	16	DNF	110
45	NED 4	Merel Witteveen	DSQ	28	8	11	24	39	110
46	AUT 106	Verena Wagner	37	20	20	31	25	14	110
47	SWE 9	Caroline Aberg	22	28	38	42	22	5	115
48	CRO 54	Gea Barbic	22	29	22	23	54	19	115
49	GBR 383	Laura Baldwin	29	30	23	25	29	10	116
50	ITA 1	Larissa Nevierov	14	33	10	22	42	38	117
51	CRO 799	Mateja Petronijevic	23	19	28	32	23	26	119
52	SUI 213	Florence Béal	28	9	19	15	50	56	121
53	GER 4	Doris Wetzel	19	3	34	17	52	49	122
54	CAN 38	Victoria Crowder	34	22	26	35	33	7	122
55	NZL 114	Kate O'Brien	21	34	18	13	37	41	123
56	USA 118	Christin Feldman	12	39	8	15	51	52	125
57	GBR 374	Nicky Muller	9	31	20	18	54	47	125
58	ITA 1153	Fabiola Magnaghi	8	40	41	29	20	31	128
59	SWE 22	Karin Söderström	26	12	39	30	27	36	131
60	TUR 3	Eda Tozan	37	36	40	25	26	8	132
61	ESP 506	Alicia Cebrián	31	30	35	37	32	5	133
62	RUS 1	Ludmila Sorokina	40	35	28	32	24	18	137
63	CAN 29	Genevieve Gaudreau	35	36	30	18	21	49	140
64	NED 16	Maike Landman	26	18	33	27	53	37	141
65	CAN 71	Jennifer Spalding	32	26	27	29	27	39	141
66	FIN 797	Andrea Borenius	29	22	36	34	30	27	142
67	POR 227	Sara Carmo	30	21	46	40	35	17	143
68	BRA 311	Roberta Borges	36	39	34	33	31	11	145
69	NOR 880	Elin Samdal	38	26	21	24	37	52	146
70	ITA 1160	Angela Mastalli	23	47	30	31	17	51	148
71	JPN 1	Maiko Sato	49	27	21	21	35	44	148
72	SWE 3514	Maria Öhrn	16	37	37	39	DNF	20	149
73	ESP 272	Mónica Fernández del Castillo	44	48	53	DNF	3	4	152
74	ARG 115	Florencia Cerutti	24	45	22	33	29	46	153
75	GBR 368	Andrea Brewster	34	37	31	41	36	23	161
76	BEL 908	Marie Van Laer	50	29	32	48	25	28	162
77	LTU 10	Guntare Volungeviûte	44	32	31	34	17	DNE	173
78	POL 89	Agnieszka Konys	42	51	47	47	16	22	174
79	BEL 925	Marjan Vinck	31	24	42	36	43	51	176
80	ESP 119	Carmen Parreño	48	31	DNC	DNC	31	13	182
81	ESP 668	Lucía Reyes	39	51	DNC	DNC	14	20	183
82	FRA 5571	Sophie D'Ortoli	45	42	50	51	15	32	184
83	POR 222	Helena Vitorino	54	53	39	44	34	15	185
84	GBR 370	Lizzie Vickers	20	32	DNC	36	50	47	185
85	FRA 5588	Anne Marteau	41	38	40	38	36	33	185
86	CAN 3471	Marcia Macdonald	33	27	43	42	46	42	187
87	ITA 1135	Francesca Komatar	33	43	48	53	38	30	192
88	ITA 1158	Daniela Colombo	57	50	48	50	10	35	193
89	ESP 502	Beatriz Peñas	46	40	43	46	22	45	196
90	FRA 5564	Aurelie Lacour	46	53	42	43	44	22	197
91	CZE 19	Veronika Fenclova	35	49	27	46	45	44	197
92	USA 126	Jaime Mack	50	45	45	40	43	25	198
93	GRE 4	Maria Vlachou	40	DNC	33	41	38	46	198
94	ISR 4	Kliger Linur	43	46	44	44	32	40	203
95	USA 113	Lauren Maxam	51	43	45	45	53	21	205
96	NOR 863	Inguild Udenaes	42	44	36	38	46	58	206
97	USA 131	Kathleen Tocke	56	56	51	45	40	15	207
98	SWE 13	Caroline Johansson	41	50	41	37	40	48	207
99	AUS 56	Clare Hozack	38	42	44	43	DNE	26	208
100	NOR 306	Maike Van Der Linden	53	33	32	47	52	45	209
101	JPN 228	Izumi Shinchi	36	41	52	39	45	54	213
102	POR 226	Andreia Gonçalves	43	57	54	54	39	28	218
103	HUN 979	Klaudia Matis	56	DNC	49	DNC	34	23	221
104	ESP 467	Fátima Reyes	54	46	DNC	DNC	28	38	225
105	ESP 199	Vanessa Almeida	58	55	DNC	DNC	18	40	230
106	TUR 6	Ayda Unver	53	52	35	48	48	54	236
107	AUT 101	Angelika Jaeger Stark	52	49	38	49	OCS	48	236
108	DEN 1624	Annemarie Holm	47	41	DNC	DNC	51	43	241
109	DEN 16	Christina Ejstrup	48	54	46	52	47	50	243
110	ESP 465	Laura Alamo	47	38	DNC	DNC	58	42	244
111	EST 2	Katri Plooman	51	48	47	50	49	55	245
112	GBR 371	Barbara Watson	52	58	49	49	55	56	261
113	EST 4	Helen Plooman	55	55	50	DNF	49	55	264
114	ESP 493	Virginia Delgado	49	47	DNC	DNC	57	53	265
115	BRA 234	Paola Sass	57	54	DNC	DNC	56	50	276
116	USA 121	Tanya Haddad	55	52	DNF	DNC	55	57	278

Ynglings

Pos	Sail	Crew	R1	R2	Tot
1	USA 340	Jody Swanson/Cory Sertl/Elizabeth Kratzig	3	1	4
2	DEN 196	Dorte O. Jensen/Helle Jespersen/Rachel Kiel	1	5	6
3	RUS 7	Ekaterina Skudina/Krutskikh Diana/Tatiana Lartseva	5	6	11
4	FRA 6	Anne Le Helley/Emmanuelle Duby/Elodie Lesaffre	4	10	14
5	USA 341	Carol Cronin/Elizabeth Filter/Nancy Haberland	14	2	16
6	USA 337	Sally Barkow/Carrie Howe/Deborah Capozzi	7	9	16
7	RUS 2	Anna Basalkina/Tatiana Veselova/Vlada Ukraintseva	2	19	21
8	AUS 51	Nicky Bethwaite/Kristen Kosmala/Katie Hage	11	11	22
9	NED 311	Annelies Thies/Annemieke Bes/Petronella De Jong	8	15	23
10	UKR 1	Ruslana Taran/Svitlana Matevusheva/Anna Kalinina	21	3	24
11	AUS 50	Melanie Dennison/Fiona Herbert/Caroline Aders	6	20	26
12	ITA 14	Conti Giulia/Alessandra Marenzi/Angela Baroni	20	7	27
13	BER 8	Paula Lewin/Peta Lewin/Maria Lopez	13	14	27
14	USA 342	Hannah Swett/Joan Touchette/Melissa Purdy	16	12	28
15	ESP 3	Monica Azon/Graciela Pisonero/Marina Sanchez	26	4	30
16	GER 252	Nadine Stegenwalner/Nina Grunow/Anne Koschinsky	17	16	33
17	NZL 4	Sharon Ferris/Joanna White/Sarah Winther	12	22	34
18	USA 339	Elizabeth Alison/Lee Icyda/Susanne Leech	18	17	35
19	ESP 1	Eva Rios/Marta Reynes/Helga Garces	30	8	38
20	NOR 406	Karianne Eikeland/Beate Kristiansen/Mona Minde	9	30	39
21	GER 251	Ulrike Schuemann/Wibke Buelle/Winnie Lippert	15	27	42
22	CAN 41	Felicity Clarke/Martha Henderson/Kari Mackay	10	33	43
23	ITA 15	Cristiana Monina /Francesca Scognamillo/Francesca Ruggiero	24	21	45
24	GBR 9	Cathy Foster/Jane Norris/Annie Lush	22	23	45
25	FRA 5	Coraline Jonet/Aude Trabach/Julie Gerecht	23	25	48
26	DEN 195	Trine Palludan/Christina Otzen/Ida Hartvig	36	13	49
27	GER 268	Kristin Wagner/Anna Hoell/Veronika Lochbrunner	27	24	51
28	SWE 51	Lena Carlsson/Malin Källström/Ingrid Söderström	25	29	54
29	ITA 13	Chiara Calligaris/Anna Postagna/Sara Postagna	28	26	54
30	GBR 10	Shirley Robertson/Sarah Webb/Sarah Ayton	37	18	55
31	FRA 4	Christine Briand/Pascale Dentraygues/Claire Pruvot	19	38	57
32	NZL 1	Alesha Thorpe/Karen Lambert/Michelle Vinsen	34	28	62
33	GRE 1	Katerina Giakoumidou/Helena Dimitrakopoulou/Efi Mantzaraki	32	31	63
34	NOR 404	Camilla Christiansen/Lise Birgitte Fredriksen/Cecilie Brandt-Rasmussen	33	32	65
35	ESP 2	Mar Castanedo/Julie García/Sheila Mediavilla	29	37	66
36	NOR 405	Carolina Toll/Jeannette Lunder/Ellen Cecilie Andresen	31	36	67
37	NED 310	Janneke Hin/Margriet Samama/Hanne Buis	35	34	69
38	CAN 24	Lisa Ross/Deirdre Crampton/Chantal Leger	38	35	73
39	GBR 3	Dominica Lindsey/Lucy Burn/Victoria Symmers	40	39	79
40	POL 1	Ewa Jodlowska/Katarzyna Kania/Katarzyna Rudawska	39	40	79
41	AUS 42	Patricia Warn/Margaret Morgan/Joyce Warn	41	41	82