Final pairing

Pedersen and Björling show down on Saturday in women's division of the Swedish Match Cup

It will be an all Nordic showdown for the final on Saturday of the women's division at the Swedish Match Cup, when Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, number one in the world rankings, meets the defender of the title Marie Björling.

By beating their respective opponents, American Betsy Alison and Frenchwoman Claire
Leroy, on Wednesday afternoon the two sailors and their teams made it through to the final. Both however lost their first match of the semi-finals, explaining that this was due to them not being enough calm and relaxed on board: "We got away from the harbour too late and felt all stressed up in the start though we hadn't got enough time to prepare properly," Pedersen recounted.

Björling was in the similar spot: "The umpires gave us a penalty only two minutes before the start. We were taken by surprise, but managed to offset the penalty by manoeuvring the Frenchwoman into a difficult situation. It did cost us a good start position unfortunately and we ended up behind her anyway."

Björling and her crew in Team Panorama - Anna Holmdahl tactician, Jenny Axhede genoa trim, Elin Åderman by the mast, Elisabeth Nilsson on battery and Annika Carlunger on the bow - have won the Swedish Match Cup two years in a row. Marie has been on maternity leave almost the entire year since last competition, but no one could tell during the last three races of the semi-finals. Claire Leroy seemed not to stand a chance.

"We sailed tactically right and did good manoeuvres and performances, which
gave us a comfortable feeling during the three matches," said Björling, who is looking forward to the finals. "We have met Lotte and her girls a lot of times and they are very good, so it's going to be a couple of exciting matches in the final. Whoever wins
will take out the very best to succeed."

Pedersen concurs: "We both have a lot of experience from match racing and these boats in particular. It´s going to be tough, but we will definitely try to regain the title of Swedish Match Cup to Denmark." Sailing with her are Sille Christensen, Anette Rom, Caroline Clausen, Anne Mörup with Mia Nielsen on the bow.

Results in the semi-finals Swedish Match Cup, women´s class:

Marie Björling, SWE beat Claire Leroy, FRA with 3 wins and 1 loss.
Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN beat Betsy Alison, USA, with 3 wins and 1 loss.