Two in a row

Marie Bjorling wins the Lysekil Woman's Match in Sweden

A month ago they won their third consecutive Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand. Now they have also won the first edition of Lysekil Woman's Match, the largest female match racing event in the world, with a prize purse of 42,000 Euros.

Marie Björling and her Team Panorama from the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club finished the competition first after a difficult start with three victories in a row against French Claire Leroy in Team Ideactor:

"I knew that we could give more than we did in the beginning of the week and today it all worked perfectly for us. The starts were good and we could make our own decisions and sail the matches," says Björling, whose team comprises Nina Bake, Annika Carlunger, Elisabeth Nilsson, Jenny Axhede and Åsa Aronsson.

"It was very difficult for us to come back when the Swedes won the starts and controlled us constantly. But we have had a good week and will probably enjoy the second place more later on," said Leroy directly coming in from the water. She praised her crew - Camille Dreyfus, Julie Gerecht, Ameli Guiccam, Marie Riou and Morgane Gautier - for really good work.

Early on Sunday morning the Race Committee of Lysekil Women's Match decided
to cancel the semi finals in the competition. As the other days the wind conditions were very unsure and the light winds were just enough to sail the matches for places 7-12. Not until after lunch it was enough sea breeze to start the races for finals and third prize.

The final was sailed by Björling and Leroy, who had ended up as first and second in round robin 2. The petit-final for the third prize was sailed by the third and fourth in round robin 2, Dane Nina Braestrup from the Royal Danish Yacht Club in Copenhagen and the series early leader, Linda Rahm with her Team Koncentra from Swedish Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club.

"I think they could have waited with the decision of cancelling the semi-finals and given us a chance to do at least one race in the semi finals," said Linda Rahm, sailing with Johanna Särnå, Erika Arnoldsson, Suzanne Nyberg, Susanne Ivarsson and Anna Bjurström in her crew.

Nina Braestrup, sailing with Catia Löwen, Tina Schmidt-Christensen, Ann-Sophie
Lohse, Ann-Sofie Munk and Line Moerkebjerg, had planned to win the starts, get to the favourable right side of the course and advance further from there.

"Our plan worked out very well," Braestrup muses, explaining that they got more and more used to the light wind conditions as the week went on. "We were able to sail very relaxed but we would have liked some more wind. Anyhow we will be happy to come back next year and are aiming for the final then!"

Rahm adds her piece: "Before this event we were sixteenth on the ISAF match racing rankings and now we ended up fourth in this regatta, so we can't be anything but satisfied with that. We have had a lot of practise and sailed a lot more internationally than before, so it feels great that it's beginning to pay off,"

Finals in Lysekil Women's Match:
Claire Leroy, FRA, Team Ideactor - Marie Björling, SWE/Team Panorama, 0 - 3

Petit final in Lysekil Women's Match:
Linda Rahm, SWE/Team Koncentra - Nina Braestrup, DEN, 0 - 2

Races for places 7 - 12 in Lysekil Women's Match:
Christine Briand, FRA - Marie Fauré, FRA, 0 - 1
Sally Barkow, USA - Katie Spithill, AUS, 1 - 0
Elizabeth Kratzig, USA - Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 1 - 0

Final result in Lysekil Women's Match:
1. Marie Björling, SWE/Team Panorama, SEK 100.000, EUR 10.718, $ 12.937
2. Claire Leroy, FRA, Team Ideactor, SEK 62.000, EUR 6.645, $ 8.021
3. Nina Braestrup, DEN, SEK 51.000, EUR 5.466, $ 6.598
4. Linda Rahm, SWE/Team Koncentra, SEK 42.000, EUR 4.502, $ 5.434
5. Malin Källström, SWE/Team Tuve Bygg, SEK 37.000, EUR 3.966, $ 4.787
6. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN/Team Gerimax, SEK 32.000, EUR 3.430, $
4.140
7. Marie Fauré, FRA, SEK 28.000, EUR 3.001, $ 3.622
8. Christine Briand, FRA, SEK 20.000, EUR 2.144, $2.587
9. Sally Barkow, USA, SEK 16.000, EUR 1.715, $ 2.070
10. Katie Spithill, AUS, SEK 12.000, EUR 1.286, $ 1.552
11. Elizabeth Kratzig, USA
12. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED