Claire Leroy starts her revenge

French sailor one win ahead after day one of the Lysekil women's match racing

In exciting wind and weather conditions, thousands of visitors showed up on the docks and surrounding area to watch 12 of the world’s best womens match racing teams duelling right by the docks at Lysekil on the west coast of Sweden. After the first day world leader Frenchwoman Claire Leroy of Team Ideactor is leading the round robin with five wins out of five sailed matches.

"We’ve had very close matches, good opponents and a lot of fun", commented Leroy after the day’s success. "It has been tough conditions with very shifty wind and variable wind speed. The boat is big with big sails so it is physically very tough and a lot of hard work. My team did a really good job and we are happy with our contribution."

Claire Leroy is ranked number one on the ISAF world ranking of women’s match racing but was eighth in the World Championships in May. She is very keen on revenge, which she proved today, the first day of racing in Lysekil Women’s Match.

The variable wind conditions, around 12-24 knots from the east, proved tough on boat handling for the crews. Six of the 12 teams managed to sail their five matches of the day before the really strongest conditions kicked in. The second group had to postpone their three races of the day, after the arrival of several fronts bringing heavy wind and weather in the afternoon. They were only able to finish one flight.

One of the day’s most exciting matches was the one that determined today’s leader: Swede Linda Rahm of Team Daros versus Claire Leroy. Both were undefeated before this match. Already before the start the drama begun as Rahm put a penalty on Leroy. Further on, by the first mark, the umpires judged that the leader Rahm did not give enough room to Leroy, who missed the mark. Rahm got two penalties and had to make one of her 360 degree penalty turns immediately. In the process she lost her lead and the French team took victory. Rahm won bronze at the World Championships in May and is ranked 10th in the world. Here in Lysekil she is seven months pregnant...

The DS 37yachts being used for this regatta were also used at the World Championships in Denmark in May. Of the boat's total weight of 3,900kg, 2.100 kg is in the bulb. This together with a big rudder makes for quick boat handling - very important in this kind of racing. The DS 37 is a Danish design and is frequently sailed in Scandinavia, thereby being an advantage for the Scandinavian sailors. Italian Giulia Conti for example has a team which has never sailed these boats before Lysekil Women’s Match.

Results after the first day of racing:
Group One – 5 matches sailed
1. Claire Leroy FRA/Team Ideactor 5 wins 0 losses
2. Linda Rahm SWE/Team Daros 4 wins 1 loss
3. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen DEN/Team HSH Nordband 3 wins – 2 losses
4. Josie Gibson GBR 2 wins – 3 losses
5. Giulia Conti ITA 1 win – 4 losses
6. Ulrike Firk GER 0 wins – 5 losses

Group Two – 1 match sailed (2 matches postponed)
1. Marie Björling SWE/Team Schenker 1 win 0 loss
=. Klaartje Zuiderbaan NED 1 win 0 loss
=. Malin Millbourn SWE/Team Santa Maria 1 win 0 loss
4. Jessica Smyth NYZ 0 win 1 loss
=. Camilla Ulrikkeholm DEN/Team CU 0 win 1 loss
=. Martina Karlemo FI 0 win 1 loss