Strong day for the leaders

A report from the second day of racing at the ISAF Nations Cup match racing

It was another thrilling day on Wednesday for the competitors and spectators of the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final taking place at the Royal Cork Yacht Club, in association with Failte Ireland, the Irish Sports Council, and Smart Telecom.

During the morning the Open fleet took the water with a freshening breeze from the Northwest. The fleet are located just at the mouth of the river to Crosshaven and the fantastic viewpoint from Camden is providing spectators with an excellent vantage point. ISAF President Göran Petersson was also taking full advantage of another prime location onboard the Committee Boat alongside international race officers Peter Crowley (IRL) and Alan Crosbie (IRL).

South Africa, the defending team with Ian Ainlsie on the helm, are pulling ahead with an excellent set of results from their additional four matches in the morning - only dropping a race against the Swedish in the first flight. The second favourites Russia are also well on par with only giving one match away to the USA.

Ireland lodged a red flag protect against Argentina alleging that the Argentinian team were cross winching which has been prohibited in the Sailing Instructions. The jury heard the on the water protest and decided that in Flight 8 Match 1 this race will be re-sailed provisionally for Friday.

In the Women's fleet Australia is taking the lead with excellent results from the day's flights. They have had some superb racing. In their last match in flight 9 they came up against the Bermudan team skippered by Paula Levin. Both had an excellent start but the Bermudan team got ahead just after the start however the Aussie caught up and a tacking dual got underway up to the first windward mark. As they hosted kites and made their way downwind the Bermudan team were left onto Port and were luffed up past the mark, then the Australians managed to get ahead. The Bermudans gave as good as they got on leg two but it wasn’t quite as good to get past the Australian girls.

"We are delighted with our team work, our hoists and drops are excellent and definitely helping with our late and early drops to help gain any advantage we can” commented Nina Curtis of the Australian team.

This is the first time the Australian team have sailed together this year. Varying schedules have not allowed the girls to practise, apart from individually getting time on a local member's J/24 back in their home club in Australia.

The Netherlands who are also a hot favourite to win the event-found it tough on the water today and did not get the results they would have liked. Ireland on the other hand had a great day on the water beating the Netherlands and Great Britain.

Men
Skipper	Country	Wins	Losses
Ian Ainsle	RSA	8	1
Mathieu Richard	FRA	6	3
Eugeniy Neugodnikov	RUS	6	3
Martin Angsell	SWE	5	4
Juan Grimaldi	ARG	5	3
Simon Dickey	NZL	4	5
Brian Angel	USA	4	5
Mahesh Ramachandran	IND	2	7
George Kingston	IRL	2	6
Helder Basilio	POR	2	7
Womens
Skipper	Country	Wins	Losses
Nicky Souter	AUS	8	0
Claire LeRoy	FRA	7	1
Paula Leven	BER	6	2
Lotte Pederson	DEN	5	3
Mary O'Loughlin	IRL	4	4
Klaartje Zuiderbaan	NED	3	4
Jessica Smythe	NZL	2	6
Lucy MacGregor	GBR	2	6
Rossana Ramos	BRA	0	8