Women's match race show down

10 teams head for St Petersburg, FL for the Rolex Osprey Cup

In less than two weeks, some of the world’s most accomplished sailors will gather at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in St. Petersburg, Flordia for the Rolex Osprey Cup, the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 1 women’s match racing regatta.

The 10th annual regatta is scheduled for October 18-22 and will take place in Sonar class keelboats on Tampa Bay. World #1 ranked match racer Claire Leroy (St. Quay, France) and her crew will compete against nine teams who were selected based on previous match racing accomplishments and each skipper’s world ranking. Notable sailors among the 10 teams include Olympic Silver Medalist (470) Pease Glaser (Long Beach, Calif.); three former world match racing champions Liz Baylis (San Rafael, Calif.), Malin Millbourn (Halmstad, Sweden) and Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.); and world #1 Laser Radial sailor Anna Tunnicliffe (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Glaser, Baylis and Alison have all been recipients of the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award.

“This year we’re looking forward to having a lot of fun,” said Leroy, who will sail with her regular crew Ophélie Théron, Ingrid Cerrato and Julie Bossard. “It is a nice event and our last one this year. The Rolex Osprey Cup was one of the two events we won three years ago when we decided to start match racing. It is a good memory for us.” This year, Leroy won the ISAF Nations Cup, in Ireland, alongside countryman Mathieu Richard, who won the men’s division, and the grade 2 Mayor’s Cup, in Long Beach, Calif. Notably Leroy’s team won the Spi Ouest, a fleet racing regatta in France, and was the first women’s team to win in the history of the prestigious event.

Last year’s runner-up, Anna Tunnicliffe, has been concentrating on maintaining her world #1 ranking in the Olympic class Laser Radial, picking up two fourth-place finishes at the Laser Radial World Championship and the Beijing International Regatta, the pre-Olympic test event.

The 2005 Rolex Osprey Cup is the last event in which Tunnicliffe skippered. “We will try and learn as much as possible,” said Tunnicliffe, referencing her team of Ali Sharpe, Liz Bower and Genoa Griffin. Both Bower and Griffin are repeats from 2005; Griffin also is working toward a U.S. berth in the Laser Radial class. “We are trying to do as well, if not better than last year. Of course, we are there to have fun!” Tunnicliffe crewed for Sally Barkow and won the 2005 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship.

Two competitors received invitations to this event based on their performance at the Rolex Women’s Match, a grade 4 event held this past April at the SPYC: Sandy Hayes (Scituate, Mass.) and Kathy Lindgren (Sheboygan, Wis.).

The schedule includes a practice race on Wednesday, October 18. Racing will take place from approximately 9:30am each day - Thursday, October 19 through until Sunday, October 22 - near the St. Petersburg Municipal Pier, making spectating easy and enjoyable from shore. The format consists of a double round robin, with knockout (first to win 3 points) semi-final and final rounds scheduled at the end of the round robins.

The 10 competing teams, listed by skipper, alphabetical order:

1. Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I., USA)
ISAF: 23
Crew: Nancy Haberland, Sarah Buckley, Amanda Callahan
In addition to competing in international match racing, Alison is the coach of the US Disabled Sailing Team. A five-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year and two-time Yngling world champion, she finished 10th at the 2006 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship in Denmark, second at the U.S. Blind Nationals (as a sighted guide for the skipper) and second at the Verve Cup in the Etchells class.

2. Liz Baylis (San Rafael, Calif., USA)
ISAF: 33
Crew: Pease Glaser, Melinda Erkelens, JoAnn Fisher
An accomplished fleet racer and match racer, the 2002 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, placed third at the grade 1 Boat U.S. Santa Maria Cup, and won her division and second overall in fleet in the West Marine Pacific Cup.

3. Sandy Hayes (Scituate, Mass.)
ISAF: 19
Crew: Sandi Svoboda, Alexis Ackman, Laurie Poppen
Hayes placed third at the Mayor’s Cup, the grade 2 match race in Long Beach, Calif. She also participated in the JP Morgan Fleming Women’s Winter Challenge, VIII International Women Match Race Criterium, Trentino Match Race and crewed for Betsy Alison at the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship. In fleet racing, she and Svoboda won the Melges 24 class at the Bayview Yacht Club Women's Invitation Regatta.

4. Anna Kjellberg (Sweden)
ISAF: 66
Crew: Annika, Olme, Anne Dahlston Andius, Johanna Lystr

5. Claire Leroy (St. Quay, France)
ISAF: 1
Crew: Ophélie Théron, Ingrid Cerrato, Julie Bossard
This year, Leroy won the ISAF Nations Cup, in Ireland, alongside countryman Mathieu Richard, who won the men’s division, and the grade 2 Mayor’s Cup, in Long Beach, Calif. Notably Leroy’s team won the Spi Ouest, a fleet racing regatta in France, and was the first women’s team to win in the history of the prestigious event.

6. Kathy Lindgren (USA)
ISAF: 70
Crew: Amy Smith Linton, Amy Woodard, Robyn Barnett

7. Katy Lovell (New Orleans, La., USA)
ISAF rank: 27
Crew: Alice Manard, Chafee Emory, Debbie Capozzi
Lovell’s rankings have improved in the past year, from 67 to 27. With the addition of Debbie Capozzi, crew for Sally Barkow’s #1 ranked Yngling team and a frequent match racer, the new team may surprise some competitors. Lovell placed 5th at the Santa Maria Cup, 7th at the Mayor’s Cup. At the Rolex Miami OCR, she was 10th helming in the Olympic Yngling class.

8. Malin Millbourn (Stockholm, Sweden)
ISAF rank: 13
Crew: Karen Hagström, Lotta Harysson, Madde Magnus
Millbourn is the 2003 ISAF World Women’s Match Racing champion for which she was nominated for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. An Olympian in the Europe Dinghy (1996), she returned to match racing after her Olympic training.

9. Rachael Silverstein (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Crew: Jee Lee, Kristin Herman, Becca Thomas
ISAF rank: 74
Local junior sailor, youngest competitor in the event, second-place finisher in the 2004 Rolex Women’s Match and skipper in three previous Rolex Osprey Cups

10. Anna Tunnicliffe (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., USA)
ISAF: 53
Crew: Ali Sharpe, Liz Bower and Genoa Griffin.
Both Bower and Griffin are repeat crew from 2005, where the team placed second. Tunnicliffe crewed for Sally Barkow and won the 2005 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship.
She is the 2005 Quantum College Sailor of the Year and was a three time women's All-American and a coed All-American at Old Dominion University.