Yesterday
It’s a pity they didn’t make it to the four …
According to the website of the All-Russian Federal Border Guard Service, citing the press service of the Seven Feet Yacht Club, the last stage of a series of world women's match-flights this season ended in Shanghai. In difficult conditions, the Russian crew of Ekaterina Chashchina reached the quarter finals and took sixth place.
International Women’s Match Race is in Grade 1 category. The participants of the match flight are rating racers who are among the twenty strongest according to World Sailing. Among the participants in the regatta in Shanghai was the Pauline Courtois team from France – number 1 in the WS ranking. The team has won the bronze of the World Cup and the gold of the European Championship in similar races.
According to the rules of the competition, only three teams without a rating could enter the number of participants. They became two Chinese teams and a crew from Vladivostok skipper Yekaterina Chashchina: Anna Sannikova, Daria Istratova, Alexandra Shututafedova and Alexander Aniskin. In total, 12 crews from China, Korea, Sweden, Normandy, Switzerland and Russia took part in the races. The regatta was held on Far East 28 R. class yachts.
According to the format of match races, of the 12 crews, the judges needed to select 8 of the strongest. For this, two round robins were carried out: in a series of short races, each crew met face-to-face with each of the rival crews. According to the results of each round robin, the two weakest participants were eliminated. The first four participants automatically went to the next round. The remaining crews played from 5th to 8th places.
After the first round robin, two teams left – Korea and China, after the second – New Zealanders and another crew from China.
In the quarterfinals, our girls had to fight with the strongest team – the crew of Pauline Courtois.
On this day there were difficult weather conditions: wind up to 22 knots or more. The race committee decided to hold the race. According to the recognition of our yachtsmen, it was not easy for them, because in Vladivostok, in such a wind, races are not held to save the materiel. As expected, many competitors received numerous breakdowns, sails broke.
“When on the second day the wind blew the same way and it was necessary to go into the water, we were not afraid of anything,” Anna Sannikova shares her impressions. – We adapted to the boat, distributed functionality in the carriage, and even caught courage. It was what’s called a battle test. ”
The Russian team had the task to compete for the right to get into the top four, which participated in the finals and grand finals. It was necessary to bring three victories to his team. But the victory in all three races was won by the French.
In fairness, it should be noted that for the first time our girls were chasing a boat of this class, and they did not have time to get to know the yacht – only one training day on the eve of the races.
Following the results of the competition, the crew of Ekaterina Chashchina took 6th place out of 12. The French team became the winner of this match flight. The second place was taken by the team of Johanna Bergquist from Sweden, the third – the crew of Celia Willison from New Zealand.
Detailed Results –
50 Yesterday # 9583
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