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ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship
Newport, Rhode Island, USA: In one week, the world's most talented women match racers will descend upon Newport, Rhode Island and the New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court Clubhouse for their world championship.
Run annually since 1999, this year's championship has attracted 20 teams from 14 nations. Powerhouse nations include France, United States and Denmark, but if a favorite had to be chosen, it would be Australia's Nicky Souter, sailing with Nina Curtis, Olivia Price and Laura Baldwin. Souter is the reigning world champion and also won back-to-back events recently including last month's Skandia Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth, Great Britain and last week's Buddy Melges Challenge at the US Sailing Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Regardless of Souter's recent streak, more than a dozen of the teams competing in the championship have won major events. Claire Leroy won back-to-back ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championships in 2007 and 2008, as did American Sally Barkow before her in 2004 and 2005. Australian Katie Spithill has been top five in the championship the last three times and is poised to win her first world championship with top results this year.
Not to be discounted is British star Lucy Macgregor, the current ISAF number one ranked women's match racer. She is third in the ISAF World Cup standings and is sailing with who many consider the top female match racing mind, Annie Lush.
Certainly the most decorated sailors at the event will be Olympic gold medalists Anna Tunnicliffe of the U.S. and Sofia Bekatorou of Greece. Tunnicliffe, who is second in the ISAF World Cup rankings, dove head first into match racing shortly after her Olympic victory in 2008. Bekatorou was a 470 gold medalist in her native Greece in 2004 and has also been slowly climbing the rankings.
Competitors List (with current ISAF ranking):
USA - Sally Barkow (12)
Greece - Sofia Bekatorou (34)
France - Julie Bossard (9)
Portugal - Rita Goncalves (25)
France - Anne-Claire Le Berre (5)
France - Claire Leroy (2)
Great Britain - Lucy Macgregor (1)
Denmark - Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (13)
New Zealand - Samantha Osborne (18)
Spain - Silvia Roca Mata (19)
USA - Anna Tunnicliffe (3)
Brazil - Juliana Senfft (17)
Russia - Ekaterina Skudina (11)
Australia - Nicky Souter (8)
Australia - Katie Spithill (6)
USA - Genny Tulloch (10)
Denmark - Camilla Ulrikkeholm (15)
Croatia - Petra Kliba (22)
Finland - Silja Lehtinen (14)
Netherlands - Renee Groeneveld (7)
nyyc.org/ISAFWOMENS/
