Displaying items by tag: Diana Kissane

29th October 2016

Howth Yacht Club's Diana Kissane Competes in Women's Korean Match Race Event

HYC's Diana Kissane and her crew competing in Busan, Korea this week

There was no place, unfortunately, for Howth Yacht Club's Diana Kissane in the quarter finals of the 2016 Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race Championships in Korea this week. The Dublin crew won two but lost nine in a highly competitive fleet. Lizzy McDowell, Isabella Morehead and Ellen Cahill were part of the KIssane crew line–up at the prestigious event.

Experience, experience and nothing but experience, that's what really counts when it comes to match racing, the chess game of sailing. And Claire Leroy has got loads of it, with two World Championship titles, several years as number one on the world ranking, and double triumphs in the Busan Cup Women's International Match Race under her belt. Now the French skipper has just won yet another round-robin. In Korea. With an impressive 9 - 2 score. Is she on her way to a third Busan title?

Claire Leroy and her Mermaid Sailing Team had a really successful Thursday on the waters just outside Haeundae Beach in Busan. The French team won six straight matches, and didn't lose a single one during the whole day. That perfect score took them all the way to the top of the leader board. In testing conditions with 20 knots of shifty and puffy breeze, combined with a lot of swell and some current.

The Busan Cup Women's International Match Race continues Friday with the quarterfinals, to conclude Saturday with semis and final.

Round-robin result in the Busan Cup Women's International Match Race, the 4th event of the 2016 WIM Series (name, nationality, wins - losses). The top eight advances to the quarterfinals:

1. Claire Leroy, FRA, 9 - 2
2. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 8 - 3
3. Trine Palludan, DEN, 8 - 3
4. Anna Ostling, SWE, 8 - 3
5. Katie Spithill, AUS, 7 - 4
6. Stephanie Roble, USA, 7 - 4
7. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 6 - 5
8. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 5 - 6

9. Renee Groeneveld, NED, 4 - 7
10. Diana Kissane, IRL, 2 - 9
11. Milly Bennett, AUS, 1 - 10
12. Gyeong Jin Lee, KOR, 1 - 10

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Diana Kissane

3rd July 2016

10th Place For Howth's Kissane At Helsinki Women's Match

#MatchRacing - Howth Yacht Club's Diana Kissane and crew finished 10th in the first round of the Women's International Match Racing Series in Helsinki on Friday (1 July).

Kissane and crew Lizzy McDowell (Malahide YC), Isabella Morehead (Cork), Ellen Cahill (Mayo) won three of their 11 round-robin contests but it wasn't enough to take them through to the quarter-final knockout stage at the NJK Sailing Center, where the Swedish boat skippered by Anna Östling beat France's Pauline Courtois and crew in two straight races in the final.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the same venue in the Finnish capital is set to host the Women's Match Racing World Championship in 2017.

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30th October 2015

Howth Yacht Club's Diana Kissane Match Racing in Busan

Ireland's Diana Kissane is competing at the Busan Cup Women's International Match Race in Southern Korea. It was a tough round robin for the Howth Yacht Club sailor who won two of her 11 races that concluded the series for her today.

The Howth match racer has been on the international circuit racing this season and has already competed at the ISAF Women’s Match Racing Worlds in Middelfart, Denmark in July. Kissane's crew includes Aoife English, Bella Morehead, Jenny Andreasson and Lizzy McDowell.

With three more wins in Friday’s racing in the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, Anne-Claire Le Berre of France went to 10 – 1 and winning the round-robin stage. The fight for the 2015 WIM Series title will now heat up, as World #1, but Series’ runner-up, Camilla Ulrikkeholm Klinkby chose American leader Maggie Shea in the quarters:
“We want to be able to do the job ourselves. Beating Maggie is the only way we can take the WIM Series” the Dane states.
“We had a good race against Camilla in the round-robin, and we’re happy to see her again” Shea replies.

Friday morning saw a short postponement at the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, the fourth and final event of the 2015 WIM Series, as Regatta Director Alfredo Ricci moved the course from just off of Haeundae Beach to an area closer to the Gwangan Bridge. After just a few minutes with the AP flag flying from the committee boat, the starting sequence commenced in 5 – 7 knots of shifty and puffy breeze, which built to 8 – 12 knots at midday. The shoreline skyscrapers also affected the already unsteady wind:
“It wasn’t that difficult today, as we could clearly see the puffs come rolling down the course, read the wind quite easily and adapt to it” Le Berre comments.

The French World #4 won all three of her Friday matches, finishing the day by defeating compatriot Pauline Courtois, who badly needed a win in that last race to qualify for the quarterfinals:
“We must sail our own race and can’t take into account if the opponent is French or not. We want to win the round-robin, to be able to choose ourselves whom to meet in the quarters” Le Berre explains.

Previously undefeated Katie Spithill saw her first two setbacks today, against Ulrikkeholm Klinkby and Dutch Renée Groeneveld, to finish round-robin runner-up on a 9 – 2 score. But the Aussie wasn’t too upset about her lost matches:
“We made a few mistakes, but it’s better to do them now than later on in the regatta. Pretty much we lost those matches already on the starting line, so we’ll need better prestarts” Spithill analyses.
“It’s a new scorecard now. We’re looking forward to the weekend, and we’re excited to get racing tomorrow” she fills in.

Maggie Shea, substituting for regular Epic Racing skipper, World #2 and WIM Series leader Stephanie Roble, had a tough Friday on the Korean waters, adding two losses to her round-robin score, totalling 7 – 4:
“It wasn’t our best day of racing, but we learned a lot. Actually I’m thankful for the close racing and for the situations that occurred, it’ll help us improve for the weekend” the American skipper says.

Especially grateful for the US mistakes is local hope Sung-Eon Choi, who took her first bullet in her home event by defeating Shea & Co:
“We did a very good start and led all the way around the course, to finish about three boat lengths ahead of the Americans. It was a great feeling!” Choi laughs.

Quarterfinals and semis are planned for Saturday, leaving the final races for Sunday. Three skippers can still win the 2015 WIM Series; Roble/Shea, Ulrikkeholm Klinkby and Swede Anna Östling.

Results in the round-robin of the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, the fourth and final event of the 2015 WIM Series (skipper, nationality, wins – losses):

1. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 10 – 1
2. Katie Spithill, AUS, 9 – 2
3. Camilla Ulrikkeholm Klinkby, DEN, 8 – 3
4. Maggie Shea (substituting for Stephanie Roble), USA, 7 – 4
5. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 7 – 4
6. Anna Östling, SWE, 6 – 5
7. Renée Groeneveld, NED, 4,5 – 5
8. Denise Lim, SIN, 4 – 7
9. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 4 – 7
10. Milly Bennett, AUS, 3 – 8
11. Diana Kissane, IRL, 2 – 9
12. Sung Eun Choi, KOR, 1 – 10

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9th July 2015

Howth's Kissane Faces Tough Match–Race Opposition in Denmark

#matchracing – Howth's Yacht Club's Diana Kissane faces strong opposition in Denmark at the Women's Match Racing World Championship and yesterday strong gusts and a long day conspired to really test the sole Irish entry who sustained six losses, the same as Finnish and Dutch entries

Local hope Lotte Meldgaard and French Anne-Claire Le Berre are the only undefeated skippers after the opening day of the 2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship, the first event on the 2015 Women's International Match Racing Series (WIM Series), in Middelfart, Denmark. Both scored 8 - 0 on a long and very action-packed Wednesday:

"Even with one reef in the main and a smaller jib replacing the genoa, the Match 28's we're racing here are quite overpowered. We lost control a couple of times, but excellent crew work got us back on track again" Meldgaard comments.

The opening day offered truly challenging conditions for the competitors as well as for the race management. Gusts approaching 30 knots swept down the course, leaving broaching boats, freely flying kites and wet and exhausted sailors behind.

The racing in Middelfart continues with the round-robin Thursday and Friday, while the weekend will see the exciting knock-out rounds to crown the World Champions.

Standings after one day of round-robin in the 2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship in Middelfart, Denmark, the first event on the 2015 WIM Series (skipper, country, wins - losses):

1. Lotte Meldgaard, DEN, 8 - 0
1. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 8 - 0
3. Anna Östling, SWE, 7 - 1
4. Camilla Ulrikeholm, DEN, 5 - 1
4. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 5 - 1
6. Stephanie Roble, USA, 4 - 2
6. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 4 - 2
8. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 5 - 3
8. Katie Spithill, AUS, 5 - 3
10. Milly Bennett, AUS, 3 - 5
11. Louise Christensen, DEN, 2 - 6
12. Johanna Larsson, SWE, 0 - 6
12. Nina Ramm-Schmidt, FIN, 0 - 6
12. Rikst Dijkstra, NED, 0 - 6
12. Diana Kissane, IRL, 0 - 6
16. Sanna Hager, SWE, 0 - 8

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8th July 2015

Howth Yacht Club's Kissane Competing at ISAF Women's Match Racing Worlds

#matchrace – Howth Yacht Club's Diane Kissane and her crew are competing at this week's ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship in Denmark, as Afloat previously reported back in May. Warm and sunny conditions with a strong southerly breeze today welcomed the 81 sailors participating in the 2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship, the first event out of four on the 2015 Women's International Match Racing Series (WIM Series), to Middelfart, Denmark. The rain waited politely until the last practise session in Match Racing Denmark's fleet of Match 28 boats was over:

"It takes a while to learn a new boat, but we've also had some practise on our home waters and feel quite confident going into this event," says World # 1 and defending World Champion Anna Ostling.

During Tuesday's practise session in Middelfart the Swedish crew of Team Anna had a few great fights against last year's World Championship bronze medallist and WIM Series # 4, American Stephanie Roble of Epic Racing:

"It's a shifty and tricky venue and we were happy to be controlling the Swedes a lot of the time. I like the boats a lot, they spin quickly and it's good to be five on board," Roble comments.

By Sunday we'll not only know which of the top ranked sailors has captured the World Championship title, but also who gained points on this first event out of four on the 2015 WIM Series. The first two years of the WIM Series saw 39 professional teams from 19 countries competing for gold and glory.

2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship teams (skipper, country, ISAF World Ranking):

Anna Ostling, SWE, 1
Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 2
Stephanie Roble, USA, 3
Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 4
Lotte Meldgaard, DEN, 5
Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 6
Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 7
Pauline Courtois, FRA, 8
Milly Bennett, AUS, 9
Johanna Larsson, SWE, 13
Nina Ramm-Schmidt, FIN, 14
Katie Spithill, AUS, 16
Sanna Hager, SWE, 17
Rikst Dijkstra, NED, 18
Diana Kissane, IRL, 60
Louise Christensen, DEN, 6

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22nd May 2015

Diana Kissane Leads Irish Charge In Women's Match Racing World Series

#MatchRacing - Ireland's Diana Kissane will skipper a team in the upcoming Women's International Match Racing Series, how entering its third year of competition.

The Howth Yact Club match racer leads one of the 20 teams already confirmed for the new season, which kicks off 47 days from now at the ISAF Women’s Match Racing Worlds in Middelfart, Denmark from 8-12 July.

That will be followed by the Lysekil Women’s Match in Sweden on 3-8 August, the Buddy Melges Challenge in Sheboygan, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan on 16-20 September, and the Busan Cup in South Korea from 28 October to 1 November.

But first things first, Danish skipper Camilla Ulrikkeholm will be looking to avenge her team's loss to Anna Östling (neé Kjellberg) at the 2014 ISAF Match Racing Worlds in Cork Harbour last June.

“We are never in it not to win it. We will fight for every win this year, as every year,” says Ulrikkeholm, who will have the advantage of home waters for the WIM Series kickoff.

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About The Middle Sea Race

The Rolex Middle Sea Race is a highly rated offshore classic, often mentioned in the same breath as the Rolex Fastnet, The Rolex Sydney–Hobart and Newport-Bermuda as a 'must do' race. The Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club co-founded the race in 1968 and 2007 was the 28th Edition. Save for a break between 1984 and 1995 the event has been run annually attracting 25–30 yachts. In recent years, the number of entries has rissen sharply to 68 boats thanks to a new Organising Committee who managed to bring Rolex on board as title sponsor for the Middle Sea Race.

The race is a true challenge to skippers and crews who have to be at their very best to cope with the often changeable and demanding conditions. Equally, the race is blessed with unsurpassed scenery with its course, taking competitors close to a number of islands, which form marks of the course. Ted Turner described the MSR as "the most beautiful race course in the world".

Apart from Turner, famous competitors have included Eric Tabarly, Cino Ricci, Herbert von Karajan, Jim Dolan, Sir Chay Blyth and Sir Francis Chichester (fresh from his round the world adventure). High profile boats from the world's top designers take part, most in pursuit of line honours and the record – competing yachts include the extreme Open 60s, Riviera di Rimini and Shining; the maxis, Mistress Quickly, Zephyrus IV and Sagamore; and the pocket rockets such as the 41-foot J-125 Strait Dealer and the DK46, Fidessa Fastwave.

In 2006, Mike Sanderson and Seb Josse on board ABN Amro, winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, the super Maxis; Alfa Romeo and Maximus and the 2006 Rolex Middle Sea Race overall winner, Hasso Platner on board his MaxZ86, Morning Glory.

George David on board Rambler (ex-Alfa Romeo) managed a new course record in 2007 and in 2008, Thierry Bouchard on Spirit of Ad Hoc won the Rolex Middle Sea Race on board a Beneteau 40.7

The largest number of entries was 78 established in 2008.

Middle Sea Race History

IN THE BEGINNING

The Middle Sea Race was conceived as the result of sporting rivalry between great friends, Paul and John Ripard and an Englishman residing in Malta called Jimmy White, all members of the Royal Malta Yacht Club. In the early fifties, it was mainly British servicemen stationed in Malta who competitively raced. Even the boats had a military connection, since they were old German training boats captured by the British during the war. At the time, the RMYC only had a few Maltese members, amongst who were Paul and John Ripard.

So it was in the early sixties that Paul and Jimmy, together with a mutual friend, Alan Green (later to become the Race Director of the Royal Ocean Racing Club), set out to map a course designed to offer an exciting race in different conditions to those prevailing in Maltese coastal waters. They also decided the course would be slightly longer than the RORC's longest race, the Fastnet. The resulting course is the same as used today.

Ted Turner, CEO of Turner Communications (CNN) has written that the Middle Sea Race "must be the most beautiful race course in the world. What other event has an active volcano as a mark of the course?"

In all of its editions since it was first run in 1968 – won by Paul Ripard's brother John, the Rolex Middle Sea Race has attracted many prestigious names in yachting. Some of these have gone on to greater things in life and have actually left their imprint on the world at large. Amongst these one finds the late Raul Gardini who won line honours in 1979 on Rumegal, and who spearheaded the 1992 Italian Challenge for the America's Cup with Moro di Venezia.

Another former line honours winner (1971) who has passed away since was Frenchman Eric Tabarly winner of round the world and transatlantic races on Penduik. Before his death, he was in Malta again for the novel Around Europe Open UAP Race involving monohulls, catamarans and trimarans. The guest list for the Middle Sea Race has included VIP's of the likes of Sir Francis Chichester, who in 1966 was the first man to sail around the world single-handedly, making only one stop.

The list of top yachting names includes many Italians. It is, after all a premier race around their largest island. These include Navy Admiral Tino Straulino, Olympic gold medallist in the star class and Cino Ricci, well known yachting TV commentator. And it is also an Italian who in 1999 finally beat the course record set by Mistress Quickly in 1978. Top racing skipper Andrea Scarabelli beat it so resoundingly, he knocked off over six hours from the time that had stood unbeaten for 20 years.

World famous round the world race winners with a Middle Sea Race connection include yachting journalist Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Les Williams, both from the UK.

The Maxi Class has long had a long and loving relationship with the Middle Sea Race. Right from the early days personalities such as Germany's Herbert Von Karajan, famous orchestra conductor and artistic director of the Berliner Philarmoniker, competing with his maxi Helisara IV. Later came Marvin Greene Jr, CEO of Reeves Communications Corporation and owner of the well known Nirvana (line honours in 1982) and Jim Dolan, CEO of Cablevision, whose Sagamore was back in 1999 to try and emulate the line honours she won in 1997.

THE COURSE RECORD

The course record was held by the San Francisco based, Robert McNeil on board his Maxi Turbo Sled Zephyrus IV when in 2000, he smashed the Course record which now stands at 64 hrs 49 mins 57 secs. Zephyrus IV is a Rechiel-Pugh design. In recent years, various maxis such as Alfa Romeo, Nokia, Maximus and Morning Glory have all tried to break this course record, but the wind Gods have never played along. Even the VOR winner, ABN AMro tried, but all failed in 2006.

However, George David came along on board Rambler in 2007 and demolished the course record established by Zephyrus IV in 2000. This now stands at 1 day, 23 hours, 55 minutes and 3 seconds.

At A Glance - Middle Sea Race 2024

First held: 1968

Organising Authority: Royal Malta Yacht Club

Start

The 45th Rolex Middle Sea Race will start on Saturday, 19 October 2024.

Grand Harbour, Valletta: seven separate starts, at 10-minute intervals, from 11:00 CEST Saturday, 21 October 2024

Start Line: between the Saluting Battery, Upper Barrakka Gardens (Valletta) and Fort St Angelo (Birgu)

Various vantage points all around the Grand Harbour, high up on the bastions or at water level. Harbour access for spectator boats is restricted during the period of the start.

Course

Set in the heart of the Mediterranean and is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. It starts and finishes in Malta, passes two active volcanoes and takes in the deep azure waters surrounding Sicily, and the Aeolian and Egadi Islands, as well as lonelier outposts of Pantelleria and Lampedusa, both closer to the African continent than Europe.

Length: 606 nautical miles (1,122km)

Outright Race Record: 33h 29m 28s, Argo, United States, Jason Carroll

Monohull Race Record: 40h 17m 50s, Comanche, Cayman Is, Mitch Booth