#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
