New Zealand and Australia secure places at 2011 ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final in Sheboygan – Sailing News
Australia and New Zealand have qualified for the initial stages of the 2011 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Nations Cup Grand Final being held in Sheboygan, USA in September. The event will take place after the Oceania Regional Final held at the
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
Australia’s Olivia Price along with her crew members, Nina Curtis, Sophie Lahey and Rayshele Martin took on New Zealand’s Olivia Powrie in the final of women’s circuit. Price waited for the last race of the round robins to know about her opponent in the
final.
Powrie, on the other hand, with her crew took advantage of 12 to 15 knot south-western and moved past Japan’s Maiko Sato by taking the guts of 20 knots to book the final berth. However, Price took the final spot by 3-0.
Price said, “It was the first regatta that my crew have done together and a special thanks to Sophie for joining us at very late notice. It was a week full of learning and we enjoyed the way the regatta was run. Thank you to all the competitors who came
such a long way for the event.”
Laurie Jury along with his team, Logan Fraser and Michael Edmonds, defeated the Australian team of Evan Walker in the Open Division to grab the Open spot in the Grand Final.
Jury and Walker got three penalties before they started their finals with aggressive moves. Walker got the first penalty as he started brilliantly, but tacked close to Jury in the beginning. Jury, who was leading in the start, got too slow on the pin-lay
and was blocked by Walker on to the port.
Both crews moved ahead with the wind but Jury got a double penalty as he contacted with Walker’s boat when he fell back during the race. A nice shift during the race got Jury the lead to the finish line when he crossed to the left side of the course taking
Walker’s stern that gave his team a significant lift. Jury took the next two races to win the final with 3-0.
“My crew did really well adapting to the Elliott 6.0m which we have not sailed for five years. The conditions were really shifty today and the Race Committee and umpires did a really good job, the organisation and management was spot on,” said Jury.
The ISAF Nations Cup will find top match racing nations in both women and open circuits to race at the Grand Final that will take place in the Sheboygan, USA from September 13-18, 2011.
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