European Laser Radial Women's Championship 2009
Fri 9th July 2009 - 16th July 2009
DENMARK, Charlottenlund
More information on Venue website
Thu 16th July 2009
Paige Railey (USA) wins European Trophy
In the first race, Sarah Steyaert from France claimed the race win and so moved up the leader board fast. She was followed by Marit Bouwmeester (NED) in second place and Sari Multala (FIN) in third place.
After leading home the gold fleet in the final race of the championship, American Paige Railey was crowned the deserved winner of the European Trophy. Even her 20th place in the penultimate race could not do any damage to her overall championship win achieved with a 13 point gap to the rest of the fleet. Croatian sailor Tina Mihelic was able to hold on to her second place overall with 55 points overall after a 7th and 18th place on the final day . Third place in the European Trophy goes to Sarah Steyaert who finished in 14th place in the last race and ended the championship with 58 points.
In the European Championship, which includes only Euroepean sailors, Tina Mihelic was crowned the European Laser Radial Women's Champion, with Sarah Steyaert in second place and Alberte Lindberg from Denmark in third place.
For the first time this year, a prize was also awarded to the first sailor in the Under 21 category which was awarded to Josefin Olsson from Sweden (9th place overall).
Wed 15th July 2009
Finals Series begins
Today started with light winds and clouds in the sky. Racing was started but had to be abandoned due to light winds and strong currents. After the race officers moved the course closer to the shore, racing finally got underway in the afternoon in the newly assigned gold and silver fleets. Croatian Tina Mihelic won the first race in the gold fleet and was followed by Sara Winther from New Zealand in second place and Cathrine Gjerpen (NOR) in third place. In the second race of the day, Danish local Alberte Lindberg led home the gold fleet ahead of Belgian Evi van Acker and American Paige Railey. Railey was able to discard her 45th place from the first race and remains in first place on 31 points. Mihelic's bullet was followed by a 9th place in the second race of the day meaning that with a total of 48.5 points she now jumps up the leader board from twelth into second place overall. In third place sits Gjerpen with 55 points.
Tue 14th July 2009
No wind in Charlottenlund
Despite long hours of waiting and hoping, the wind did not pick up and all racing was cancelled for today.
Mon 13th July 2009
The third day of the championship was cloudy with a 5 m/s south westerly wind and proved to be a day of mixed results in the women's fleets.
In the green fleet, Tina Mihelic from Croatia dominated the first race and managed to stay ahead of the rest of the fleet to finish in first place. American Paige Railey who was fifth around the first mark kept pushing past her competitors and slipped into second place ahead of Tatiana Drzdovskaya from Belarus, winner of the 2007 ISAF Worlds in the Laser Radial. In the second race, Mihelic was third around the first windward mark, but then dropped back to finish in 9th place, ahead of Railey in 10th place. The race win went to Italian sailor Francesca Clapcich from Italy, followed be Polish Katarzyna Derberny in second place and Danish sailor Maiken Schütt in third place.
In the yellow fleet, Fatima Reyes from Spain had a fantastic day, winning the first race and scoring a 3rd place in the second race. In the first race she was followed by Gabrielle King from Australia in second place and Norwegian sailor Catherine Gjergpen in third place. Ewa Makowska from Poland was able to improve on her 7th place in the first race by winning the second race, ahead of French Sophie de Turckheim.
As predicted, the leader board has changed but things are still close at the top with Paige Railey moving from 6th into 1st place with 18 points, while yesterday's leader Sarah Steyaert (FRA) was pushed down into second place on 19 points, followed be Charlotte Dobson (GBR), also on 19 points.
Sun 12th July 2009
Racing on the second day had to be delayed due to light winds and races finally started in the early afternoon. The fleets have been reassigned and the green fleet got underway with Tina Mihelic leading the fleet early on to claim the first race of the day. Josefin Olsson initially sat behind Tuula Tenkannen (FIN) but was able to push ahead to finish the race in second place followed by Paige Raily from the USA in third place.
In the yellow fleet, Sarah Steyaert (FRA) delivered another great performance, finishing the race ahead of Sara Winther from New Zealand and Ewa Makowska from Poland.
The second race saw Sophie de Turckheim (FRA) dominate the green fleet, finishing the day with a race win and an overall score of 31 points. Multala Sari (FIN) came in second place.
In the yellow fleet, Lucia Reyes (ESP) was first around the first windward mark, but was subsequently overtaken by Marit Bouwmeester (NED) who claimed the race win. Reyes finished in second place.
After the second day of racing, Steyaert remains in first place overall with only 4 points, followed in second place by Sari on 7 points and in third place by Reyes on 8 points. It is looking tight at the top of the leader board, even 4th and 5th place, currently taken by Bouwmeester and Dobson, share a 9 point score, while 6th place Railey has 10 points. With so few points between each of the competitors, no one is safe and it will be tough fighting for the top spots.
Sat 11th July 2009
Racing begins in Charlottenlund
The women's fleet was divided into green and yellow fleets. The green fleet started, and after a general recall for the yellow fleet, racing got well underway. In the green fleet, Norwegian sailor Cathrine Gjerpen was first around the first mark and kept the lead to claim the first race win, followed by Lucia Reyes from Spain and and Charlotte Dobson from Great Britain. In the yellow fleet, last year's European Radial champion Sari Multala (FIN) was second around the first mark after Polish Katarzyne Derberny but was able to push ahead of her to take the first place. Olympian Sarah Steyaert (FRA) also overtook Deberny to finish in second place.
In the second race, Evi van Acker from Belgium claimed the race win in the green fleet, followed by Dobson in second place and Marit Bouwmeester from the Netherlands in third place. The yellow fleet saw Sarah Steyart win the race, followed by Alicia Cebrian (ESP) and Sara Corma (POR). After the first day, Steyaert currently sits at the top of the leader board on 3 points, followed by Sari and Dobson, both on 5 points.
Thur 9th July & Fri 10th July 2009
The first 2 days of the championship were filled with registration and measurement, followed by an opening ceremony on the Friday.