Today's Race Report
Women's Hobie 16 World Championships
Wednesday, February 28th, Day 2 of 3
Results Home Page | Report | Regatta standings as of today
Dubai, (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES): Despite fighting performances from American and South African sailors, Australia's Kerry Ireland strengthened her grip on the Hobie Cat 16 Women's World Championship today with near-flawless sailing at the Dubai International Marine Club in the United Arab Emirates.
Ireland, the elegant skipper of Australia's sole entry in the women's discipline, and crew Jennifer Dickson have forged a solid working relationship in the Dubai Ports Authority/O'Neill-sponsored World Championships and the pairing was again unstoppable in the penultimate round of three races.
With 8-12 knot winds dictating the length of the course - usually 7-12Nm - the sailors faced unpredictable conditions. What has been predictable, however, has been the form of the Australian girls whose three wins from four starts on day one earmarked them as favourites.
Yesterday (Wed), they again dominated by winning two of the three races. In race one, they again claimed the minimum 0.75 points for first place despite the challenges of skippers Jean Tully of the USA and Inge Schabort from South Africa. Second home were Schabort and Gillian Anley with fellow South Africans Judith Herald and Pamela Burrows in third place.
Yet another first place in the second race of the day underlined Ireland's determination to win the first official Hobie Cat 16 Women's World Championship. First over the line for the fifth time, Ireland kept her relentless drive for the title on course with Papua New Guinea's Liz Wardley and Joanne Accott in second with Schabort and Anley in third.
In race three, however, the champions elect were forced into second place as the American pairing of Tully and Eileen Haubl claimed first with another US crew of Amiee Larchar and Susan Welch settling for third.
With just today's (Thu) final races remaining, the American requires a sailing miracle to catch Ireland. Both skippers have discarded their worst points score from the seven races so far and the Australian now leads her US rival by 11.75 points. Third place overall on 19 points - just 1.5 points behind Tully and Haubl - is the top South African pairing of Schabort and Anley.
"Lots of pasta and good Arabic food," laughed Ireland when asked how she managed to maintain her stamina on the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf. "Really, it's all about getting a good start and choosing the right direction. Wind strengths vary on different parts of the course and we've got our choices right most of the time."
The third day of sailing in the Hobie Cat 16 World Championships - supported by Catamaran Watches, Emirates, Xerox, APL and the Chicago Beach Hotel - gets underway at Dubai's Mina Seyahi today (Thursday) with the final races to determine the first Women's World Champions before the action switches to the Open Championship - a series featuring Ireland and Dickson and some 20 other Australian sailors.