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It was picket fences for both French teams – top-ranked Women’s skipper Pauline Courtois and Open Division skipper Maxime Mesnil, as well as defending Nations Cup Women’s Champion Nicole Breault (USA) after the first day of racing at the 2019 World Sailing Nations Cup Grand Final, hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club.
Competition commenced with 10 women’s division teams from around the world facing off in round robin format on two east-west race courses. Ripples of current snaking across the courses made for challenging conditions for first-timers to San Francisco Bay sailing. “It was really difficult with the current, but my team did a really good job,” said Courtois, of her Match in Pink Normandy Elite Team of Maelenn Lemaitre, Louise Acker and Sophie Faguet. “We had really good, close matches in difficult conditions. There were no surprises, but it is important to keep focused and watch the water and the current.”
pics by Chris Ray
Anna Östling (SWE) currently in third place with three wins echoed the sentiment to stay focused: “Our first race with [Juliana] Senfft (BRA) we had a penalty at the start and were able to wipe it and give her one right at the finish line. It was one of those races where you think, think, think and finally get the win.”
“It was a really fun start to the event,” she added. “This is the kind of sailing we love.”
Defending Women’s Champion, and Bay local, Nicole Breault, raved about the caliber and tightness of competition. “You have to capitalize on their mistakes, because they’re capitalizing on yours.”
Asked if she had any unforgettable moments on the racecourse today, she called up her match against fellow USA skipper, Allie Blecher.
“We were trailing around the leeward mark, but really close. We rolled into a tack, got our bow forward and I realized we’d rolled over our spinnaker sheets.” With the drag of the sheets slowing them down during the short second beat, Breault’s bow Hannah Burroughs was all over the deck recovering and retying them. “We rounded, tucked to the inside, got control of them, and had the most perfect spinnaker set. We ended up passing them and winning the race.”
Anna Östling (SWE) currently in third place with three wins echoed the sentiment to stay focused: “Our first race with [Juliana] Senfft (BRA) we had a penalty at the start and were able to wipe it and give her one right at the finish line. It was one of those races where you think, think, think and finally get the win.”
“It was a really fun start to the event,” she added. “This is the kind of sailing we love.”
Defending Women’s Champion, and Bay local, Nicole Breault, raved about the caliber and tightness of competition. “You have to capitalize on their mistakes, because they’re capitalizing on yours.”
Asked if she had any unforgettable moments on the racecourse today, she called up her match against fellow USA skipper, Allie Blecher.
“We were trailing around the leeward mark, but really close. We rolled into a tack, got our bow forward and I realized we’d rolled over our spinnaker sheets.” With the drag of the sheets slowing them down during the short second beat, Breault’s bow Hannah Burroughs was all over the deck recovering and retying them. “We rounded, tucked to the inside, got control of them, and had the most perfect spinnaker set. We ended up passing them and winning the race.”
Racing recommences Thursday, April 10 with Open Division skippers competing in the morning and Women’s just after midday. Follow the action, photos and results:
RESULTS
About Nations Cup
The Nations Cup was first introduced to the world in 1991. Open and Women's contests are traditionally based on a series of Regional Finals with the top crews meeting at the Grand Final. Vladivostok, Russia hosted the last edition of the Nations Cup in 2015. Russia's Vladimir Lipavsky took the title in the Open division and Nicole Breault from the United States of America claimed the Women's title.
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