Grand Final Of 2009 ISAF Nations Cup Begins

Twenty of the world’s top match race skippers have arrived in Porto Alegre, Brazil to represent their country at the Grand Final of the 2009 ISAF Nations Cup, which begins with the Opening Ceremony today, Monday 23 March.

The Grand Final is the culmination of a global competition to find the world’s top match-racing nation and develop match-racing infrastructure around the world. Brazil hosts the fifth edition of the Grand Final, with France defending the title in the two divisions, for open and women crews.

Throughout the course of 2008, eight Regional Finals were held across Asia, Europe, Oceania and both North and South America, with the top teams qualifying for this year’s Grand Final at the Veleiros do Sul sailing club in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Ten nations will be represented in each of the open division and nine in the women’s division, with racing held in the J/24 keelboats with a crew of four.

Sally BURNETT (GBR), chair of the ISAF Nations Cup Working Party and also Chief Umpire for the Grand Final, said, “It’s fantastic to be here in Brazil for the finale of the 2009 ISAF Nations Cup. The Organizing Committee has done a fantastic job in preparing the venue and welcoming the sailors to Porto Alegre. I’m delighted to see some of the world’s top match racers representing their nation and I’m certain they will make this year’s Grand Final a memorable event.”

The competing nations and skippers are: 

Open Entries
(Nation – Skipper – ISAF World Match Race Ranking)

Host Nation, Brazil – Henrique HADDAD – 80
Defending Nation, France – Damien IEHL – 7

Denmark – Mads EBLER – 11
Spain – Manuel WEILLER VIDAL – 23
Portugal – Alvaro MARINHO – 30
India – Mahesh RAMCHANDRAN – 35
Finland – Jon ERIKSSON – 36
USA – Dave PERRY – 37
Argentina – Juan FIGUEROA – 52
New Zealand – Adrian SHORT – 67

Women’s Entries
(Nation – Skipper – ISAF World Match Race Ranking)

Host Nation, Brazil – Juliana SENFFT – 58
Defending Nation, France – Claire LEROY – 1

Great Britain – Lucy MACGREGOR   – 3
Denmark – Lotte Meldgaard PEDERSEN – 4
Australia – Nicky SOUTER – 10
Italy – Giulia CONTI – 36
Portugal – Rita GONCALVES – 18
USA – Anna TUNNICLIFFE – 37
Argentina – Cecilia RUIZ BARLETT – 235

India – entry withdrawn

Click here to find out more about the competing skippers.

Monday is the official practice day, with the crews having the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the conditions of the racing area situated on the Cristal Bay in Guaiba River.

Racing for the ISAF Nations Cup will begin with the start of the round robin tomorrow. All the skippers in each division will compete against one another during the round robin, with the top three qualifying for the semi-finals. Skippers finishing in fourth to seventh will move forward to the repechage, where they will sail a second, smaller round-robin series to determine the fourth and final qualifier for the semi-finals.

The semi-finals and final revert to a simple knockout formula, with the first skippers to score three points declared the winner.

The round robin and repechage stages are scheduled for the first four days of racing (24-27 March), with the semi-final and finals to take place on Saturday 28 March followed by the Prize Giving and Closing Ceremony.

The ISAF Nations Cup Trophy will be presented to the winners in the Open and Women’s divisions. In addition, ISAF Medals in gold, silver and bronze will be presented to the first, second and third place finishers in each division.

Sally BURNETT (GBR) heads up the Race Officials team for the event as Chief Umpire. She is joined on the Umpire team by ISAF International Umpires Miguel ALLEN (POR), Gerard BOSSE (FRA), Nelson HORN ILHA (BRA), Ricardo LOBATO (BRA), Carlos GASTELU (ARG) and Flavio NAVEIRA (ARG), and National Umpire Gary SHOEMAKER (USA).

Find out more about the ISAF Nations Cup at www.sailing.org/nationscup.