Lysekil Women's Match - Overall

Camilla Ulrikkeholm and her crew from Denmark cheering after their fourth consecutive victory in Lysekil Women's Match, the third stage of the 2014 Women's International Match Racing Series © Dan Ljungsvik / LWM

Ulrikkeholm's 4th title in Lysekil Women's Match

Anna Kjellberg put up fierce competition, but lost 1 – 3 in the final

Camilla Ulrikkeholm did it again. After four final matches, with more drama than the crowds on the cliffs could have wished for, the World #1 secured her fourth consecutive victory in the 10th edition of Lysekil Women's Match: "This is just wild. I can hardly believe it. We had to fight like crazy. If it had gone to a fifth match, I don't even know if we've had energy enough left for it. Without doubt this was the toughest final I've ever sailed here in Lysekil," Ulrikkeholm puffs.

Local hope and reigning World Champion Anna Kjellberg and her crew offered the Danish opponent her hardest possible competition, but nothing helped:

"It's my heaviest loss so far, mostly because we were so incredibly close. I really think it was us who had all the extras up our sleeve," Kjellberg sighs, shaking her head.

Ulrikkeholm gained a good position after winning the first two matches in the first to win three final. Though those matches were close and intense, with short distance between the boats and many manoeuvres tiring the crews a lot, they weren't even close to the excitement in the next ones. With the knife at her throat, Kjellberg invested aggressively in their third match. She was penalized, but managed to take the Danish far beyond the top mark and do her penalty turn without losing too much ground:

"Penalties come when you're racing with small margins, that's just the way it is. The trick is to take them without losing," says Kjellberg.

The fight continued with a number of exciting manoeuvres all the way to the finish, where the Swedish crew reduced the Danish lead to 2 – 1.

In the fourth match Kjellberg got penalized in the pre start, after not keeping clear of Ulrikkeholm. The Swedes gained a lead, but the Danish crew kept so close that Kjellberg couldn't find the time to make her turn. Kjellberg had to slow down, and tried all different tricks to get contact between the boats in order to level the penalty. With her routine and experience, Ulrikkeholm didn't fall into that trap.

"When your opponent has a penalty, it's important to keep close but with a safety margin, and we're quite good at that," Ulrikkeholm laughs.

Kjellberg's last call was to take the Danish skipper far beyond the finish line, in order to take her penalty on the way back. That risky move first seemed to be successful, but when the Swede right on the finish line got one more penalty for not keeping clear, Ulrikkeholm could take the important victory, for the match and for the 2014 Lysekil Women's Match:

"Anna did everything right, but so did we. She really gave us some grey hair," Ulrikkeholm comments.

"If we can continue sailing like this, the victories will come to us sooner or later. Maybe we'll be able to feel satisfied also with this achievement after a while," says Kjellberg.

Saturday's racing in Lysekil Women's Match began with the conclusion of both semis 3 – 0, in the favour of Kjellberg and Ulrikkeholm, leaving Swedish Caroline Sylvan and Danish Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen to fight for the bronze. Sylvan couldn't stand the pressure from the far more routine and experienced Danish skipper, and fell in two straight matches: "We made too many mistakes, and then the defeats come," Sylvan comments.

The next stage on the Women's International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) is sailed in Sheboygan, USA, in late September, before it's time for the grand final in Busan, Korea, in mid October. A WIM Series prize purse of 50 000 US dollars is at stake, in addition to the prize money at each of the five events.

Results:

Final
Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN – Anna Kjellberg, SWE 3 – 1

Petit Final
Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN – Caroline Sylvan, SWE 2 – 0

Semi Finals
Anna Kjellberg, SWE – Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN 3 – 0
Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN – Caroline Sylvan, SWE 3 – 0

Sail-off for 7th place
Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED – Linda Rahm, SWE 1 – 0

Lysekil Women's Match Results:

1. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 100 000 SEK, 25pts
2. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 47 000 SEK, 22pts
3. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN, 39 000 SEK, 19pts
4. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 31 000 SEK, 15pts
5. Stephanie Roble, USA, 27 000 SEK, 13pts
6. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 24 000 SEK, 11pts
7. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 19 000 SEK, 9pts
8. Linda Rahm, SWE, 13 000 SEK, 7pts
9. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 0 SEK, 4pts

2014 WIM Series Standings: (after three stages)

1. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 72pts
2. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 63pts
3. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 46pts
4. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 45pts
5. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 44pts
6. Stephanie Roble, USA, 33pts
7. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN, 32pts
8. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 28pts
9. Annabel Vose, GBR, 25pts
10. Morgane Fountaine, FRA, 14pts
11. Lucie Scheiwiller, FRA, 12pts
12. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 10pts
13. Mary O'Loughlin, IRL, 8pts
14. Linda Rahm, SWE, 7pts
15. Rajaa Al Owaisi, OMA, 6pts
16. Laura Dillon, IRL, 6pts
17. Anastasia Guseva, RUS, 4pts
18. Anne-Christianne Kentgens, NED, 0pts

www.wimseries.com