Women's International Match Race Series Busan Cup - Day 1

Danish Team Kattnakken (Trine Palludan) leads Korean Team Ladies (Eunjin Kim) on day 1 of the WIM Series Busan Cup © Kim Wolf / Busan Cup

The Busan Cup Women's International Match Race started on time under sunny skies but with a shifty north-westerly breeze keeping the teams and the race committee on their toes all day. "The morning was relatively steady when you compare it to the puffy and shifty conditions the afternoon group faced", commented Chief Umpire Gary Manuel (AUS).

Racing started on time in the prevailing north-westerly which fluctuated throughout the day challenging the sailors with shifty and puffy conditions. "The race committee was very efficient in running the races this morning. Giving us enough time between races, but not wasting any time" 2016 Busan Cup runner-up Lucy Macgregor (GBR) remarked after coming ashore with the morning group of sailors. Team Mac finished the first day with 3 wins and two losses.

The Danish team skippered by Trine Palludan, Team Kattnakken, took advantage of the shifty conditions in the morning to finish the day undefeated with a scorecard of 5 wins and no losses. Palludan offered these thoughts: "Whenever you sail here in Busan you must be careful to sail to the shifts. You cannot rely on simply covering the other boat, if you do that you can't win. Everyone on board is involved in deciding where to go and keeping the boat sailing fast. We are very happy with how we did today."

When the second group of six teams took to the water in the afternoon the winds decreased slightly to 4 or 5 knots and for a time became even more shifty before gradually increasing to over 12 knots.

In the afternoon group, Swedish skipper Caroline Sylvan and her New Sweden Match Racing Team also conquered the conditions and ended the day undefeated. When asked about her day, Sylvan responded with a smile: "Great! It was a lot of fun. We kept improving with every manoeuvre and the girls did an amazing job keeping everything running smoothly."

With more than half of the initial round-robin stage still to be completed over the next two day, there is plenty of room for positions to change in the results table before the quarter-final knockout stage. The weather may also influence the outcomes as a cold front is due to pas through region and bring with it strong breeze and rain.

The Busan Cup Women's International Match Race in Busan, South Korea, continues Wednesday with more round-robin racing, to be followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, then the conclusion final races, prize giving and closing ceremony on Saturday the 18th of November. The race village, open to the public with large video screens, is based in the historic Suyeong Bay Yacht Center which hosted the Olympic Sailing Competition in 1988.

Results after day 1 of the round-robin:

1. Trine Palludan, DEN, Team Kattnakken, 5-0
1. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, New Sweden Match Racing Team, 5-0
3. Pauline Courtois, FRA, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, 4-1
4. Renée Groeneveld, NED, Matchrace Team Netherlands, 3-2
4. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, Team Mac, 3-2
4. Marinella Laaksonen, FIN, L2 Match Racing Team, 3-2
7. Anna Östling, SWE, Team Anna, 2-3
7. Sarah Parker, AUS, Team Parker, 2-3
9. Linnea Floser, SWE, Peregrine Racing, 1-4
9. Clare Costanzo, AUS, Team Costanzo, 1-4
9. Alexa Bezel, SUI, Swiss Women Match Race Team, 1-4
12. Eunjin Kim, KOR, Team Ladies, 0-5

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Opening Ceremony of the WIM Series Busan Cup - photo © WIM Series