Women's International Match Race Series Busan Cup - Day 3

Team Kattnakken (Trine Palludan - skipper, Lea Richter Vogelius - main, Josefine Boel Rasmussen - trimmer/tactics, Helle Jespersen - trimmer, Joan Vestergaard Hansen - bow) on their way to going undefeated in the round on day 3 of the WIM Series Busan Cup © Kim Wolf / Busan Cup

A slow start to the day as the wind alternated between spinning circles and glassing off completely. The patience of the race committee paid off as the round robin was completed in a light cold northerly breeze before moving on to the quarter-finals. Three of the four quarter-finals were decided with the last one to be finished tomorrow at the Busan Cup Women's International Match Race.

The morning saw the completion of the round robin stage and the fight for the top of the leaderboard. Trine Palludan and her Danish Team Kattnakken continued their domination finishing the round robin undefeated and earning the right to choose their quarter-final opponent. "It was difficult out there. It must have been very frustrating for Alfredo (Ricci, event Principle Race Officer) as the wind shifted around. It was a bit crazy – one minute the crew is hiking out fully and then they are sitting to leeward" Palludan commented as she waited ashore for her quarter-final match to begin.

After the round robin the skippers gathered on the signal boat for the quarter-final draw where they surprised Principle Race Officer Alfredo Ricci with a lighthearted rendition of "Happy Birthday", much to the embarrassment of Ricci. With the focus back on the races at hand, Palludan selected WIM Series rookie, Sarah Parker from Australia, as her opponent in the quarter-finals.

With six K30 boats in the Busan Sailing Federation fleet, the first three pairs of quarter-finalists took to the water leaving Team Kattnakken and Team Parker to wait for one of the other pairs to finish before they could sail.

The scores of the first three quarter-finals may appear lopsided with each ending 3-0, but the sailors all confided that the matches were very close and there were many lead changes in the shifty breeze.

Swedish Team Anna skipper Anna Östling noted the keys to her team's wins: "The team work was very smooth and the dance moves on the boat worked very well. In all of the pre-starts we were able to be where we wanted to be and were then able to go the way we wanted to after the start."

"The races were really close. Getting a good start was key in the light and shifty conditions. We had two good starts and the race where we did not win the start we stayed close and pass on the first run." Team Mac skipper Lucy Macgregor said with a smile as she came ashore after racing.

French skipper Pauline Courtois felt good coming off the water having won 5 of the six matches her Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team sailed: "We had a good day. We kept the boat moving well and sailed to the shifts."

All of the sailors were quite keen to leave the venue and the skippers kept their remarks short as the sun was setting and the temperatures were dropping fast. Tomorrow's forecast will once again challenge everyone as more cold temperatures and light winds will great the sailors.

Quarter-Final Results:

• Anna Östling, SWE defeats Renée Groeneveld, NED 3-0
• Lucy Macgregor, GBR defeats Caroline Sylvan, SWE 3-0
• Pauline Courtois, FRA defeats Marinella Laaksonen, FIN 3-0
• Trine Palludan, DEN leads Sarah Parker, AUS 1-0 (To be completed Friday)

1- Trine Palludan, DEN, Team Kattnakken, 11-0
2- Pauline Courtois, FRA, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, 9-2
3- Lucy Macgregor, GBR, Team Mac, 8-3
4- Anna Östling, SWE, Team Anna, 8-3
5- Caroline Sylvan, SWE, New Sweden Match Racing Team, 7-4
6- Renée Groeneveld, NED, Matchrace Team Netherlands, 7-4
7- Marinella Laaksonen, FIN, L2 Match Racing Team, 5-6
8- Sarah Parker, AUS, Team Parker, 4-7

9- Clare Costanzo, AUS, Team Costanzo, 3-8
10- Alexa Bezel, SUI, Swiss Women Match Race Team, 3-8
11- Linnea Floser, SWE, Peregrine Racing, 1-10
12- Eunjin Kim, KOR, Team Ladies, 0-11

The Busan Cup Women's International Match Race in Busan, South Korea, continues Friday with the remaining quarter-final matches followed by the semi-finals, then the final races, prize giving and closing ceremonies 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.