2016 WIM Series Buddy Melges Challenge - Preview

Anna Östling, Malin Källström, Linnea Wennergren, Marie Berg, Annika Carlunger and Annie Wennergren, winners of the Lysekil Women's Match, the 2nd event on the 2016 WIM Series © Dan Ljungsvik / Lysekil Women's Match

This week will see the Women's International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) midway event, the Buddy Melges Challenge in Sheboygan, USA. With a line-up of nine teams from six countries, the event also holds World Sailing status as the 2016 Women's World Match Racing Championship. Swedish World #1 Anna Östling sits at the top of the WIM Series leaderboard, after two back-to-back victories in the previous events in Helsinki, Finland and Lysekil, Sweden: "We're looking forward to a good battle" says Östling, who will race in Sheboygan with her crew of twin sisters Annie and Linnea Wennergren.

Anna Östling's lead over WIM Series 2016 runner-up and WIM Series 2014 overall winner, Camilla Ulrikkeholm Klinkby, currently equals to a dozen points. As the Danish skipper will not come to the Buddy Melges Challenge this year, it's a golden opportunity for Östling & Co. to further stretch their lead. Quite soon Ulrikkeholm Klinkby will have her second child, and instead of sailing she enjoys some family life and well-deserved rest from the tough life on the international match racing circuit: "We're aiming to be back on WIM Series for the final event, the Carlos Aguilar Match Race in US Virgin Islands in early December" she greets from home in Danish capital Copenhagen.

Pauline Courtois sits on third place on the WIM Series so far, and in the absence of Ulrikkeholm Klinkby the French skipper has a great chance to further climb the leaderboard.

Another skipper to defend the French colours in Sheboygan is World #3 Anne-Claire Le Berre, coming back to WIM Series after a maternity leave. Le Berre is the reigning French national match racing champion after consecutive wins in 2014 and 2015, and she finished last year with a win in Busan, Korea, for a podium position on the 2015 WIM Series: "I had my second child in July, so I have to admit that we haven't sailed very much this year. But we still expect to be in the final in Sheboygan, because I have a very good crew and we know the boats very well. We're really looking forward to some exciting racing in Sheboygan" says Le Berre, racing with Alice Ponsar and Mathilde Geron.

One unique feature of the WIM Series is that each venue offers a different type of boat and with it a different number of crew. In Sheboygan the nine crews will be sailing the Elliott 6m, the exact same fleet of boats that were used in the 2012 London Olympics: "These boats will be sailed with a crew of three, so it's a pretty dramatic change from the crew of six that each team sailed with in the last WIM Series event in Lysekil," WIM Series Manager Liz Baylis concludes.

www.wimseries.com

Standings in the 2016 WIM Series: (after two events out of five)

1. Anna Östling, SWE, 50pts
2. Camilla Ulrikkeholm Klinkby, DEN, 38pts
3. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 36pts
4. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 32pts
5. Stephanie Roble, USA, 22pts
6. Marinella Laaksonen, FIN, 21pts
7. Renée Groeneveld, NED, 20pts
8. Lotte Meldgaard, DEN, 18pts
9. Sanna Häger, SWE, 14pts
10. Alexa Bezel, SUI, 12pts
11. Rikst Dijkstra, NED, 12pts
12. Johanna Bergqvist, SWE, 10pts
13. Antonia Degerlund, FIN, 10pts
14. Susanna Kukkonen FIN, 8pts
15. Diana Kissane, IRL, 7pts
16. Sanna Mattsson, SWE, 5pts

Skipper biographies

Anna Östling, SWE - She started match racing on foredeck, but 32 years old Anna Östling of the Royal Gothenburg YC found her interest in helming rise. After her Olympic debut in Weymouth2012, she finished second in the 2013 inaugural WIM Series. In 2014 Anna became a mother for the first time, and just a few weeks later she took the World Championship title. She finished runner-up in the 2014 WIM Series, and has taken a firm grip on the 2016 WIM Series by winning the first two events. Anna is ranked World #1.

Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA - 33 years old Anne-Claire Le Berre from Brest on the Atlantic coast of France is back on WIM Series after a short maternity leave. She's been into match racing since 2005, with several triumphs in Grade 1-events, and is the reigning national match racing champion after consecutive wins in 2014 and 2015. Anne-Claire finished last year with a win in Busan, for a podium position on the 2015 WIM Series. She's also done an Olympic campaign in the Yngling, and is not only a very skilled sailor, but also a naval architect.

Stephanie Roble, USA - 26 years old Stephanie Roble started sailing dinghies and scows out of Lake Beulah YC. Later she picked up match racing, and together with Maggie Shea she became in 2012 the first woman to win both the US Women's and the Open Match Racing Championships. In 2014 Stephanie Roble won the Etchells Worlds and the US Women's Match Racing Championships. 2014 and 2015 she finished third in the World Championships, and last year she and her Epic Racing Team took the WIM Series title.

Caroline Sylvan, SWE - As "everybody else" in Sweden, 27 years old Caroline Sylvan began her sailing career in the Optimist and Europe dinghies, participating in Nordic and European as well as World Championships. After twice becoming national champion in Laser Radial, she began match racing in 2010 and immediately won the Youth National Championships. In 2012 Caroline reached the podium in the European Championships, and last year she took her second consecutive 4th place in Lysekil and finished 5th on the WIM Series.

Pauline Courtois, FRA - 27 years old sport teacher Pauline Courtois from Brest started sailing at seven and racing at nine. She has been in match racing on different positions since 2011. In 2013 she finished runner-up when calling the tactics for Julie Bossard in the WIM Series event in Saint-Quay-Portrieux, and took a bronze medal in the national championships. Pauline made her skipper debut on the WIM Series in 2014, and opened the 2016 WIM Series season as runner-up in Helsinki in June, followed by 6th place in Lysekil in August.

Renée Groeneveld, NED - In the 2012 Olympic Games in Weymouth, now 29 years old Renée from Haarlemsche Jachtclub close to Amsterdam, reached the quarter finals. After a break from match racing since then, the Dutch skipper made her debut on WIM Series last year, posting 4th places in Sheboygan and Busan. At the 2016 opening event in Helsinki she reached the podium, and is now aiming for the top spot in the World Championship in Sheboygan. When not sailing, Renée looks after customer service and planning at Vopak.

Nicole Breault, USA - A history teacher with a Masters in Teaching and a Masters in Education, and a tutoring practice called the Salty Professor, 44 years old Nicole Breault from the St. Francis Yacht Club also finds some time to go match racing. At the beginning of her career she did bow or main and tactics, but nowadays she's a successful helmsman. In 2015 Nicole won the US Women's Match Racing Championship in Newport, as well as the prestigious Nations Cup in Vladivostok, Russia. Sheboygan is her first 2016 WIM Series event.

Samantha Norman, NZL - Representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, 29 years old physiotherapist Samantha sailed a lot of match racing in 2005 – 2011. She won the inaugural Buddy Melges Challenge in 2009 and finished runner-up the year after. After a long break from sailing, she's come back to match racing this year, winning the national championship in Waitemata Harbour. The Women's Match Racing World Championship in Sheboygan will be her WIM Series debut. Kite surfing is Samantha's favourite nowadays.

Elizabeth Shaw, CAN, – As crew for Stephanie Roble's Epic Racing, Elizabeth from Oakcliff Sailing won the 2015 WIM Series, and finished runner-up in the last event in Lysekil, Sweden. In this year's Women's Match Racing World Championship in Sheboygan, she will for the first time on the WIM Series helm her own team. Shaw has gained a lot of experience from many dinghy classes, as well as from one design racing and offshore boats. After Sheboygan she's aiming to defend the WIM series title with the American Epic Racing team.