Womens Match Racing - Rolex Thompson Cup - Day 2

Fierce Competition Marks Race for Rolex Thompson Cup; England's Cordelia Eglin Leads the Fleet with 4-0 Score

Oyster Bay, N.Y. (August 25, 2000) - The world's fourth-ranked female match racing sailor is leading in the competition for the prestigious Rolex Thompson Cup. After 21 races held today on Long Island Sound in 5-8 knot winds, Cordelia Eglin's (London, England) Team Musto is undefeated with four wins and no losses. Sailing with Eglin is Diana Shanks (Cowes, Isle of Wight), Jo Grindley (Cowes, Isle of Wight), and Sarah Allan (London). The Rolex Thompson Cup is hosted by the historic Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and presented by Condé Nast Publications and Self magazine.

With Thursday's racing postponed due to lack of wind, it was imperative that as many races as possible were run today. "Although the weather wasn't as exciting as we would have liked, we were very happy with what we accomplished," said Event Chairman Bruce Cook. "We anticipate a similar day tomorrow weather-wise, and we have modified the round robin pairing list to afford ourselves options to address the weather."

Racing was characteristically competitive for this group of elite women match racers, with leads changing many times during each match. Behind Eglin on the scoreboard are Nadine Stegenwalner (Berlin, GER) and Hannah Swett (Jamestown, R.I./New York, N.Y.), who are tied with three wins each. Crewing for Swett is Dawn Riley, the skipper for the historic all-women team that raced in the America's Cup Trials this past year. Close behind them with two points each are Paula Lewin (Paget, BER), Dru Slattery (Marblehead, Mass.), Cory Sertl (Rochester, N.Y.), and Sharon Ferris (NZL). Sandy Grosvenor (Annapolis, Md.) and Liz Baylis (San Rafael, Calif.) have one point each. The French Team Primagaz (Christine Briand, La Rochelle), Italian (Sabrina Gurioli, Forli) and Danish (Lotte Pedersen, Copenhagen) teams have yet to score a victory, but will have another chance tomorrow, when round-robin racing resumes. The match race finals are set for Sunday, August 27.

More Information:

• www.ThompsonCup.org