The sea-filled, volcanic crater that is today the Charlotte Amalie harbor is picture postcard famous for its lush green mountains rising to over 1,500-feet high. It is this topography that created a continual curve ball of wind shifts that challenged every one of the 12 international teams competing on the first day of racing in the 2018 Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) Finale. The match races are being hosted at the Carlos Aguilar Match Race (CAMR), today through Sunday.
Combined with light 5 to 10 knots of breeze, it was a day where even the smallest mistake or break could mean the difference between winning and losing. By day’s end, with eight flights in the first full round-robin completed, three teams emerged undefeated.
“It was a good day for us. A really good first day. It was warm, sunny and we’re in the lead,” said French skipper Pauline Courtois, who sailed in the 2016 CAMR, won the 2017 WIM Series and is leading this year’s series going into the V.I. event. “The wind was really crazy, with big shifts, but my crew did an amazing job to keep us in the lead all day.”
Courtois, whose Match In Pink by Normandy Elite Team of Maëlenn Lemaître, Louise Acker and Sophie Faguet, said familiarity with the boat is something she gained during the 2016 event, and it served her well today in earning five wins.
“It’s a small, light boat that is good for match racing,” Courtois said of the IC24 used by the CAMR.
The two other undefeated teams for the day are Sweden’s Team Anna, with skipper Anna Ostling, and the Dutch Match Racing Team helmed by Renee Groeneveld. Groeneveld won the 2016 WIM Series Finals at the CAMR.
The USA’s Morgan Collins also sailed in this event in 2016. She found past experience aboard an IC24 and sailing in the Charlotte Amalie harbor a benefit.
“I like the boat. It’s quick to respond. I also like to sail in offshore breeze in shifty conditions and that’s what we had in the harbor. Knowing the racing area, especially the start and tricky area near the sea wall, is an advantage. Basically, our goal was to get the boat moving well as a team and build our speed,” said Collins, who is the assistant sailing coach at Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, Virginia.
Yet another 2016 WIM Series Finale at the CAMR veterans is Sweden’s Linnea Floser, who this year is competing with her Peregrine team of Hanna Ericksson, Sarah Ragle and Ann Johnson.
“The winds were definitely shiftier than we are use too and we had several close matches. The goal was not to make any big mistakes and capitalize on the small details to go faster. We won our last match of the day and I think what helped was a learning curve, trying crew in different positions and getting more speed upwind. With those lessons learned, we’ll be a more dangerous team to beat tomorrow,” said Floser, who started match racing career in 2015 and warmed up for this event by spending a few days earlier snorkeling on the neighboring island of St. John.
The CAMR is a World Sailing (WS)-provisional Grade One event. The format will feature a full round robin of all teams followed by knockout quarterfinals for the top 8, then knockout semi-finals, petit-finals and finals. Racing continues Friday at 9 a.m. local time.
Standings After Eight Flights in the First Full Round-Robin
Numbers Indicate Wins-Loses
1. Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 5-0
2. Anna Östling, Team Anna, SWE, 3-0
2. Renée Groeneveld, Dutch Match Racing Team, NED, 3-0
4. Margot Vennin, Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 4-1
5. Johanna Bergqvist, Team Bergqvist Match Racing, SWE, 2-1
6. Octavia Owen, Athena Racing, GBR, 3-2
7. Margot Riou, APCC Women Sailing Team, FRA, 1-2
8. Linnea Floser, Peregrine Racing, SWE, 1-4
8. Helena Nielsen, Team Nielsen, SWE, 1-4
8. Morgan Collins, Caribbean Wind Racing, USA, 1-4
11. Sanna Mattsson, Swedish Women’s Match Racing Team, SWE, 0-3
11. Janel Zarkowsky, Team As One, USA, 0-3
