Souter (AUS) leads fleet into quarter finals

With eleven wins and two losses over three days of sailing, the 24-year old from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney, and her crew of Kylie McKillop, Lilly Taylor and Rayshele Martin only had two races today, and good clean starts ensured they emerged victorious from both.

“Our pre-start against Lehtinen was pretty good. She stalled out on the startline, and we sailed through to leeward,” says Souter. “Then we sailed away from Josie Gibson off the start.” Souter won by a margin of nine seconds over Lehtinen, and 14 over Gibson.

Souter is joined in the Quarter Finals by reigning champion and world number one, Claire Leroy of France, whose single loss today against Josie Gibson didn’t affect her overall standing in the regatta.

Leroy shares her overall tally of ten wins and three losses with Silja Lehtinen of Finland.

The other three sailors to qualify in the Round Robin for the quarter finals are Silke Halbrook of Germany, Josie Gibson of Great Britain, and Jess Smyth of New Zealand, each on eight wins and five losses.

Souter confesses that she is feeling good about the quarter finals, but will be more confident when she knows who will be joining them from the repecharge; amongst the eight still competing are world number two Lotte Meldgaard Pederson from Denmark, number three Katie Spithill from Australia, and number four Christelle Philippe of France.

Conditions in Auckland today were very similar to those of yesterday – a 12-18 knot north-north easterly which eased slightly during the course of the afternoon.

Repecharge rounds are currently being sailed and will be completed later tonight or on Saturday morning, the fourth day of racing. After five wins from five races Australian Katie Spithill has already emerged as the seventh confirmed starter for tomorrow’s Quarter Final and the eighth position will be occupied by either Christelle Philippe of France or American Liz Baylis, who each have four wins and one loss.

The BSPORT ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championships are hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and sponsored by BSPORT, Giltrap City Toyota and Auckland City Council.

Racing starts at approximately 10am each day on the inner Waitemata Harbour, concluding on Sunday 6 April. Ongoing reports will be available on the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s website, www.rnzys.org.nz

Round Robin Results (top six skippers qualify for quarter finals)

1. Nicky Souter AUS - 11 wins / 2 losses
2. Claire Leroy FRA - 10 / 3
3. Silja Lehtinen FIN - 10 / 3
4. Silke Hahlbrock GER - 8 / 5
5. Josie Gibson GBR - 8 / 5
6. Jess Smyth NZL - 8 / 5
7. Liz Baylis USA - 7 / 6
8. Katie Spithill AUS - 6 / 7
9. Lotte Meldgaard DEN - 6 / 7
10. Gemma Farrell GBR - 5 / 8
11. Jan Dawson NZL - 4 / 9
12. Christelle Philippe FRA - 4 / 9
13. Camilla Ulrikkeholm DEN - 2 / 11
14. Sabrina Gurioli ITA - 2 / 11