Macgregor wins Busan, Team Ulrikkeholm wins WIM Series

Busan, South Korea (October 16, 2014) – The only team to have won two out of five events on the 2014 Women’s International Match Racing (WIM) Series is the new titleholder. With substitute skipper Trine Palludan finishing 4th in the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, Danish World # 1 Team Ulrikkeholm secures the Terry J Kohler Perpetual Trophy and the USD 25,000 prize check.

“This was our main goal for the season, and we’re so happy to have reached it,” says Palludan, with Camilla Ulrikkeholm herself cheering via Skype from Denmark.

“I’m extremely happy that the girls performed so well in Busan. I knew they had the potential,” says Ulrikkeholm, the regular skipper.

When the 2014 WIM Series concluded Thursday with the semis and the final of the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, bright sunshine from a clear blue sky, but somewhat wacky winds off the Haeundae Beach, characterized the racing. 2013 WIM Series champion Lucy Macgregor of Great Britain survived the difficult conditions incomparably. First she defeated Swedish World Champion Anna Kjellberg 3 – 1 in their very tight and exciting semi final.

“Our starts got better and better, as we improved during the day,” Macgregor comments.

In the final the British skipper then put up a fierce fight against Australian Katie Spithill, a fight that wasn’t decided until the very end.

“It’s never over until it’s over, and it definitely wasn’t easy today,” Macgregor points out, giving an example from the last match. “All day we’ve been quite close to pushing Katie over the starting line too early, and finally we achieved it. When she had to turn back it gave us a little breathing room, but on the last run she came from behind and we didn’t know what the breeze would do next,” she explains.

“We had first place within our grasp, but we’re happy with second. We made some silly mistakes towards the end of the day, and got some umpire calls against us,” the Australian Champion Katie Spithill comments.

Anna Kjellberg faced Trine Palludan in the petite finale, and the Swede secured her podium place in Busan with two straight wins over the fellow Scandinavians of Team Ulrikkeholm.

“After losing the semi final we recharged and told ourselves that we had to reach the podium,” says Kjellberg, revealing her tactics. “All year we’ve been good at bringing experience from previous races, and so we did today too. In the petite finale we always tried to position ourselves between Trine and the gusts of wind, in order to get them first.”

“Not to win a single match on the final day of an event is always tiresome, especially since many of them were very tight,” sighs Palludan.

Nevertheless, with her fourth place in the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, Trine Palludan secures the 2014 WIM Series Terry J Kohler Perpetual Trophy and a prize check of USD 25,000 to Danish World #1 Team Ulrikkeholm, with regular skipper Camilla Ulrikkeholm.

“The WIM Series has been hard fought over five months with only one team winning more than one event, and by virtue of that stellar effort that team is our Series champion,” says WIM Series Manager Liz Baylis.

World Champion Anna Kjellberg of Sweden gets a prize check of USD 15,000 for finishing runner-up in the 2014 WIM Series, just five points behind the Danes. USD 10,000 for third place in the WIM Series 2014 goes to Anne-Claire Le Berre, France.

Altogether 26 teams with 150 sailors from 15 nations have participated in the 2014 WIM Series events in Ireland, France, Sweden, USA and Korea.

“We entered this week’s events with five teams vying for the podium places, and the Series podium places ultimately only being decided in these last two days by very few points,” says Liz Baylis, continuing. “One point separated 3rd from 4th and the top two podium spots were only decided in the semi finals today. It couldn’t have been more exciting!”

Results in the final of the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race:
Lucy Macgregor, GBR – Katie Spithill, AUS 3 – 2

Results in the petite finale:
Anna Kjellberg, SWE – Trine Palludan, DEN 2 – 0

Results in the semi final:
Katie Spithill, AUS – Trine Palludan, DEN 3 – 1
Lucy Macgregor, GBR – Anna Kjellberg, SWE 3 – 1

Total results in the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race
(skipper, country, WIM Series points, prize money)
1. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 25, USD 20,000
2. Katie Spithill, AUS, 22, USD 15,000
3. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 20, USD 12,000
4. Trine Palludan, DEN, 16, USD 10,000
5. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 15, USD 9,000
6. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 14, USD 8,000
7. Stephanie Roble, USA, 13, USD 7,000
8. Denise Lim, SIN, 12, USD 6,000
9. Susannah Pyatt, NZL, 10, USD 5,000
10. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 8, USD 4,000
11. Urara Fujii, JPN, 6, USD 2, 000
12. Sung Eun Choi, KOR, 4, USD 2,000

Final results in the 2014 WIM Series, after five stages out of five
(skipper name, nationality, WIM Series points, prize money)
1. Camilla Ulrikkeholm/Trine Palludan, DEN, 88, USD 25,000
2. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 83, USD 15,000
3. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 69, USD 10,000
4. Stephanie Roble, USA, 68
5. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 59
6. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN, 57
7. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 45
8. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 36
9. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 25
10. Annabel Vose, GBR, 25
11. Katie Spithill, AUS, 22
12. Morgane Fountaine, FRA, 14
13. Denise Lim, SIN, 12
14. Juliana Senfft, BRA, 12
15. Lucie Scheiwiller, FRA, 12
16. Susannah Pyatt, NZL, 10
17. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 10
18. Madeline Gill, USA, 8
19. Mary O’Loughlin, IRL, 8
20. Linda Rahm, SWE, 7
21. Urara Fujii, JPN, 6
22. Rajaa Al Owaisi, OMA, 6
23. Laura Dillon, IRL, 6
24. Sung Eun Choi, KOR, 4
25. Anastasia Guseva, RUS, 4
26. Anne-Christianne Kentgens, NED, 0

Report by WIMS media. Photo by Photos by Kim Wolf/kimwolf.com.

Background: Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race (October 11-16) is the fifth and final stop on the Women’s International Match Racing Series, a professional sailing circuit, hosted by the Women’s International Match Racing Association for the world’s leading women match racing sailors. Series website: http://www.wimseries.com