The Royal Cork Yacht Club are hosting the ISAF Grade 1 Grand Final, held in association with Failte Ireland, the Irish Sports Council, and Smart Telecom, of the fourth edition of the ISAF Nations Cup.

With France’s Mathieu RICHARD, Russia’s Eugeniy NEUGODNIKOV and Ian AINSLIE for Cup defenders South Africa putting in very strong performances, Sweden and the USA had to fight it out for the remaining semi-final slot.

ANGEL Wins Crunch Match

The USA team, led by Brian ANGEL, lost out to New Zealand’s Simon DICKEY in flight 17, after receiving a penalty before the start for a late approach to the line and tacking in New Zealand water. This set up a crunch match in flight 18 between ANGEL and Sweden’s Martin ANGSELL.

ANGEL was ahead at the bottom mark with ANGSELL just behind. ANGEL received a penalty at the top mark and had just enough room to unwind at the finish and win and go through to the semi-finals tomorrow.

France and Russia were also fighting a tough battle in flight 18. Russia had a pre-start penalty for luffing too quickly, the dialled up the first beat to unwind at the top mark but France infringed on them and it evened out the penalties. France took advantage of being ahead and took the race and with it top spot in the round robin. Therefore RICHARD gets to choose who he will face in tomorrow’s semi-final match.

Great Finish

The remaining matches in flight 18 were superb. Ireland’s George KINGSTON and Portugal’s Helder BASILIO fought it out, with a huge lump of seaweed making its way through the start line adding an extra dimension to the start. Ireland nailed the pin end but is was Portugal who powered through over them and reached the top mark first. Ireland nearly got water at the bottom mark but Portugal rounded ahead of them and went onto take the race.

Argentina’s Juan GRIMALDI and New Zealand had a great race. Both boats struggled to hold position at the start in the 20 knot wind. It was an even start with GRIMALDI just ahead at the start. New Zealand were hit with a penalty for a port and starboard incident at the beginning of the first beat and never recovered from there. GRIMALDI went on to take the match.

The South African team who took control against the Indian team of Mahesh RAMCHANDRAN in match three of flight 18. India was to leeward and slightly ahead lee bowing, however South Africa had enough speed to overtake and dominated to win the race.

LEROY And SOUTER Cruise To Semis

In the women’s event it was equally exciting. Australia's Nicky SOUTER and France's Claire LEROY sailed easily into the semi final along with Denmark's Lotte MELDGAARD PEDERSEN and the Netherlands' Klaartje ZUIDERBAAN. Bermuda lost out  to  fourth position  due  to the last raced sailed against the Netherlands in flight 14. Australia have yet to decide who they will race against in the semi finals tomorrow.

For Ireland they had a disappointing loss in Flight 15, leading the Australia from the start, they managed to squeeze them at the start and forced a tack on Australia. Then the Irish encountered a problem on the downwind leg and it left Australia with an easy win. The most exciting race of the day with camera men onboard was between Netherlands and Ireland. Ireland received a penalty during the pre-start , but the Irish girls pushed as hard as they could and took a significant lead on the first beat, but had yet to clear their penalty. The Irish were able to clear their penalty at the top of the second beat and they continued on to win by a short margin. The Irish fought a fight that can only be described as fierce and were just pipped in the last flight and not allowing them to finish in the top four for the semi finals.

ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final Results

Open

Round Robin Standings
(Up to Flight 14)

1. France, Mathieu RICHARD, 11-3
2. Russia, Eugeniy NEUGODNIKOV, 11-3
3. South Africa, Ian AINSLIE, 10-4
4. Sweden, Martin ANGSELL, 9-5
5. USA, Brian ANGEL, 8-6
6. New Zealand, Simon DICKEY, 6-8
7. Argentina, Juan GRIMALDI, 5-8
8. India, Mahesh RAMCHANDRAN, 3-11
9. Portugal, Helder BASILIO, 3-11
10. Ireland, George KINGSTON, 3-11

Women's

Round Robin Standings
(Up to Flight 13)

1. France, Claire LEROY, 13-3
2. Australia, Nicky SOUTER, 12-4
3. Denmark, Lotte MELDGAARD PEDERSEN, 11-5
4. Netherlands, Klaartje ZUIDERBAAN, 9-7
5. Bermuda, Paula LEWIN, 9-7
6. Ireland, Mary O'LOUGHLIN, 7-9
7. Great Britain, Lucy MACGREGOR, 5-11
8. New Zealand, Jess SMYTH, 5-11
9. Brazil, Rossana RAMOS, 1-15

For all the news on the Grand Final CLICK HERE.

The ISAF Nations Cup, which was first introduced to the world in 1991, is based on a series of Regional Finals with the top crews meeting at the Grand Final. The aim of the event is to broaden the availability of match racing and provide international match racing competition for national authorities and sailors at a reasonable cost, whilst acting as an incentive for national match racing programmes.

For a complete list of all the news from the ISAF Nations Cup 2006 CLICK HERE.