Wednesday 15 July 2015 – Issued on behalf of ISAF – The first day of the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final in Vladivostok, Russia gathered pace after a short postponement due to strong winds. Once the winds fell beneath 20 knots the sailing started, with 27 matches in all for the day.
Two sailors, America’s Nicole Breault and Russia’s Vladimir Lypavskiy, both ended the day with a perfect record to sit top of their respective divisions. Breault leads the Women’s division with two wins from two on the day while in the Open division Lypavskiy boasts four from four.
Lypavskiy’s perfect record was under severe pressure during his match with Japan’s Kohei Ichikawa. In a tight encounter, Lypayskiy was penalized for not keeping clear during the tack, but he managed to win the match in the final centimeters when he took his penalty just at the finishing line using all of his luffing rights.
Commenting on the day, ISAF Match Racing Subcommittee member, Michael O’Connor said, “It feels very good after the first racing day and I think the sailors the enjoyed it. Every team got as many races as possible and the course was very close to the shore were there are many spectators.”
Match racing resumes tomorrow.
“Jo”
