Le Berre Undefeated In Sheboygan

Morning fog delayed the start of the Buddy Melges Challenge for a while, but as the racing went on in Sheboygan, USA, Anne-Claire Le Berre of France showed her great light wind skills. After day one of the event she stays alone at the top as the undefeated sailor after flawless racing.

“I think we had better speed than the other teams,” commented Le Berre.

Local hope Stephanie Roble sits fourth with a three wins and two losses and was not too unhappy about that after racing, “There’s lots of racing left, so no worries,” she said.

The Buddy Melges Challenge, the fourth and penultimate stage of the 2014 Women’s International Match Series, offered light winds from the south all through Wednesday. The wind was as high as six knots and as low as zero, with just a hundred metres of visibility in a thick morning fog that forced the race management to postpone racing for a couple of hours. Right after noon the first flight went off, with Le Berre immediately kick starting her winning strike, “Today we had a speed advantage that made us sail very well. It’s a lot easier to be clever on the water with decent speed. And getting away well in the starts let us chose the favourable side of the course,” explained the French skipper on her successful day on Lake Michigan, admitting that the race against local hero Stephanie Roble was a close one.

“We were over the starting line too early in that race, but had great speed and boat handling to make a close comeback,” said the American, calling the day “testing”. “Yes, it was a tricky day. Lots of wind shifts and breaks due to lack of wind put our patience to test.”

Caroline Sylvan of Sweden is in third place, even with Roble on a 3-2 record, but compatriot Anna Kjellberg had a tough day fighting fever and chills. The Swedish reigning World Champion finished the day in fifth place after three losses and just two wins. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen of Denmark sits second overall having lost one close match against Stephanie Roble.

“We lead the race all the way to the final gybe on the last run, where I think Stephanie had a bit better control over her boat handling,” analysed Meldgaard Pedersen. “The light conditions gave us time enough to think about our tactics and get the manoeuvres right today.”

The fog rolled in after the fourth flight again, but with the course moved a little closer to shore the fog cleared again after half an hour. Then the wind shifted right and filled back in to five knots. Two more flights were sailed before coming ashore for the debrief and Opening Reception.

The Buddy Melges Challenge is planned to be sailed as a triple round-robin, followed by a repechage round on Saturday and then semi-finals and final on Sunday. Eight skippers were signed to participate, but Canadian Chantal Hearst dropped out late due to crew illness.

Standings in the round-robin of the 2014 Buddy Melges Challenge (skipper name, nationality, wins/losses):
1. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 5 – 0
2. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN, 4 – 1
3. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 3 – 2
4. Stephanie Roble, USA, 3 – 2
5. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 2 – 3
6. Juliana Senfft, BRA, 1 – 4
7. Madeline Gill, USA, 0 – 6