Van Acker And Rindom Set For Final Day Laser Radial Shootout

Just one point separates Belgium’s Evi Van Acker and Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom in the Laser Radial heading into the final day of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The Belgian, a London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, and Danish racers traded blows on the penultimate day taking a win and a second apiece with minimal separation on the race track. Rindom came out flying in the opening race and took the lead from the start and she never looked back, sealing the deal by over 30 seconds over Van Acker.

Van Acker was dominant in the second race of the day, demonstrating exceptional downwind speed throughout to pull away from the pack.

As it stands Van Acker holds the lead on 11 points with Rindom on 12. Tuula Tenkanen (FIN) and Alison Young (GBR) are in the hunt behind the leading pair on 22 points but will likely fight their own battle on the final day.

“Wow, what a really nice day,” beamed Van Acker after racing. “I really wasn’t expecting this when coming to Abu Dhabi so yea, wow. It was a really nice day, really fun sailing with really big waves, nice breeze and how it should be every day.

“For me it was a good day. I was second in the first race but it didn’t go so well. I was lucky to be really fast on the downwind so that made me some gains. In the second race I was good from the beginning and got the lead and kept on extending it. I am really happy.”

Rindom was quick to echo her rivals thoughts on the days racing, “I like the weather, it’s so much better than Denmark at this time of year,” smiled Rindom, “I actually thought there was going to be no wind here but the conditions are so good.

“It was a brilliant day, I love the conditions and we had two good races which were done really fast by the Race Committee and the wind was perfect.”

The level of competition in the Laser Radial fleet has been exceptional. World Champions in their numbers have battled it out over three days and now it all comes down to Sunday’s Medal Race.

With double points on offer the game is wide open and Van Acker knows it’s going to be tough, “I think I will just sail my own race. It’s one point so you can’t really do a lot. It’s also quite close behind us so it’s not like we have a 20 point lead over the rest. It will be really tricky and on the inside course [just off the Corniche] it will be really hard but I’m happy with my day and hoping to continue that tomorrow.”

Rindom also remains wary, playing down her chances, “I don’t know how I’ll go into tomorrow yet, I have to go home and figure out what the points are. I can imagine there are some girls behind going for the win so we will just have to see.”

Racing is scheduled to commence across the ten Olympic and open kiteboarding event from 10:00 local time on 30 November 2014.

Live Tracking

The racing will be available to watch in 2D and 3D via the live tracking.

Click here to view live tracking.

Race Highlights

Fully-produced highlight packages from 27-30 November will be available to view on the ISAF Sailing World Cup YouTube Channel here.

Results

Results will be available straight from the water here – www.sailing.org/worldcup/results/index.php

Click here to view the entry list.

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About ISAF Sailing World Cup Final Abu Dhabi

All ten Olympic events will be contested in Abu Dhabi from 26-30 November, with an open kiteboarding event joining the fray around Lulu Island off the UAE capital’s stunning Corniche.
 
With just 20 boats in each event the competition is set to be fierce.  Equipment will be supplied in eight of the ten Olympic events (RS:X sailors shall bring their own equipment) and support will be available for travel expenses and accommodation.

The Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club will host the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final with some technical facilities located at the adjacent Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club. The venue is located on the main island of the city with immediate access to the beautiful waters of the Arabian Gulf.

The ten Olympic events will contest an opening series and a Medal Race with the kiteboard fleet using a short track format.  Prize money will be in awarded to the top three overall finishers in each of the Olympic events from a total prize purse of US$200,000.

The qualification system for the 2014 Final was published on 30 July 2014 and is included Addendum A of the Notice of Race.  Click here for the Notice of Race. The first sailors to secure their place were confirmed at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander where the top ten in each event were offered a place.