Dominant Shaw Seals The Deal In the Women's RS:X

Bryony Shaw (GBR) converted her outstanding week of racing into ISAF Sailing World Cup Final gold on the final day of racing in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The British racer has been flawless throughout the series and took a 16 point lead into the Medal Race. The Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medallist put in an assured, astute performance coming through in second to claim the honours.

“I am really pleased that I’ve had such a convincing win here,” said Shaw with a beaming smile. “It’s been a tough year in that I keep missing out on the podiums. I managed to win in Miami back in the beginning of the year. This being the end of the year it’s nice to be back on top of the podium and I hope I can take that momentum into next year.”

Charline Picon (FRA) had an outside chance of taking gold but knew she would have to force Shaw towards the back of the back and take a win. The pair went head to head as Shaw explained, “There was some really shifty and puffy wind on the first beat and I was keeping my eye on the French girl and I matched her every move which was quite fun. The two of us managed to get the best pressure up the first beat and rounded in first and fourth. I was leading the race and then one of the Chinese girls was sailing a good race and overtook me. I then maintained second all the way round and kept the French girl behind me.

“I just went in with a clear strategy and had an eye on my main rival.”

Picon fought hard to catch Shaw but also had to keep an eye on Blanca Manchon (ESP) who was in third and within touching distance. “I had a good battle with Bryony but I had to keep in front of Blanca to keep silver,” said Picon. “I did a good job by doing that at the start and then I attacked Bryony. But she raced well finishing second with me third so she took gold and I took silver.”

The French racer claimed her first world title a few months ago and came into Abu Dhabi with a reduced training schedule. With minimal time on the water she was buoyed by her performance, “Since the Worlds I only had six days of training. Coming here to discover a new country I did some good work at the start but I didn’t race well so silver is okay.”

Manchon completed the podium whilst the Medal Race victory went the way of Manjia Zheng (CHN) who finishes fourth.

Live Tracking

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

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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.

See what happened in the Finn, 49erFX, 49er and Open Kiteboarding.

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