Ian Ainslie takes title in Izola - qualifies for World Match Racing To

12:17 PM Tue 16 Feb 2010 GMT

'Evgeniy Neugodnikov lost against Ainslie and placed 2nd - CLEANPORT WINTER CHALLENGE - WORLD TOUR QUALIFIER' JANA PINES Click Here to view large photo

Ian Ainslie won the Cleanport Winter Challenge held in Izola, Slovenia, this weekend. The South African managed to qualify for the World Match Racing Tour after beating homerunner Jure Orel, who unsuccessfully defended last year's title. Second place went to Neugodnikov.

Ten crews from six nations gathered this weekend in Izola, where the World Tour Qualifier match race was scheduled from Friday to Sunday. The weather didn't co-operate for most of the time, blowing 30+ knots Friday tearing apart spinnakers, to barely two knots on Saturday. Extreme conditions allowed only five flights, forcing the race committee and competitors to catch up with the program on Sunday.

On the last day, the fleet of six J-24s left the shore at 8 o'clock in the morning and waited for the right breeze for several hours. Around noon their patience was rewarded. Forecasted burja, a cold local wind blowing from north, finally showed up and organizers got their chance to complete the whole round robin. After 45 disputed matches it became clear that Ian Ainslie was the one who had the best performances in both tricky conditions and in stable winds. He won seven out of nine, losing against last year's winner Jure Orel (SLO), and P. A. Morvan (FRA) but defeated Russian Evgeniy Neugodnikov, who took second place with the same score as Ainslie.

'I have two new members in my team, which is half South African and half Australian now. We are still getting used to each other and winning this event is a good stat of the season,' said Ainslie, 12th on the ISAF Match Race ranking. His next appearance will be at grade 1 VLI open in Spain, after which he is looking to come back in Slovenia and conquer his third Slovenia Match Race Cup title, plus try and gain some extra points which are needed to enter into the top ten ranking.

NAT SKIPPER WON LOST
1. JAR Ian Ainslie 7 2
2. RUS Evgeniy Neugodnikov 7 2
3. ITA Jacopo Pasini 5 4
4. FRA A. Littoz 5 4
5. ITA Simone Ferrarese 5 4
6. SLO Jure Orel 5 4
7. FRA P. A. Morvan 5 4
8. ITA Roberto Ferrarese 4 5
9. MON G.L. Perris 1 8
10. SLO Jon Brecelj 1 8

Ian Ainslie showed great performaces in all wind conditions - CLEANPORT WINTER CHALLENGE - WORLD TOUR QUALIFIER - JANA PINES Click Here to view large photo

by J. Pines

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