2023 Women's Match Racing World Championship - powered by Bunker One - at Middelfart, Denmark Day 3
by Mick Anderson 7 Jul 2023 17:02 NZST
3-7 July 2023
Anna Östling was hurt in a spectacular crash in the quarter-finals at the 2023 Women's Match Racing World Championship - powered by Bunker One © Mick Anderson
Swedish skipper injured after a spectacular crash in the hunt for gold
Already littered with spectacular capsizes and impressive sailing, the 2023 Women's Match Racing World Championship proves that women are not afraid to go full throttle when they fight for the gold medal.
A few days ago, Dutch sailors did a spectacular nose-dive followed by a Chinese gybe. The images of the crash went viral within the sailing community.
Today, Swedish skipper Anna Östling, current number two on the match race world ranking list, is already making headlines after she crashed her boat in an aggressive move in the quarter-final against Meghan Thomson (NZL). A move that didn't go as planned.
- It was blowing a lot on the downwind, and I thought I had enough room to gybe behind Meghan. It was a mistake to gybe, but in the gybe, the tiller extension ended up in the mainsheet, so the boat suddenly spun around, and at that moment, I hurt my knee, tells skipper Anna Östling as she is waiting to be brought to the hospital in Kolding for a checkup by doctors.
She lost control of her boat in the tumble, and she and her crew members tumbled around all over the boat. Meanwhile, Meghan Thomson tried hard to avoid a collision head-on.
- It wasn't by purpose, that's for sure. But the two masts hit in the incident, so we are lucky they didn't break, Anna Östling continues.
The umpires penalized the Swedes with two blue flags, and Anna Östling spun the boat once before they crossed the finish line and started assessing the injury to her knee.
With the help of the organizers, she was taken to shore by a RIB for further examination while her crew was trying to figure out how to get on with the next race and keep fighting for the gold medal.
A few moments later, Anna was lifted back onto a RIB and sailed back out to her crew, where they quickly planned how to sail the next race.
- I didn't think I could sail another race, but I wanted to try, even though I couldn't stand on my leg. But by coincidence, I realized the tiller extension could be used as a kane, and with a lot of adrenaline, we decided to give it a go. Maybe it wasn't good for my knee, but I didn't want to end the championship like that, states Anna.
Moments later, the race committee signaled that the next race was about to begin, and the Swedish team made a quick decision.
- I asked my team if they were fine with me back on the boat. Luckily, they said yes. But they also said: Please, keep it simple! And so we did a lot of running away from trouble in the pre-start of the third and final race in the quarter-final.
And they managed to do this by utilizing their excellent boat speed and not only won the pre-start but also sailed fast around the course to take the win and thereby qualify for the semi-final against Celia Willison.
How she did it is unclear, but the Swedish mother and her crew won the first two races in the semi-final. One more victory against the Kiwi crew Friday morning, and the Swedish team qualifies for the final of the World Championship.
- I was hoping that we wouldn't sail more races today. But we did good and won. Now it is time for me to leave. One of the umpires has kindly offered me a ride to the hospital in Kolding, where the doctors will look closely at my knee, ends Anna Östling, before her teammates help her to a stand and put her into a car waiting to take her to the ER.
The potential last race for the Swedes against Meghan Thomson in the semi-final starts Friday at 10.30. In the other semi-final defending world champion Pauline Courtois (FRA) has won two races over Danish skipper Lea Richter Vogelius and her crew and is on course to qualify for the final.
The current world champion, Pauline Courtois (FRA), continues her impressive winning series, and still hasn't lost a match since a race since the end of May, and she sailed another flawless day again today.
Standings after Day 3: