Peter GILMOUR (AUS) is back on top of the world, toppling his year-long rival Ed BAIRD (USA) to claim the number one spot in the final 2005 release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings. In the Women’s Rankings, Claire LEROY (FRA) also ends 2005 on a high, securing the top spot for the seventh release running.
GILMOUR’s win at the final ISAF Grade 1 event of the year, the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, is enough to lift the popular Australian above Alinghi man BAIRD. It is GILMOUR’s fourth ISAF Grade 1 event victory, in what has been an outstanding year from the America’s Cup veteran and reigning Swedish Match Tour Champion. Russell COUTTS (NZL) came closest to upsetting GILMOUR’s ascent, losing a tight final 2-1 in Malaysia, and the Kiwi’s performance is enough to lift him above ISAF Match Racing World Champion James SPITHILL (AUS) into third. These four skippers, who between them count in double figures the number of America’s Cup campaigns they have been involved in and the number of ISAF Match Racing World titles they have won, form a formidable looking Rankings’ top four as 2005 draws to a close.
Ian WILLIAMS (GBR) holds on to fifth place after finishing eighth in Malaysia, a fantastic result for the Brit, who only last summer quit his day job as a lawyer to try his hand on the match racing circuit. The rest of the top ten remain the same as the previous release with only Mathieu RICHARD (FRA) and Paolo CIAN (ITA) trading places to sixth and seventh repectively and Sebastien COL (FRA), Eugeniy NEUGODNIKOV (RUS) and Staffan LINDBERG (FIN) completing the final top ten of 2005.
Outside the top ten British National Champion Mark CAMPBELL-JAMES (GBR) consolidates his position at number 15 after winning the ISAF Grade 3 JPMorgan Asset Management Winter Challenge 2 on his home waters. Meanwhile Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean BARKER (NZL) is back in the top 20 at 18 after winning the ISAF Grade 3 New Zealand Match Racing Championship.
Pierre Antoine MORVAN (FRA) is one of the highest movers near the top, climbing from 47 to 32 after winning the ISAF Grade 3 Championnat de France Espoirs de Match Racing. Multiple Olympic medallist Jochen SCHUEMANN (GER) also moves up from 46 to 39 thanks to his impressive win at the ISAF Grade 2 Berlin Match Race in Germany. Chris DICKSON (NZL) is another famous name who climbs the Rankings this release, gaining 17 places to go from 58 to 41 thanks to a fifth place finish in Malaysia.
Further down the Rankings Takao NINOMIYA (JPN) gets closer to becoming the fourth Japanese sailor in the top 100 as he climbs from 134 to 123 after winning the ISAF Grade 4 Minaniise Autumn Match on his home waters. Meanwhile Manuel MARQUES gets closer to retaining his top 100 spot, and therefore becoming the only Portuguese sailor to hold one, after finish second at the ISAF Grade 3 Portuguese Match Racing Championship. New National Champion, the leader of the 470 ISAF World Sailing Rankings Alvaro MARINHO, is the highest new entrant at 210. Amongst the highest climbers this month is K-Challenge’s (FRA) Thierry PEPONNET (FRA), who gains almost 300 places to go from 503 to 209 thanks to a third place at the ISAF Grade 3 SN Sete Match Race Trophy in France and a ninth at the Monsoon Cup.
Throughout 2005 the top spot in the Rankings was the exclusive property of just two men, Ed BAIRD and Peter GILMOUR. Although the Australian grabbed the final top spot of 2005, BAIRD can find satisfaction from the fact that he held the top spot for five of the nine Rankings releases. With plans for a proposed Match Racing World Tour getting the go ahead at the ISAF Annual Conference in Singapore and the 32nd America’s Cup drawing ever nearer, 2006 looks set to be a fascinating year in the world of head-to-head racing. Despite the success of BAIRD and GILMOUR this year, their duopoly of the number one Ranking position looks seriously under threat, with the youthful SPITHILL and experienced COUTTS having the pair firmly in their sights.
