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The world's best female match racers are about to do battle in New Zealand for the first time.
Starting on Wednesday and running through to next Sunday (April 6), the Waitemata Harbour will play host to the first BSPORT ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championships ever held in the Southern Hemisphere.
Fourteen of the world's top women match racers from nine countries will take part in the championships, which are being run by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
They include the world champion, Claire Leroy, from France, who has held the number one spot in the ISAF Women's Ranking List since May 2005, and world number 2 Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen from Denmark.
The Australian women's match racing champion and world number 3, Katie Spithill, will also be competing, as will the fourth-placed Christelle Philippe of France.
Other notable contenders include former Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, American Liz Baylis, now 10th in the world and the world number 6, Silke Hahlbrock from Germany.
There will also be top contenders from Finland, Great Britain and Italy.
New Zealand has two competitors in the championships. Jess Smyth, the only New Zealander to campaign on the international match racing circuit, is ranked 20th in the world. A three-time national women's match racing champion, the 23-year-old also owns her own business, managing to combine entrepreneurship with top-level competition.
The other Kiwi in the field has an equally impressive CV. Jan Dawson is CEO of accounting giant KPMG, president of Yachting New Zealand and the the country's women's keelboat champion.
A sailor since her youth, Dawson only started match racing in 1999. Ranked 77th in the world, she is not competing to just make up the numbers: her aim is make the top four at these championships.
Sara Roberts, sailing manager at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, says the ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championships are an opportunity to inspire New Zealand's female sailors to go further in their sailing careers.
"More women are sailing than ever before," she says. "However, right now, you're more likely to find them taking part in mixed fleets, racing with men and other women, at all levels.
"Yet, as the two New Zealand entrants in these world championships show, match racing can open the door for female sailors of all ages to achieve world class excellence."
Roberts says women's match racing has a growing presence in the South Pacific, a strong international circuit and is up for inclusion in the 2012 Olympics in London.
The BSPORT ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championships will be sailed on the Waitemata Harbour on April 2-6. They are being organised by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and sponsored by BSPORT, Giltrap City Toyota and Auckland City Council. Ongoing reports will be available from April 2 on the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's website: www. rnzys.org.nz
