Weymouth and Portland International Regatta - Weymouth and Portland, Great Britain

Silja Lehtinen, Silja Kanerva, and Mikaela Wulff (FIN) have defeated Ekaterina Skudina, Elena Oblova, and Elena Siuzeva (RUS) 3-2 in the Finals of The Weymouth and Portland International Regatta.

It went down to the wire in the Women’s Match Racing final between Silja Lehtinen, Silja Kanerva, and Mikaela Wulff (FIN) and Ekaterina Skudina, Elena Siuzeva and Elena Oblova (RUS).

The match swung to-and-fro; Skudina took the race win in the first race but Lehtinen hit back and went ahead 2-1. Lehtinen had the lead in the fourth race but after a poor mark rounding and with problems displaying her spinnaker Skudina pulled ahead to level the tie.

In the deciding race the lead changed hands throughout with neither side taking the bull by the horns and seizing the initiative. The Finnish girls ran into problems after a poor gybe as Lehtinen, at the helm, fell into the water but was saved. And at the finish a Russian penalty enabled Lehtinen to cross the finish line first to take the gold medal.

"What did not happen in the last race?" said Lehtinen. "It was a really exciting match and at the leeward mark we rounded the mark side by side with one lap and it was a good fight."

And crew Kanerva added, "We gave our souls and everything that was left in our muscles."

View an interview with the Finnish Match Race girls here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmQwAnI0KGM.

Olympic Test Event Microsite : http://www.sailing.org/london2012/2011-test-event.php