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Despite time spent racing in the Star at the start of the year, SCHEIDT was back to his best in the Laser when the major competitions came around, winning both the European and World Championships by a significant margin. At 5,017, points he is narrowly ahead of 49er leaders Chris DRAPER and Simon HISCOCKS (GBR) on 5,011 points with ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ (ESP) counting 4,950 points.

However although SCHEIDT has the highest points total his former Laser rival, Ben AINSLIE (GBR) holds perhaps the best Rankings scorecard in the Finn. The Brit has won the three events he entered this year which gives him five victories and two second places in his seven included events. Of the 2,604 sailors featured in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, AINSLIE comes closest to a perfect sweep of seven first places.

Britain have consistently maintained a position as the most successful nation in the Rankings. This month they feature the two Rankings leaders mentioned above and three second places and a third. The Ukraine, Spain and Germany fare second best with three sailors placed in top three positions, with the Ukrainians counting two of those as Rankings leaders.

From 1 January, the Mistral Rankings will be replaced by those of the RS:X meaning Ho CHI HO (HKG) and Olga MASLIVETS (UKR) will have to battle to regain the top spots they have earnt in the Mistral.

The first Rankings release of 2006 will be on 8 February following the ISAF Grade 1 Sail Melbourne and ISAF Grade 1 Rolex Miami OCR.

1. Men's Windsurfer Mistral
2. Women's Windsurfer Mistral
3. Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser
4. Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial
5. Men's Two Person Dinghy - 470
6. Women's Two Person Dinghy - 470
7. Skiff - 49er
8. Heavyweight Dinghy Finn
9. Multihull - Tornado
10. Women's Keelboat - Yngling
11. Men's Keelboat - Star

1. Men's Windsurfer Mistral

HO Chi Ho is the final leader of the Mistral Rankings Sport The Library

There are no new events counting to the Mens Windsurfer event since the last rankings on 5 October 2005. Whilst two events were scheduled for inclusion, the ISAF Grade 2 Enoshima Olympic and the ISAF Grade 3 Tzeni Grammalidou Cup, neither event included racing for the Mistral fleet.

The rolling calculation of the rankings has had little impact on this the final ISAF World Sailing Rankings for the Mistral Class. Hong Kongs Ho CHI HO concluded the Mistral ranking as the Worlds number one, a position he acquired on 5 October. Behind CHI HO sits Maxim OBEREMKO (UKR), who up until CHI HOs arrival at the number one spot had successfully defended his position as the worlds number one windsurfer for almost a year. And in third place is Ivan PASTOR (ESP).

All eyes await the inclusion of the Neil Pryde RS:X on the ISAF World Sailing rankings, which takes its place from 1 January 2006, with the first rankings release of the year scheduled for 8 February 2006.

Sail Melbourne Regatta will incorporate the inaugural RS:X Oceanic Championships and marks the first time this new Class has made an appearance at an ISAF Graded event and is set to attract a strong and highly competitive RS:X fleet as sailors race to gain experience on the new equipment.

With two ISAF Grade 1 events counting points for the first World Rankings release of 2006, Melbourne and Rolex Miami OCR, 8 February will be an interesting opener for the RS:X.

The Mistral Class was first selected as equipment for the mens and womens windsurfer events in November 1992, and was used at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. The Mistral replaced the Lechner A-390 which was raced at the 1992 Olympics, the first time the womens event was included, with the Lechner A-390 replacing the Windglider which was used at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games.

Men's Windsurfer ISAF World Sailing Rankings

2. Women's Windsurfer Mistral

Olga MASLIVETS remains top in the final Mistral Rankings David Bell

As in the Mens Windsurfer, the womens fleet has no events counting in this final release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings for the Mistral Class, and there is subsequently very little movement in position. The Worlds top 40 remain as per the rankings release of 5 October, led by Olga MASLIVETS (UKR), with Amelie LUX (GER), Blanca MANCHN (ESP) and Antonia FREY (GRE) following behind.

As the sailors careers move across to the Neil Pryde RS:X, many of the Mistral sailors have already contested events on the new Olympic equipment, and just await the opportunity to have their performances measured on the world stage as the full competition programme and World Rankings get underway in 2006.

MASLIVETS has held the top spot since June, before which Olympic Champion Faustine MERRET (FRA) held the number one spot. MERRET has not raced in the Mistral this year, deciding instead to spend time on the Formula circuit to prepare herself for the RS:X. The move seemingly paid off for the French sailor as she won the RS:X Cadiz Race back in October, the biggest RS:X event to date. Come the new year MERRET will be aiming to continue to set the standard in the new Olympic equipment, although this year has proved there are plenty of sailors out there set to challenge her.

Women's Windsurfer ISAF World Sailing Rankings

3. Men's One Person Dinghy Laser

• ISAF Grade 3 Events - Cork Fall Regatta, Canada; Semana de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Laser South Brazilian Championship, Brazil

Robert SCHEIDT is top in the Laser once again segel-bilder.de

Robert SCHEIDT (BRA) finishes the year as a worthy leader of the Laser ISAF World Sailing Rankings, although to say the gap at the top is narrow would be somewhat of an understatement. Having amassed 5,017 points after dominant victories at the Europeans and for the eighth time at the Worlds, the Brazilian lies a mere point ahead of Paul GOODISON (GBR). SCHEIDT and GOODISON have been involved in a year long battle for the top spot, with SCHEIDT holding it on the first Rankings release of the year on 2 February and GOODISON moving to second. There they remained through March and April, before the Brit grabbed the top spot on 4 May, again by a tiny margin of three points, although this time his closest challenger was Olympic bronze medallist, Vasilij ZBOGAR (SLO).

GOODISON confirmed he deserved his place with an emphatic victory at the ISAF Grade 1 Kieler Woche in Germany, but by 3 August the Brazilian was back at the top spot again, and after back to back wins in Spain and Brazil to take victory in both the Europeans and Worlds there was to be no shifting the double Olympic gold medallist.

Athens Olympic silver and bronze medallists Andreas GERITZER (AUT) and ZBOGAR respectively hold third and fourth places with Croatias Mate ARAPOV rounding out the top five.

Australias Tom SLINGSBY (AUS) has been one of the stars of the Laser year, winning at both Hyres and the Holland Regatta in Medemblik to move up into the top ten by the years end. A little further down the Rankings Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Champion Giles SCOTT (GBR) looks to be a sailor to watch, coming up from a place outside the top 200 in the first Rankings release of the year to finish it at number 44. Laser European Youth Champion Simon GROTELUSCHEN (GER) was also a high climber this year and is one to watch for the future, gaining almost 100 places from his 2 February Ranking of 147 to finish 2005 at 61 and with the top 50 as an early goal for 2006. Perhaps most impressive of all is the 24 year old Croatian Aron LOLIC (CRO), whose impressive twelfth at the Europeans helped lift him from a start of the year position of 214 to 36 in this Rankings release.

With SCHEIDT saying he intends to campaign a Star for Beijing, the Laser battle for the next Olympics looks wide open. GOODISON will certainly be aiming to displace his long time rival as he departs the dinghy scene, but with so many old hands around him and new faces coming up to challenge, 2006 is looking to set to be another fascinating year in the Laser.

Men's One Person Dinghy ISAF World Sailing Rankings

4. Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial

World Champion Paige RAILEY stays top of the Rankings LC Moreira

• ISAF Grade W Events - Laser Radial World Championship, Brazil
• ISAF Grade 3 Events - Cork Fall Regatta, Canada

Paige RAILEY (USA) completes an outstanding first year on the senior circuit by holding the top spot in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings into the new year. After her victory at the ISAF Grade W Laser Radial World Championship in Fortaleza, Brazil it is no surprise to see the 18 year old American retain the top spot for the third Rankings release in succession. After topping the very first ISAF World Sailing Rankings for the class back on 2 February (when she tied for top spot with Australian Krystal WEIR), RAILEY returned to the number one spot on 3 August. During the year RAILEY has had one success after another, winning six of the eight events she entered including the ISAF Grade 1 Rolex Miami OCR, the ISAF Grade 1 Laser Midwinters East, the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship and the ISAF Grade C1 Laser Radial European Championship.

Behind RAILEY, Lizzie VICKERS (GBR) moves up to second and is the highest of three British sailors in the top ten. Meanwhile WEIR is third with Laura BALDWIN the second highest Brit and a new entry into the top ten moving from eleven to fourth. Anna TUNNICLIFFEs (USA) performance at the Worlds earnt her a bronze medal and consequently she is another high riser, climbing up to fifth from 17. The other new entry into the top ten this release is Russia's Natalia IVANOV at eight.

Canadian success has been one of the features in the first year of the Laser Radial on the Rankings list. On 4 May, Keamia RASA (CAN) rose to claim the top spot, a position she would hold for the following two releases, until RAILEY reclaimed the position. In this Rankings release Canadians still feature prominently, with ISAF Grade 3 Cork Fall Regatta winner Lisa ROSS her nations highest Ranked sailor at number six.

For Sophie DE TURCKHEIM (FRA) the year began just as promisingly as for RAILEY. Wins at both the ISAF Grade 1 Semaine Olympique Franaise and ISAF Grade 1 Holland Regatta set her up alongside the American as the early pace setter in the class. However bad luck has been the story of the second half of the Frenchwomens year. First a broken foot ruled her out of the competition at the Europeans and then illness marred the opening two days of performance at the Worlds. However she fought back strongly, ending the final race with a bullet to secure the silver medal. That result helps propel her up to 26, in the final Rankings of the year from 38 in October, a position she looks certain to improve upon next year as she adds more events, as she is till only counting five from a possible seven events in her points total.

In the first year of the Laser Radial Rankings the list of Ranked sailors has grown from 55 in the first Rankings release of the year to xxx as 2005 comes to a close. This year the younger sailors seem to have held the advantage, with the experience of racing the Radial at the ISAF Youth Worlds a major boon and a common feature amongst almost all the top sailors. However as former Europe sailors accustom themselves to the new equipment and new youngsters continue to emerge, RAILEY can be sure of having a tough challenge on her hands to retain the Rankings top spot, although for now she looks pretty formidable at the top.

Women's One Person Dinghy ISAF World Sailing Rankings

5. Men's Two Person Dinghy 470

• ISAF Grade 2 Events - Enoshima Olympic Week, Japan
• ISAF Grade 3 Events - Imperial Winter Regatta, Italy

Alvaro MARINHO and Miguel NUNES top the final 470 Rankings of the year MENAHEM KAHANA/ Getty Images

There are two events counting toward this release of the men's 470 rankings, and subsequently very little change to positions. Alvaro MARINHO and Miguel NUNES (POR) maintain their position at the number one spot which they have held since the release of 29 June. Behind them are Gidi KLIGER and Ehud GAL (ISR) at number two and Nick ROGERS and Joe GLANFIELD (GBR) at number three. Sven and Kalle COSTER (NED) hang on to number four but the gap between them and number five is reduced as Dmitri BEREZKIN and Alexandre ZYBIN (RUS) move up from number six, displacing Matthew BELCHER and Nick BEHRENS (AUS).

The rest of the top 20 remains pretty much unchanged with the highest climb coming from Kazuhito SEKI and Yanagawa SYOUCHI (JPN) who finished second in Enoshima to climb seven places to number 12. Tetsuya MATSUNAGA and Ueno TARO (JPN) took victory in Enoshima and with that move seven places up the rankings to number 56, the second highest ranked Japanese team. The biggest mover from Enoshima, aside from the nine new entries, are Jyunichiro SHIRAISHI and R TANIGAWA who finished sixth and now move up 82 places to sit just outside the top one hundred at number 106.

The ISAF Grade 3 Imperia Winter Regatta concluded in Italy just yesterday and with a small fleet, only four have gained ranking points. John GIMSON and Stuart BITHELL (GBR) topped the podium ahead of fellow Brits Jonny MCGOVERN and Tom MAPPLEBECK and both see the rewards in their ranking position. GIMSON moves up to number 52 whilst MCGOVERN joins the top 100 for the first time after moving up seven to 98.

The year finishes with 238 teams from 41 nations on the men's 470 rankings with fourteen nations represented in the top 20 and different nations in each of the top ten spots.

Men's Two Person Dinghy ISAF World Sailing Rankings

6. Women's Two Person Dinghy 470

Ingrid PETITJEAN and Nadege DOROUX end another year top of the 470 Rankings MENAHEM KAHANA/ AFP/Getty Images

The women's fleet have not had any events to count toward this ranking release. There were a number of women's crews in Enoshima but not enough for the event to qualify for ranking points. There are however some fairly big movements in the top 20 as the rolling calculation system sees some sailors dropping off results which had been keeping them in the higher positions and others making gains.

There is no stopping Ingrid PETITJEAN and Nadege DOROUX (FRA) and they remain at number one, a position they have held since 1 October 2003 - an impressive feat by any standards. Nike KORNECKI and Vered BUSKILA (ISR) hold on to the number two position but Therese TORGERSSON and Vendela ZACHRISSON (SWE) lose out their number three slot to Sylvia VOGL and Carolina FLATSCHER (AUT) who move up from seven. The top five is completed by Christina BASSADONE and Saskia CLARK (GBR).

Just one team is making a new appearance to the top 10 and that is Argentina's Maria Fernanda SESTO and Consuelo MONSEGUR who move up to eight to claim the place of the highest ranked non-European team.

There are 85 teams on the women's 470 rankings with 15 nations represented in the top 20 from a total of 33 nations, including the only sailors from Myanmar to appear anywhere on the ISAF World Rankings. Suu Myat SOE, crewed by Nwe Nwe SAN have competed in three events this year, the ISAF Grade 1 Holland Regatta, the ISAF Grade C1 470 European Championship and ISAF Grade 1 Kieler Woche. The team have finished 14, 30 and 18 respectively and ISAF wishes them continued success in 2006.

Women's Two Person Dinghy ISAF World Sailing Rankings

7. Skiff - 49er

Chris DRAPER and Simon HISCOCKS end another year at the top of the 49er Rankings MENAHEM KAHANA/ Getty Images

Britains Chris DRAPER and Simon HISCOCKS complete year number two as the untouched leaders of the 49er ISAF World Sailing Rankings. The European Champions and World runners up will begin the new year with the World number one spot intact, although beneath them there has been plenty of scrapping for the number two spot.

At the start of the year Olympic silver medallists Rodion LUKA and George LEONCHUK (UKR) rose to overtake Tim WADLOW and Pete SPAULDING (USA) as the nearest challengers to DRAPER and HISCOCKS, a position they would continue to occupy through the next four Ranking releases. Then on the Ranking release of 29 June Nico DELLE KARTH and Nicko RESCH (AUT) rose to take second place, but by 3 August had themselves been undertaken by Marcus BAUR and Max GROY (GER). Come 5 October there was another change in second place with Pietro SIBELLO and Gianfranco SIBELLO (ITA) moving in behind the Brits. The Italians hold on to that place in this Rankings release, with BAUR and GROY third, DELLE KARTH and RESCH and new World Champions LUKA and LEONCHUK. Looming ominously one place outside the top five are Olympic Champions Iker MARTINEZ and Xavier FERNANDEZ (ESP).

Britain are strongly represented at the top of the Rankings, with Stevie MORRISON and Ben RHODES in seventh and John PINK and Alex HOPSON eleventh. Spain, Germany, Denmark, France and Greece all field two teams in the top 20.

DRAPER and HISCOCKS have set themselves high standards in their spell at the top, and despite victory at the Europeans and second place at the Worlds, their lead is a narrow 107 points over the SIBELLO brothers. Come 2006, the pair look set for a tough test to keep their top spot.

Skiff ISAF World Sailing Rankings

8. Heavyweight Dinghy Finn

• ISAF Grade C1 Events - Finn North American Championship, USA

Ben AINSLIE is a dominant leader of the Finn Rankings finngoldcup2005.ru

Ben AINSLIE (GBR) ends the year as the top Ranked Finn sailor in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings after a year of sparse but dominant performances from the Olympic Champion. AINSLIE only entered three ISAF Graded Finn events this year as he concentrated on racing with Emirates Team New Zealand. However at the ISAF Grade 1 Holland Regatta, ISAF Grade C1 Finn European Championship and ISAF Grade W Finn Gold Cup, AINSLIE was hardly ever out of the top spot with only Emilios PAPATHANASIOU (GRE) running him close at the Worlds. These three performances see the Brit on top of the World going into 2006 ahead of Jonas HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN (DEN) with PAPATHANASIOU close behind in third. Gasper VINCEC (SLO) and Olympic silver medallist Rafael TRUJILLO (ESP) complete the final top five of the year.

Early in the year the Spaniard had taken over the top spot from February to May, before AINSLIE briefly and then HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN moved into the number one position. Ever since the Europeans and Worlds though AINSLIE has been in charge and he looks like a hot favourite to retain his top spot in the coming year. The major change in the top 20 sees the winner of the ISAF Grade C1 Finn North American Championship in the USA, Chris COOK (CAN) move up from 21 to 16 in the Rankings, the first time he has broken into the top 20 this year. Second place Zach RAILEY (USA) moves up 20 places from 78 to 58, whilst third for Irelands Aaron OGRADY helps him gain two places from 15 to 13.

Demonstrating the strength in depth of the Finn fleets around the world, the top ten places in the Rankings go to sailors from ten different nations, whilst in the top 20 only Britain and Croatia are represented twice. With AINSLIE at the top and sailing at the peak of his powers, it looks as if the Finn sailors below him will have to pull out all the stops in 2006 to oust the dominant Brit.

Heavyweight Dinghy ISAF World Sailing Rankings

9. Multihull Tornado

Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ complete a fantastic year by topping the Rankings

With no events counting, a similar situation presents itself in the Tornado as across many other events, with the status quo of positions as at 5 October being retained. Continuing to top the pile after their outstanding season are Spains Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ (ESP). Whilst they may not have contested any events since the last rankings release, their achievements were recognized on the global stage when they won the coveted ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award crown and were presented with the World Sailor of the Year Awards Trophy on 9 November 2005 in Singapore. A great close to a fantastic year for the pair.

ECHAVARRI and PAZ hold less than a 200 point margin over the chasing Mitch BOOTH and Herbert DERCKSEN (NED), who themselves are a very tight 39 points ahead of Andrey KIRILYUK and Valery USHKOV (RUS). The World Rankings remain static for the top 61 crews, with the only significant move up the rankings coming for Mathieu VANDAMME and Francois Morvan, who move up to 62 from 105. The reason, the inclusion of their fifth place result from the Tornado European Championship back in August, which due to name discrepancies from the results had been allocated as a new entry on the rankings.

The Spanish pair opened 2005 with a world ranking of number five, and their challenge firmly in their sights, to knock Olympic Gold medalists Roman HAGARA and Hans Peter STEINACHER (AUT) off their very comfortable world rankings lead a position 102 points ahead of the Spanish.

Of the top three crews at the beginning of 2005, only Mitch BOOTH and Herbert DERCKSEN (NED) remain in the worlds top three.

The concluding ISAF Graded event for the Tornado fleet in 2005 is the ISAF Grade 3 Christmas Race in Palamos, Spain, before 2006 opens with the ISAF Grade 1 Sail Melbourne.

Multihull ISAF World Sailing Rankings

10. Women's Keelboat Yngling

2004 Olympic silver medallists Ruslana TARAN, Anna KALININA and Svetlana MATEVUSHEVA (UKR) remain at the top of the Rankings for the second release running after overtaking Ekaterina SKOUDINA, Diana KRUTSKISK and Tatiana LARSTEVA (RUS) back in October.

Ruslana TARAN, Anna KALININA and Svetlana MATEVUSHEVA will start 2006 as the number one Yngling team MENAHEM KAHANA/ AFP/Getty Images

With no ISAF Graded event for the last two Ranking releases, it is no surprise that the Yngling Rankings remain completely unchanged.

Going back to the start of the year, there was a major change at the top with long time leaders Dorte JENSEN, Hellen JESPERSEN and Christina OTZEN (DEN) displaced in the Rankings release of 2 February by Kristin WAGNER, Anna HOLL and Veronika LOCHBRUNNER (GER). The Germans maintained their lead throughout the next five Rankings releases before on 3 August they were displaced by SKOUDINA, KRUTSKISK and LARSTEVA after enduring a torrid time at the Worlds. Last release the Russians lost their top spot to TARAN, KALININA and MATEVUSHEVA and the Ukrainians will now start the new year as the Worlds number one team.

Despite the fact 2005 has been year one in the new Olympic Quadrennial, the Yngling Rankings has still grown this year, increasing by nearly 25% to 57 teams. In the top 20, teams from 13 different nations are represented, with less than 300 Ranking points separating positions one through seven, showing just how tight the class is.

The battle for the top spot next year looks set to be even more intense. Not only do TARAN, KALININA and MATEVUSHEVA have to keep an eye on those closest to them, but just outside the top ten plenty of leading lights are lined up and are still counting fewer than the maximum seven events in their Rankings totals. Amongst this bunch World Champions Sally BARKOW, Carrie HOWE and Debbie CAPOZZI (USA) and former leaders JENSEN, JESPERSEN and OTZEN catch the eye. 2006 should also see an intriguing battle between Olympic gold medallists Shirley ROBERTSON (GBR) and Sarah AYTON (GBR), now at the helm of different boats, with AYTON joined by Annie LUSH and Lisa MACDONALD (GBR) and having enjoyed a successful debut season as the lead figure.

Women's Keelboat ISAF World Sailing Rankings

11. Men's Keelboat Star

• ISAF Grade 2 Events - 39 Trofeo Amicizia Iscyra Regatta Internazionale, Italy

Frederik LF and Anders EKSTROM are the Rankings longest leaders MENAHEM KAHANA/ AFP/Getty Images

Frederik LF and Anders EKSTROM (SWE) complete their second consecutive year as exclusive holders of the top spot in the Star ISAF World Sailing Rankings and remain the longest running leaders. Since they climbed to the number one spot on 30 May 2003, the Swedish pair have been unmovable at the top of the Rankings. However going into 2006, LF and EKSTROM look like they have a tough job on their hands to retain this position.

Britains Iain PERCY and Steve MITCHELL lie within 120 points of the leaders and are the form team of the moment, having recently won at the Europeans. North American Champions George SZABO and Eric MONROE (USA) in third, World Champions Xavier ROHART and Pascal RAMBEAU (FRA) in fourth and 2000 Olympic gold medallist Mark REYNOLDS and crew Hal HAENEL (USA) in fifth also look set to provide a formidable challenge to the leaders.

The most significant move in this release of the Rankings sees the winners of the ISAF Grade 2 39 Trofeo Amicizia Iscyra Regatta Internazionale in Italy, home pair Luca MODENA and Michele MARCHESINI (ITA) climb six places from 34 to 28, to become the second Italian team (along with Francesco BRUNI and Vigna Guido ANTAR) in the top 30. After a fourth place on their home waters fellow Italians Albino FRAVEZZI and Giuseppe DEVOTI are one of the highest climbing pairs of the month moving from 186 to 132.

Similarly to MODENA and MARCHESINI, Marin LOVROVIC Jr. and Marin LOVROVIC Snr. Also enter the top 30 thanks to their performance at the Trofeo Amicizia Iscyra. Second place there lifts them from 33 to 27 in the Rankings. Third place finishers, the Austrian team of Hans SPITZAUER and Christian NEHAMMER just miss out on a top ten Ranking spot, moving from twelve to eleven after their bronze medal in Italy.

Men's Keelboat ISAF World Sailing Rankings

The next release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings will be on 8 February 2006.

To take a look at the all of Rankings' releases of the past twelve months CLICK HERE.