Rain dampens racing on opening day of the ACI Match Race Cup

Five skippers are tied at 1-0 after one flight of racing was completed on Day 1 of the 20th anniversary ACI Adris Match Race Cup, Stage 6 of the 2005-’06 World Match Racing Tour.

Paolo Cian, Björn Hansen, Ian Williams Johnie Berntsson and Staffan Lindberg won their matches against, respectively, Dario Kliba, Mathieu Richard, Evgeniy Neugodnikov, Philippe Presti and Pierre-Antoine Morvan.

The event’s 11th crew, led by defending ACI Cup champion Peter Gilmour, had a bye in the round.

Racing was postponed for the majority of the day due to heavy rains that sapped Rovinj of all wind. The rain let up in the middle of the day and the race committee sent the crews to the racecourse just off Rovinj Harbor, but the rain quickly returned and the postponement was reissued.

The teams finally returned to the water around 4:30 pm for the lone flight, which was sailed in a shifty 5-knot easterly wind.

“We managed to stay relaxed for the better part of the day,” said Williams of Great Britain, whose looking to a good finish to score points and move into the World Tour’s Championship 8. “It was tough to get up for one race, but a win’s a win and we’ll take it.”

Racing is scheduled to resume on Thursday at 10:00 am.

List of participating skippers in the ACI ADRIS Match Race Cup