Paolo Cian wins Saint Moritz Match Race

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] He shall be called, “Alinghi slayer.”

Paolo Cian won his first World Match Racing Tour championship when he defeated Ed Baird in the final of the 4th annual St. Moritz Match Race. Cian won the series 2-1, which was halted when the 4:00 pm time limit passed.

Cian and his Team Viano Mercedes Benz crew Pierluigi Fornelli and Nello Pavoni finished with a 13-6 record. He also won the new “King of the Mountain” trophy, a 45-pound piece of granite from Maloja Valley south of St. Moritz. A weighty trophy, Cian nearly toppled when he picked it up.

They earned this championship, advancing out of the Repechage Round and then defeating the three Alinghi helmsmen – Peter Holmberg, 2-1, in the quarterfinals, Jochen Schuemann, 2-0, in the semifinals and Baird – in successive rounds.

Pierluigi Fornelli, Nello Pavoni and Paolo Cian work upwind in the Streamline 7.15. Photo copyright Guido Cantini/World Match Racing Tour

“It was just our week,” said Cian, 39, from Naples, Italy. “I’d like to congratulate Alinghi. They had three very strong teams here. My crew did an amazing job calling tactics on a weird lake. We struggled to understand what you could achieve at the beginning, but improved all week.”

Baird and his Alinghi crewmembers Mike Drummond and Nils Frei, last year’s champions, finished with a 10-5 record.

Facing a 2-0 deficit they won the third race to keep the series alive, but then the weather, from thunderstorms and shifty winds to sunny skies and light winds, worked against them and the time limit expired.

“Paolo is a great competitor. He and his crew worked hard this week,” said Baird. “It’s tough to win the last race of an event and not the event. That is tough for us.”

Paolo Cian (foreground) defeated Alinghi's Jochen Schuemann 2-0 in the Semifinal Round. Photo copyright Guido Cantini/World Match Racing Tour

With three stages now complete in the eighth Tour season, Cian became the third consecutive skipper to win his first World Tour championship. Chris Dickson began the season by winning in Portugal and Sébastian Col won last week in Denmark.

Col, the 29-year-old French helmsman of Areva Challenge, placed eighth in St. Moritz, which was good enough to take the lead in the World Championship standings. Col has 29 points and leads Jes Gram-Hansen of Denmark by 2 points.

“The Tour is a long championship,” said Col. “We made a good start in Denmark, but had difficulty here with the tactics and boats. That’s what’s interesting about the Tour. The different venues and different boats are a test of ability.”

Cian and Baird advanced to the Final by beating Schuemann and Mark Mendelblatt, respectively, in the semifinals. Cian took down Schuemann, his Soling idol, and Baird beat Mendelblatt, 2-1, in a rematch of last year’s championship.

The Alinghi crew of Nils Frei, Mike Drummond and Ed Baird. Photo copyright Guido Cantini/World Match Racing Tour

In the Petite Final, Mendelblatt beat Schuemann, 2-1.

The pre-starts in the Final were lively, with the crews circling furiously and often. The action was just 10 feet from the grandstand and the crowd showed its appreciation with enthusiastic applause.

There wasn’t a clear winner in the first two starts, but Baird got the early advantage on the first leg. Cian, however, found a favorable shift at the top of the course that allowed him to round the windward mark inside of Baird both times and he went on for two wins.

“The first two races we crossed comfortably ahead each time,” said Baird. “We did what we saw on the water and seemed right, sailing to the puffs. Both times we ran out of air and he just got a little puff from the right that gave him an angle to the mark.”

Ed Smyth, bowman for Mark Mendelblatt, holds the spinnaker sheet out approaching the leeward mark versus Alinghi's Ed Baird. Photo copyright Guido Cantini/World Match Racing Tour

“We ducked at the last cross each time because we wanted to come in on the starboard layline,” said Cian.

After Baird got the series to 2-1, the winds started shifting wildly. The race committee tried three times to get a start going but had to postpone each one when the wind shifted an inordinate amount as a thunderstorm passed.

When the storm was over the wind shifted 180 degrees, from the south to the north, and went light as the skies cleared. The time was 3:30 pm and the race committee worked quickly to reset the course and get another start, but the wind was too light to attempt anything.