Sebastien Col wins the Berlin Match Race

[Source: K-Challenge] Sébastien Col wins the Berlin Match Race with Gilles Favennec, Christophe André and Pascal Rambeau, in a very light wind of 4 to 6 knots.

After having won the semi-final against Damien Iehl, Sébastien wins the final against Philippe Presti.

Sebastien Col from Berlin : “today we really improved and we got better compared to the other days. We had a little lack of speed in the semi-final against Damien Iehl which was a very tight match, but we sailed well. Against Philippe Presti, we managed to start on the best side from the beginning, sailing on the right side of the race course. We’re very happy, and this was a very promising first experience with Pascal Rambeau.”

Sébastien Col races in the Berlin Match Race in very light winds. Berlin, 2 November 2008. Photo copyright Stephan Zimmermann

Next important competition will now be the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, December 3-7, where the World Match Racing Tour title will be awarded.

Sebastien Col about the Monsoon Cup 2008:

“My first goal is the WMRT title, the second one is the Monsoon Cup regatta itself.

We will decide on Monday who will sail with Gilles Favennec, Christophe André, Christian Scherrer and I, that is to say we will decide which sailor will be in charge of tactics. Then we will see how we will prepare ourselves in the last run before flying to Malaysia.

We’re also looking forward to the confirmation of the entry list, as it could have an influence on the way we will manage the regatta. For the moment, we could face 10 teams with a very high level who could potentially win the Monsoon Cup. The confirmed entries are the 5 firsts of the WMRT, (Williams, Col, Richard, Minoprio, Mirsky and Holmberg), Gilmour, possibly Barker, Baird, Ainslie, one other sailor, and the 2 ones who went through the qualifications.

So we don’t think too much about the Monsoon Cup results, we will have to be ready in the best shape, highly motivated as always, and above all, we’ll have to be confident.

This year has already been a big “bonus” for us, and now there might be “a cherry on the top of the cake” as we say in French.

Our goal is to win the WMRT title, not pretending we can win the Monsoon Cup. This year has been a bit exceptional for us. I have met a lot of sailors and I have tested many crew configurations. We did a great job in the end as the results were there too. At the Monsoon Cup, we will fight hard and give our maximum, as we always do with my team.”