Lights; Camera; Action; It's Sunseeker Australia Cup Time

[Source: Sunseeker Australia Cup] The superstars of sailing are here, the sun is shining and the fabled Fremantle Doctor is back from a week’s leave, bring on the Sunseeker Australia Cup 2010!

Sailing’s answer to Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Raffa are in town, Ben Ainslie and Ian Williams of Britain and Frenchman Mathieu Richard are the best in the world at what they do, race sailboats.

The skies over Perth are cloudless, and there is a strong wind warning for at least the next three days.

Compress these components into the confined space of Perth Water, right in front of the CBD, and you have a recipe for some serious action.

But it’s not all about the overseas “rock stars”, because last year Perth’s own up-and-coming world talent, Torvar Mirsky, beat the all these guys to collect the trophy, and it will take a crowbar to get it out of his hands.

There is also a trio of young Kiwis, bought up in the toughest match racing school on the planet, who have been making their mark on the world stage, these guys would love to win on Australian waters.

Throw in a South African and a couple of other talented locals, and the line up for the Sunseeker Australia Cup is red hot, and the Fremantle Doctor will only fan the flames.

Ben Ainslie, who has three Olympic golds and a silver, was the defeated finalist last year, beaten in two straight races by Torvar Mirsky, and defeat isn’t something that fits into his agenda, so expect a fight back.

Mathieu Richard has put in a big year on the International Tour, and has the world championship within his grasp, he will be looking to go into next week’s Monsoon Cup in Malaysia on a high, so a good performance in Perth is essential.

The Sunseeker Australia Cup will be four days of intense head-to-head competition that is too good to miss, hosted by the Royal Perth Yacht Club, it is managed by Swan River Sailing.

SKIPPERS
1. Mathieu Richard FRA
2. Ben Ainslie GBR
3. Torvar Mirsky AUS
4. Ian Williams GBR
5. Reuben Corbett NZL
6. Ian Ainslie RSA
7. Phil Robertson NZL
8. Keith Swinton AUS
9. William Tiller NZL
10. Peter Nicholas AUS

Keith Swinton clinches spot at Match Cup Sweden

Today we took on Steffan Lindberg, of Alandia Sailing Team, in the semi-finals of the Spring Cup. We defeated Lindberg 2-1 to progress to the finals. Racing against Lindberg was tightly fought, but we managed to sail the shifty conditions very well. Our best moment came in the 3rd and deciding race, when we split off the start-line gaining a match-winning wind shift from the right side of the race course.

Progressing to the final, we took on local legend Mattias Rahm and his Stena Bulk Sailing Team. Rahm, a past winner of Match Cup Sweden proved to be a very difficult opponent. In our first race we held a small lead at the top mark after luffing Rahm on the lay-line. Unfortunately we didn't have a strong spinnaker set allowing Rahm to gain the favoured down wind tack. He took this advantage but we kept it close and at the bottom mark we managed to squeeze inside Rahm. However, this didn't go as planned, we were given a double penalty for going inside without having buoy-room. We took our first penalty immediately, and kept racing hard. At the top mark we had regained the lead but were unable to wipe off our second penalty, giving Rahm the win.

The second race was also tight. We set up well for the start, taking the windward position. From here the wind went left giving Rahm the advantage. It was bow to bow all up the first leg, with Rahm holding the advantage at the top mark. We tried hard to close up the lead but Rahm showed his skill holding his lead despite our best efforts to get back in the race.

Despite finishing second in the event we have still been invited to compete in Match Cup Sweden 2010. Being past winners of the event, Mattias Rahm and his team already hold entry . We are very excited to be competing in one of the biggest match racing events in the world!

"Today we sailed very well. The conditions were really difficult but it was fun because we managed to get it right more often than not. It was disappointing to lose the final, but we sailed well. It was just a few small things that cost us in the end some more training in the DS37 will certainly help. We are so happy to being sailing in Match Cup Sweden. It was one of our main goals for this year", Keith Swinton helmsman Black Swan Racing.

Keith Swinton advances into GKKS Spring Cup semis in Sweden

The Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club (GKKS), Sweden's largest yacht club, is located in Gothenburg and since a number of years the GKSS Spring Cup has been the qualifying race to enter Match Cup Sweden which is one of the legs in the World Match Racing Tour.

The regatta takes place this weekend and today, Saturday, most of Stage 1 and Stage 2 were completed. As a result, 3 of the 4 semifinalists are already known. They are Keith Swinton, the young up-and-coming match racer from Australia, Mattias Rahm from Sweden and Staffan Lindberg from Finland. The fourth semifinalist will either be Richard Fornader or Phil Robertson.

Here's the report Keith Swinton sent us from Sweden:

Today we completed the round robin stage of the event finishing with a score line of 4 wins and 2 losses.

Gothenburg put on a fantastic day with 12-18 knot winds and some nice spells of sunshine. Our best two races today were against Mattias Rahm, Stena Bulk Sailing Team a past winner of Match Cup Sweden and Phil Robertson, Waka Racing from New Zealand. In the race against Rahm we managed to start to windward of the Swedish team and sail them all the way to the port lay-line. From here we kept a close cover and managed to hold on to take the win.

In our race against Robertson we started to leeward forcing the kiwis to the right, we picked up more wind on the left side of the track. From here we controlled the race and extended for the win.

Tomorrow morning we will find out our opponent for the semi-final stage.

"We did a nice job in our starts and around the race track today. Our boat handling is getting better and the communication is also growing between the team. Unfortunately we made some unforced errors in our losses today but that was a good learning experience for later in the event", Per Frykholm, Sweden, Mainsheet/ Tactics.

Torvar Mirsky and Keith Swinton through to Sunseeker Australia Cup semis

[Source: Sunseeker Australia Cup] Day 3 of the Sunseeker Australia Cup had a blustery easterly of 16-20 knots at the start of racing at 0900 when the quarter finalist opponents went out on the water in Matilda Bay.

With a forecast temperature of 35 degrees in Perth it was only a matter of time before the easterly started to fade and the sea breeze set in, which it eventually did after the race officer John Rosser relocated the course from Matilda Bay in front of the Royal Perth Yacht Club to the Perth Water racecourse at the foot of the Perth CBD.

The sea breeze eventually fought off the easterly and settled into a 10-12 knot south westerly at 3.00pm. With the quarter finalists Francesco Bruni up against the winner of the round robin Torvar Mirsky and dual World Champion Ian Williams matched against local Keith Swinton in the first to win three match quarter finals.

Torvar Mirsky sails to victory in quarter final race against Francesco Bruni. Perth, 28 November 2009. Photo copyright Sail World Australia

Torvar Mirsky (Aust) V Francesco Bruni (Italy)

Winner from the Round Robin, Torvar Mirsky was probably regretting his decision in selecting Italian Francesco Bruni for the quarter final match, as Bruni completely outsailed Mirsky in the first two matches to go 2-0 up in shifty 8-12 knot SW breezes.

Mirsky then went on to claw back a well deserved win in the third match. In the fourth match, with Bruni sitting on match point, Bruni had the slight advantage on the beat but incurred a penalty for tacking too close to Mirsky. Mirsky did a great job to keep the match close and with Bruni trying to clear the penalty around the finish mark, crashed his bow into the side of Mirsky before he had completed his penalty to incur a second penalty gifting the race to Mirksy to even the score up at two all.

Subsequent to the finish, the umpires deemed the damage to be significant and deducted a full point penalty from Bruni, making the scoreline Mirsky 2, Bruni 1. In the final match of the day, with the sun creeping closer to the horizon, with Mirsky now 2-1 up on Bruni with the collision from the fourth flight, Mirsky dominated in a fading 8-10 knot south westerly. And although Bruni tried every trick in the book, he couldn’t make in-roads on the slender Mirsky lead to allow Mirsky to advance to the semi final stage, with a 3-1 win.

Young gun Keith Swinton upsets the form book and eliminates Ian Williams. Perth, 28 November 2009. Photo copyright Sail World Australia

Keith Swinton (Aust) V Ian Willams (Great Britain) – ‘Major Upset’

In the Swinton versus Williams quarter final match one, Swinton did a nice job of getting a penalty on Ian Williams in the prestart and kept the match close so on the final run, Williams were in front and slowed down to try and clear the penalty and in a luffing manoeuvre whilst going through the penalty tack with Swinton but the umpires deemed that he didn’t do it in the one smooth manoeuvre, so kept William’s penalty flag up and in a tight tousle to the finish Williams incurred a second penalty just on the finishing line to give Swinton first blood.

In the second race with Williams comfortably in front at the bottom mark his port winch failed with a pawl jamming making the winch inoperative and with Swinton throwing a series of tacks at Williams, his lead quickly evaporated. Swinton went on to win the second match. In the third match, Williams led from start to finish in a closely fought match to claw back a win to make the score line 1-2. In the fourth match, although close, Swinton dominated to advance three wins to 1.

The surprise entry into the final day of racing is Australian Keith Swinton who, in the upset of the tournament, knocked out favourite Ian Williams in three consecutive matches. The young Perth contender, who won only 3 of 9 matches in the initial Round Robin competition, rose to the occasion in the semi finals knocking out reigning double World Match Racing Champion Ian Williams.

Executive officer of Swan River Sailing and former Australia II America’s Cup crewman, Skip Lissiman said the slightly warmer conditions meant a delay in afternoon racing but added the delay was worth the wait.

“We were forced to delay racing on Perth water till 3.00pm but the wait was worth it ensure the skippers had to creative to force wins from each other. There was slightly less wind today which has ensured the competitors have had a full range of conditions over the past three days of the Sunseeker Australia Cup. This provides them with exceptional practice for the Monsoon Cup next week in Malaysia,” he said.

“We are looking forward to a thrilling finals competition tomorrow between some world class skippers and their crews. The crowd on the shoreline had a bird’s eye view and we expect a big crowd for tomorrow’s final action,” he said.

Williams ahead after day one of Sunseeker Australia Cup

[Source: Sunseeker Australia Cup] At close of day one at the 2009 Sunseeker Australia Cup, reigning double World Match Racing Champion, Skipper Ian Williams from Great Britain, is the current leader after winning a spectacular four from four matches.

Not to be outdone by local Perth talent Torvar Mirsky (Australia) and Adam Minoprio (New Zealand) who both won three from three matches respectively. Sunseeker Australia Cup organiser and former America’s Cup winner Skip Lissiman said Williams was the standout performance after day one.

“We had challenging conditions that were very flustery and a new course in Perth waters that none of the Skippers had sailed in so it is impressive that Williams won four from four on day one,” Lissiman said.

Skip added he was very pleased with how well the Perth water course and worked after a 145 year racing absence. “The tight course in Perth waters puts incredible pressure on the crews which ensures we have some incredible viewing near the Barrack street jetty area. I even had people saying they watched the racing action from their offices,” he said.

Perth skipper Torvar Mirsky said he enjoyed getting back out on water this morning. “The team hasn’t sailed together since the Match Cup in Sweden, so it was great to get back on the water together and go through our paces,” Mirksy said.

“We had three races in Matilda bay and won all three and I am happy with that result. We’ve had great conditions so far, the wind was strong and it looks like it staying here. It will be good to get back out and race the rest of the ten teams and firm up a solid lead,” he said.

Conditions were excellent, with strong SSW winds blowing at 12 knots with morning racing occurring in Matilda Bay and then the afternoon contests in Perth Waters. The teams are ready for some fierce competition during day two, with the tight Perth Waters course and close shoreline viewing aiming to please competitors and spectators alike.

Current Skipper wins at the close of day one

1. Ian Williams (Great Britain) 4/4
2. Torvar Mirsky (Australia) 3/3
3. Adam Minoprio (New Zealand) 3/3
4. Seve Jarvin (Australia) 1/4
5. Mathieu Richard (France) 1/1
6. Keith Swinton (Australia) 1/1
7. Ben Ainslie (Great Britain) 1/1
8. Francesco Bruni (Italy) 0/4
9. Evan Walker (Australian) 0/5

World’s Best Skippers in Perth to pursue Australia Cup Glory

[Source: Sunseeker Australia Cup] With a cohort of sailing greats arriving in Perth for the Sunseeker Australia Cup, Western Australia is again on the world sporting stage.

The ten world ranked skippers and their teams touchdown mid-week for this exclusive invitation only event from 26-29 November.

The action packed racing schedule will see the who’s who of professional sailing battle it out in Foundation 36 one design Yachts, marking the first time city waters has hosted competitive sailing in Perth’s 145 year history.

Swan River Sailing Executive Officer and former America’s Cup winner, Skip Lissiman said the four day event is sure to produce some exhilarating match racing, with unprecedented close shoreline viewing and a tight course sure to flaunt the skill and team work of these elite athletes.

“With the course so close to land and a tight challenging space you can be guaranteed some fast action-packed sailing. This is your chance to see the world’s best yacht racing right on the city’s doorstep, the opportunity to see a mini America’s Cup on Perth waters - don’t miss it!” Lissiman said.

The impressive line-up of world ranked competitors, featuring America’s Cup teams and skippers, consists of:

- Triple gold and silver Olympic medallist, Ben Ainslie from Great Britain, 6th ranked on the Tour

- Current World Match Racing Tour leader, New Zealand’s Adam Minoprio

- Perth’s own rising superstar, Torvar Mirsky, current 2nd ranked on the Tour

- Reigning double World Match Racing Tour champion, Ian Williams from Great Brittan, 3rd ranked on the Tour

- 4th ranked on the Tour, skipper Mathieu Richard from France.

- 25th ISAF ranked, skipper Phil Roberston from New Zealand

- 21st ISAF ranked, Keith Swinton from Australia

- 27th ISAF ranked, Francesco Bruni from Italy

- 61st ISAF ranked, Evan Walker from Australia

- 455th ISAF ranked, Seve Jarvin from Australia

Perth has built a reputation as one of the World’s more renowned and reliable sailing cities; and this unique event promises to cement Perth’s place a prestigious sailing hub of the Southern Hemisphere – a precursor to next year’s America’s Cup and Malaysia’s Monsoon Cup next month.

The Monsoon Cup is the ultimate decider of the 2009 Match Racing Tour, and with final positioning and considerable prize money at stake; top Tour skippers are keen to fine-tune crew skills and experience at the Sunseeker Australia Cup just one week prior to the showdown.

Sydney rising talent and current Australian Match Racing Champion Seve Jarvin said Perth is a popular sailing location for competitors as it boasts some of the best sailing conditions in the world.

“Perth is a great location for match racing as there is always a good breeze and warm weather, which is a pleasant change compared with many of the other events on the Tour,” Jarvin said.

“The Sunseeker Australia Cup is great for us young teams to get back into match racing and compete against some of the best teams in the world. The international teams treat the Sunseeker Australia Cup is as a warm up to the Monsoon Cup finals next month, so there will be some tough competition with teams trying their best to take out the first place,” he said.

Local Perth skipper Keith Swinton is looking forward to competing in his hometown, and believes it is the excellent quality boats, well-structured events and some of the best sailing conditions in the world year round which keep the top teams coming back.

“It is always a good experience to be a part of another regatta, particularly the Australia Cup where I can compete in front of family and friends,” Swinton said.

“Match Racing is definitely the most spectacular type of sailing, and when combined with great sailing conditions and facilities and the excellent Foundation 36 yachts, you can understand why such an event is appealing to the best skippers on the tour,” Swinton said.

For more information visit the event's website at www.australiacup.org.au

Black Swan Racing wins Trapani International Match Race

Sunday was a real test of patience. We came to Trapani prepared to sail the 3-man Comet 21 but following some teething problems we went back to sailing the reliable Zip 25's. Then on Sunday for the finals we were back into the Comet 21 yachts with all problems fixed. Added to this we were sailing in the tricky Trapani Harbour - the ball game could not have been more different to earlier in the regatta.

We choose Jacopo Pasini from Italy as our opponent in the semi-final. Leaving Lindberg (Finland) and Orel (Slovenia) to fight it out in the other semi. Our first race against Pasini didn't start well as we were penalised after a close port and starboard between the two boats. Unfazed we fought back neutralising the penalty and gaining one against Pasini just before the starting horn. We went on to gain the lead and sail the shifts well to take the win. Race 2 was a similar story with Pasini being penalised just before the start with a red flag penalty forcing him into taking his penalty immediately handing us the lead and putting us 2-0 in the best of five series. The final race didn't feature any penalties but we trailed off the start line and around the first and second marks. On the second up wind we picked up a nice shift and just managed to gain the lead from here we held Pasini off to book our spot in the final. Lindberg defeated Orel in the other semi making for a Swinton V Lindberg Final.

We came into the finals knowing Lindberg would be a tough opponent especially in his favoured light and shifty conditions. This proved to be right as they took the first two races in the finals despite us leading off the start line on both occasions. Just before our entry into the third race, a must win match for us our jib halyard snapped leaving us without a jib. In a tough situation we managed to quickly re-rig the jib whilst trying to stay trouble free in the pre-start. Despite being restricted for most of the pre-start we managed to get a great start and sail away for a confidence boosting win. With time quickly running out we went into the final race knowing a win would level the series and with no more time for racing we would win on count back. We managed to get a solid start but it was still tight with Lindberg by the top mark. We did a great job of defending on the downwind and continued to build our lead to win the race and take out the 2009 Trapani International Match Race.

Final Results

1. Keith Swinton (AUS, Black Swan Racing)
2. Steffan Lindberg (FIN, Alandia Sailing Team)
3. Jure Orel (SLO, Bora Sailing Team)
4. Jacopo Pasini (ITA, JP Match)
5. Eric Monnin (SUI, Team Monnin)
6. G L Perris (MON, Team Dangerous but Fun)
7. M Perris (MON, Team Dangerous but Fun)
8. Rasmus Viltoft (DEN)
9. Simone Ferrarese (ITA, Ferrarese Racing)
10. Nick Cherry (GBR, Cherry Racing)

Black Swan Racing would like to thank our following supporters.

South of Perth Yacht Club
Brian Kerman from Kerman Contracting
Brad Abbott from Abbotts PTY LTD Chartered Accountants
Musto Australia and Scott Olney from Musto Western Australia/Liquid Leisure Agencies
Philip Ericson from Trendmark Sweden Agent for Musto
The Ron Tough Yachting Foundation

Black Swan Racing

Black Swan Racing into Semi-Finals at Trapani International Match Race 2009

Today's conditions mirrored yesterday with westerly winds ranging between 5-15 knots. We had a great day winning all of our remaining matches to progress trouble free into the semi-finals. Tomorrow will bring a new challenge with racing taking part inside Trapani harbour rather than outside in the open water. This should provide some tricky racing but with experience from last years regatta we feel confident.

"We had a great day today and feel we are sailing the boats well. Tomorrow will be a bit different inside the harbour but we are excited to be racing here again in the finals" Keith Swinton, Helmsman Black Swan Racing.

Semi Final Line-Up
Keith Swinton (AUS)
Steffan Lindberg (FIN)
Jure Orel (SLO)
Jacopo Pasini (ITA)

Black Swan Racing would like to thank our following supporters.

South of Perth Yacht Club
Brian Kerman from Kerman Contracting
Brad Abbott from Abbotts PTY LTD Chartered Accountants
Musto Australia and Scott Olney from Musto Western Australia/Liquid Leisure Agencies
Philip Ericson from Trendmark Sweden Agent for Musto
The Ron Tough Yachting Foundation

Black Swan Racing

Solid Start for Black Swan Racing at Trapani International Match Race 2009

We have arrived safely in Trapani, Sicily for our last European event for 2009. It is great to spend out last week sailing in shorts and t-shirts on the beautiful Mediterranean sea. Today we began racing in the round robin, we had great 7-12 knot westerly winds which allowed the RC to provide some quality racing. We are racing Zip 25 4 man yachts which are very nice for match racing however all teams came to the event to sail a different 3 man yacht but because of some problems with these other boats all teams have been put into the Zip 25 1 man short. Fortunately we have been flexible with bowman Nick Bastow and trimmer Kyle Langford doing a great job.

We completed 4 races today winning 3 comfortably against Simone Ferrarese (ITA), Eric Monnin (SUI) and Nick Cherry (GBR). Our loss came in the final race of the day against our recent finals opponent in the Geneva Match Race Steffan Lindberg of Finland. It was a close race, we lead narrowly at the top mark but Lindberg did well to roll us on the downwind. At the bottom mark rounding we were hot on their heels however we accidentally ran into the umpire boat. In the heat of a tacking duel we forgot to put up our red protest flag meaning that we were given no chance for redress. This was a little disappointing but we are sailing fast, starting well and confident for tomorrow. Racing will continue tomorrow outside the Trapani Harbour with semi-finals and finals to be raced inside the harbour on Sunday.

Black Swan Racing

Trapani International Match Race 2009 Line-Up (10 teams)
Jure Orel (Slovenia)
Jacopo Pasini (Italy)
Simone Ferrarese (Italy)
Eric Monnin (Switzerland)
Rasmus Viltoft (Denmark)
G L Perris (Monaco)
Steffan Lindberg (Finland)
Nick Cherry (UK)
M Perris (Monaco)