Williams dominates on opening day of St Moritz Match Race

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] The twelve teams involved in the St. Moritz Match Race and the quest for the sixth stage of the World Match Racing Tour had a great time today. The conditions were indeed absolutely fabulous, with the sun shining and the thermal breeze growing up to 15-20 knots over the afternoon. Ten flights were completed, which is half the round robin. The Race Committee played it safe considering the possible bad weather over the coming days and decided to launch a final flight at 5:30 PM.

The first duals of the day brought together the "Latin" sailors of the event, with French, Swiss and Portuguese teams opening the show alongside Johnie Berntsson from Sweden. Three flights later, when the teams swapped boats, Alvaro Marinho's Portuguese Seth Sailing Team had the biggest smiles thanks to two victories against Sébastien Col and Mathieu Richard. At the other end of the ranking, the local sailor Eric Monnin was disappointed with three losses whilst the three French teams managed to grab two points.

Video highlights from the first day of the St Moritz Match Race. St Moritz, 2 September 2009. Video copyright World Match Racing Tour

The other six teams then completed five flights over the afternoon. Ian Williams' Team Pindar dominated his races, winning each one of them convincingly. Peter Gilmour's team, YANMAR Racing, wasn't as successful, only managing to win one single match against Francesco Bruni and the Team Joe Fly Match Race.

The six teams involved in the morning then went out on the water again at 5:00 PM for their last two flights of the day. Revved up and on fire, they displayed all their talent and sailed aggressively, providing a fantastic show to the public only meters away from the shore.

The last races of the day were very close; sometimes even too close, giving a lot of work to the umpires. Several collisions resulted in penalties, and three cases had to be discussed in front of the Jury after the racing.

The rain finally put an end to the day, sending the exhausted crews back to the shore.

Ian Williams scores five bullets in the first day of the St Moritz Match Race. St Moritz, 2 September 2009. Photo copyright Loris von Siebenthal

They said:

Éric Monnin, Swiss Match Race Team: “We didn’t sail well at all and we made too many mistakes. It is very frustrating, because it got worse throughout the day. We got many penalties on mistakes that we should never have done. We need to get out of this bad trend quickly and start on a new basis tomorrow.”

Philippe Presti, French Match Racing Team: “During the second match against Seb Col I got a bit greedy and tried to block him at the windward gate. I stopped him so well that I also stopped, and then couldn’t get started! We finally lost the match because of this mistake.”

Alvaro Marinho, Seth Sailing Team (1st participation in St. Moritz Match Race, no 17 on the ISAF world ranking): “We won our first match of the day against Mathieu Richard, who is the leader of the World Tour. We are obviously very satisfied with our entry in the event and we will try to carry on like this.”

Ian Williams, Team Pindar: “We’ve had a great day and we are very happy with the way we sailed. In those conditions, you always need a bit of luck and you must be able to benefit from all the opportunities. And that’s what we have done all day. It is the fifth time that we sail here in St. Moritz and we really love it here; we feel very comfortable.”

Bill Edgerton, Chief Umpire: “We’ve had to judge too many collisions today; certainly more than we should see at this level, it is really regrettable. There is quite a bit of wind and the sailors need to get familiar with the boats. This might be one of the reasons. Other than this, it was an exceptional day for sailing and racing.

The world's number one match racer, Adam Minoprio, had an awful day. St Moritz, 2 September 2009. Photo copyright Loris von Siebenthal

Results after 10 flights:

Skipper name, Nationality, Team name, Win / loss

Ian Williams, GBR, Team Pindar; 5/0 (0,5 point penalty)
Philippe Presti, FRA, French Match Racing Team; 4/1
Matthieu Richard, FRA, French Match Racing Team; 3/2
Sébastien Col, FRA, French Match Racing Team; 3/2
Torvar Mirsky, AUS, Mirsky Racing Team; 3/2
Björn Hansen, SWE, Onboard Sailing Team; 3/2
Alvaro Marinho, POR, Seth Sailing Team; 3/2
Adam Minoprio, NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch; 2/3
Johnie Berntsson, SWE, Berntsson Sailing Team; 2/3
Francesco Bruni, ITA, Team Joe Fly Match Race; 2/3
Peter Gilmour, AUS, YANMAR Racing; 1/4
Eric Monnin, SUI, Swiss Match Race Team; 0/5

Philippe Presti takes the lead in Portugal Match Cup

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] The French have come on strong here in Day Two action at the Troia Portugal Match Cup, as Philippe Presti, Sebastian Col, and Mathieu Richard of the French Match Racing Team all sharing in the top four places along with yesterday’s day-end leader Peter Gilmour (AUS) and his YANMAR Racing Team. Presti, on 8 wins, leads the field with just few flights remaining in the Round Robin competition.

Not only by being two points clear, but in also having beat his closest rivals Gilmour, Col, and Richard, Presti is in a comfortable position to advance as the top seed into the next Quarter-Final stage of the competition. But he does have the current Tour leader, Adam Minoprio (NZL) and his Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch team, and Andrew Arbuzov (RUS) to play tomorrow morning when competition resumes.

“We sailed well today, the team did great,” said Presti of his undefeated record on the day. “We just hope to keep up this momentum for the rest of the week.”

Video highlights from day 2 of the Portugal Match Cup. Troia, 18 June 2009. Video copyright World Match Racing Tour

Presti and his team had to master a variety of conditions today, ranging from a light offshore breeze in the morning, followed by a long hiatus of no wind, then building to a brisk seabreeze in the afternoon, and then finally moderating to a shifty westerly which died with the setting sun. Another important factor on the race courses here in Troia is the tide, which at times has been up to 2 knots in strength and can have a considerable effect on laylines to starting and rounding marks.

But it was the fresh seabreeze and not the tide that produced considerable excitement in one of Presti’s closest matches of the day, that against Gilmour. With Gilly closing in from less than a length behind on the last downwind leg to the finish, Presti gybed to starboard to defend, with Gilly gybing to windward. With Gilmour threatening now to roll over him to take the lead, Presti luffed hard, making contact with Gilly as boats heeled, spinnakers flogged, and penalty flags flew.

Presti’s team were unable to gather their spinnaker into the boat, so in running over it they slowed enough to allow Gilly to roll over the top and into the lead with just metres left to the finish line. But with an outstanding penalty turn to perform, the YANMAR team had to drop their kite, hoist their jib, cross the finish line but then head up into the wind and tack before being eligible to finish, and the French were able to just get there in time to take the win.

Sébastien Col holds second spot in Portugal Match Cup. Troia, 18 June 2009. Photo copyright Wander Roberto

When asked about this match, an understated Presti claimed “It was quite funny, this one.” His exhausted crew may have felt otherwise, but this latest recipient of a Tour Card is certainly on a roll for now and will look to continue his winning ways when Round Robin racing resumes early tomorrow followed by the Quarter Final Stage in Day Three of the Troia Portugal Match Cup.

Results from Day 2
Philippe Presti, FRA, French Team 8-1
Sebastien Col, FRA, French Team/K-Challenge 6-3
Peter Gilmour, AUS, YANMAR Racing 6-1
Mathieu Richard, FRA, French Match Racing Team 5-1
Ian Williams, GBR, Bahrain Team Pindar 5-3
Torvar Mirsky, AUS, Mirsky Racing 4-4
Adam Minoprio, NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch 4-4
Bjorn Hansen, SWE, Team Onboard, 3-4
Phil Robertson, WAKA Racing, 3-6
Andrew Arbuzov, RUS, 2-5
Ian Ainslie, RSA, Team Proximo, 1-8
Alvaro Mourinho, POR, Seth Sailing Team, 0-7

Philippe Presti to enter World Match Racing Tour

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] Philippe Presti has proved to be an extremely versatile sailor and the World Tour is pleased to announce the allocation of a Tour Card to him for the remainder of the 2009 season.

The recent confirmation that the 33rd America’s Cup is to be raced in multihulls has resulted in the withdrawal of Alinghi’s participation on the Tour for this year. “It is with regret that we have to withdraw our entry to all Tour events in 2009. The WMRT is the most competitive match racing event in the world and provides excellent training for a conventional America's Cup in monohulls. As we have been forced into an America's Cup Match in multihulls, our focus must be on training and racing them” said Ed Baird, America’s Cup winning helmsman.

Presti, who was involved in the America’s Cup in 2003 and 2007, welcomed the Tour Card and looks forward to working towards his goal of becoming World Champion. “It has always been a long term ambition to be crowned Match Racing World Champion and this is a great opportunity to achieve it. To be able to compete regularly on the Tour and work together as a team will be so beneficial. With the recent announcement of the plans for the 33rd America’s Cup there are a number of sailors that now have to sit and wait for the next multiple challenger event which may not be for some time. However the Tour will enable us to maintain our match racing skills and keep us fresh and with a mix of good sailing and luck make us World Champions I hope,” said Presti.

The Tour director Craig Mitchell was pleased to welcome Presti onboard “It’s good to see Philippe make the commitment for 2009 and we wish him well. This year the championship will be closer than ever and I am sure Philippe has the ability to be right in the mix.”

Tour Standings
(After 1 of 10 events)
1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 25 points
2. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 20 points
3. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 15 points
4. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 12 points
5. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi 10 points
6. Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team 8 points
7. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza 6 points
8. Ian Williams (GBR) Bahrain Team Pindar 4 points

Paolo Cian wins Open de España - Soria Natural

Paolo Cian and his Shosholoza crew were the winners of the 5th edition of the Open de España - Soria Natural, the ISAF Grade 1 match racing event that took place from April 8th to 12th in Calpe.

It is Spain’s most important match racing event and the only to have the newly-established title of qualifier regatta for the World Match Racing Tour. These events, although not forming part of the circuit, play a significant role since the winners are invited to one of the World Match Racing Tour’s official stages. Each WMRT stage can have up to two qualifier events, and Calpe’s Open de España –Soria Natural winner gets a slot to the starting line of the Saint Moritz Match Race, held in the Swiss city, from September 2nd to 7th.

Unfortunately, today’s racing took place under very difficult and demanding conditions, very similar to Thursday and Friday. There was a constant fight between the sea and land breeze that resulted in constantly fluctuating and shifting winds. These trying conditions put race officials at test and forced them to cancel racing twice during the day.

The semifinals started at around 12pm and Cian faced Russian Andrey Arbuzov whom he beat without great difficulty 3 to 0. In the other semifinal, Presti had to face the young up-and-coming Australian, and last year's winner, Torvar Mirsky. After losing the first race, Presti finally prevailed over the young Australian by 3 to 1. A penalty at the 3rd race and unforgivable crew errors at the 4th one cost Mirsky the spot in the finals of the event.

Presti continued his winning streak into the first race of the finals. After a close prestart, he crossed the starting line two boatlenghths ahead of Cian and never lost his lead. Cian was unable to pass him and lost the race.

In the following two races, Cian demonstrated his excellent match-racing skills and the reason he's third in the ISAF Match Racing rankings. He had a plan, to force Presti to commit errors and get penalties and he stuck to it. Presti received two penalties, one at the top mark of the second race and another one during the prestart period of the third and last race. Although Cian never managed to gain a great lead, the late-afternoon excruciatingly light conditions (as seen in the photos) meant it was impossible for Presti to make up the lost distance after offloading his penalties.

In addition to Cian, Shosholoza's crew consisted of Teva Plichart, Pierluigi de Felice and Pierluigi Fornelli. During the 32nd America's Cup, Plichart was grinder with Areva Challenge while de Felice was a trimmer at Mascalzone Latino.

Philippe Presti racing against Torvar Mirsky in the semifinals. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Everybody's yelling on the two boats but Philippe Presti was not right. He got a penalty. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The young Australian sailor gets furious as he sees his chance to the finals go away. Not only was he penalized, he lost precious time at the beginning of the last leg as his crew was unable to hoist the spinnaker. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian racing against Andrey Arbuzov during the day's first semifinal. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian racing against Andrey Arbuzov during the day's first semifinal. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian and Philippe Presti during prestart of the first race. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing


Paolo Cian sailing in the first race. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian and Philippe Presti during the first leg of the first race. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Final run of the first race between Paolo Cian and Philippe Presti. It was a close race but Presti held on to his advantage from start to finish. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Philippe Presti squeezes in at the top mark of the second race and gets a penalty. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian sailing in the last race of the finals. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Philippe Presti sailing in the last race of the finals. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Happy faces for Paolo Cian and his Shosholoza crew after beating Philippe Presti 2-1. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing