Peter Gilmour and crew celebrating after winning the Monsoon Cup 2008 (Sunday the 7th December 2008), with BlackMatch/ETNZ (2nd overall) to the left and Mirsky Racing Team (3rd overall) to the right. Image copyright Sander van der Borch.
by Tracey Johnstone
King of the Monsoon Cup for the second time is Peter Gilmour and his Yanmar Racing team.
Challenged on every part of the race course through four very tough races, Gilmour and his team of Yasuhiro Yaji, Rod Dawson, Thierry Douillard and Kazuhiko Sofuku, are deserved winners of the 2008 Monsoon Cup.
After several months of leading the Monsoon Cup event management team, Gilmour then had to turn around and focus his energies on the competition. It is a testament to the skills of this sailor that he was able to make the seamless move from Race Advisor to successful skipper.
Peter Gilmour leads Adam Minoprio in the finals. Image copyright Sander van der Borch.
“I feel very elated. It has been a long few months for us to pull the event together and then the deck was pretty well stacked against me for doing well here. I have tremendous crew here, which kept me concentrating, kept me sailing. They are not too hard on me when I make basic mistakes like running into committee boats and just keep me rolling along.
“Clearly we were very lucky to be in the final. We probably did not deserve to be on the race course, but here we are and we won the final.
“The result is great for 2009. We look forward to going on the Tour and being a part of all that. It is very exciting,” a clearly elated Gilmour said.
Peter Gilmour and his Yanmar Racing Team at the 2008 Monsoon Cup. Image copyright Sander van der Borch.
Gilmour had a tough trip to the top, finishing tied on five match wins with Sébastien Col, Magnus Holmberg and Ben Ainslie at the end of the round robin series. On a count-back Gilmour went through to the quarter finals where he raced Col, winning his semi final place after five hard and at times, controversial matches.
The semi-final for Gilmour was an extraordinary situation where his opponent was 22-year-old Torvar Mirsky, a one-time match racing student of Gilmour’s. It was a battle of wits; skill and experience which saw Gilmour dominate the matches to win 3-0.
2008 ISAF Match Racing World Championship
Ian Williams has taken out the 2008 ISAF Match Racing World Championship ahead of Sébastien Col (French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge) in second place and Mathieu Richard (French Match Racing Team/French Spirit) in the third.
Petite Finals
In the Petite Final Torvar Mirsky (Mirsky Racing Team) and recently anointed Match Racing World Champion, Ian Williams (Bahrain Team Pindar), took to the water to redress their semi final losses as they both refocused and looked to finish third in the event. A tough battle between the two with Mirsky dominating both matches to take out third place Monsoon Cup honours.
Overall Monsoon Cup Results
1st Peter Gilmour, Yanmar Racing (AUS)
2nd Adam Minoprio, ETNZ/Black Match Racing (NZL)
3rd Torvar Mirsky, Mirsky Racing Team (AUS)
4th Ian Williams, Bahrain Team Pindar (GBR)
5th Paolo Cian, Team Shosholoza (ITA)
6th Sébastien Col, French Match Racing Team / K-Challenge (FRA)
7th Magnus Holmberg, Victory Challenge (SWE)
8th Mathieu Richard, French Match Racing Team / French Spirit (FRA)
9th Ben Ainslie, Team Origin (GBR)
10th Keith Swinton, Black Swan Racing (AUS)
11th Johnie Berntsson, Berntsson Sailing Team (SWE)
12th Nurul Ain bt Md Isa, Perak Sailing Team (MAS)
World Match Racing Tour
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