WMRT: BlackMatch face big challenge after a mixed first day at Match Race Germany

Trailing Bjorn Hansen off the Start line, a race we eventually fought back to win. Image copyright Rosaly Magg/Match Race Germany.

by David Swete

Thursday was the opening day of the Germany Match Cup World Match Racing Tour Event which is held in the town of Langenargan, on the picturesque Lake Contance. The lake is bordered not only by Germany, but also Austria and Switzerland with the Swiss Alps providing a magnificent backdrop to the action on the water and like a lot of lake sailing, conditions were extremely light and shifty today.

We had a mixed day today managing wins over Ben Ainslie and Bjorn Hansen, however, with a ‘who’s who’ of match racing line up here in Germany, we lost out to Mathieu Richard, Peter Gilmour and Ian Williams, in our other three matches. Both our wins today were ‘come from behind’ victories, with gybes executed on the final run to the finish, where we managed to out-manoeuvre our competitors and roll over the top of them. In fact we really struggled in the starting department today, finding it difficult to come to terms with the light conditions and slow heavy boats, we trailed in every race off the start line.


BlackMatch Racing team in Germany. Supplied image.

Although we have gained two valuable wins, we are confident we can improve on our starts tomorrow and gain some more much needed victories. After a full round robin only 6 of the 12 teams will proceed through to the next knockout round and with the level of competition combined with the tricky conditions, this is a very tough ask.

BlackMatch would like to again thank their sponsors FedEx Express and Line 7 New Zealand, two world renowned companies that have stood by us and made this possible. We would also like to thank our yacht club the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Emirates Team New Zealand, as without their support we would not have this opportunity.

Results
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Team 4-1
Ian Williams (GBR) Bahrain Team Pindar 3-2
Peter Gilmour (AUS) Yanmar Racing Team 3-2
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 2-3
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Team Onboard 2-3
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Team Joe Fly 3-0
Sebastien Col (FRA) French Team/K-Challenge 2-1
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 2-1
Damien Iehl (FRA) French Team 1-2
Eric Monnin (SUI) Team Search.ch 1-2
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin 1-4
Carsten Kemmling (GER) 0-3

BlackMatch Racing
Match Race Germany
World Match Racing Tour