BlackMatch downwind in Bermuda. Image copyright Jenny Warner.
by David Swete
Monday was the opening day of racing at the Argo Group Gold Cup World Tour Event. This is the penultimate event on the World Tour and with a host of legendary past winners that include Kiwi’s Russell Coutts and Chris Dickson, we are hoping to go one better on our second placing here last year. The Gold Cup is unique in that it is sailed in the beautiful classic International One Design Yachts that date back to the 1930’s and it also has a format unlike any other match racing event, which allows 24 teams to compete.
Teams are divided into 3 groups of 8 and after racing each other in a round robin, only the top 2 teams from each group proceed through to the quarterfinals. 3rd and 4th from each group are left to battle it out in a repechage series to decide the remaining two quarterfinalists while the bottom four from each group go home. We have an extremely tough group which includes triple Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainsile and his Team Origin America’s Cup team, however today we managed a decisive win in our first and only match against local sailor Paula Lewin.
Unfortunately for the race committee the wind that threatened to fill in never did and only one match of our group was completed. It was a different story for this morning’s group who managed to get in all of their four scheduled matches in a steady 10 knot breeze. There was action a plenty this morning with over a dozen penalties handed out in some heated racing, Torvar Mirsky and Ian William’s showing great early form to be unbeaten in group one.
With big breeze forecast for tomorrow it should be a different story as our group gets underway early in the morning and we are looking forward to the windier conditions.
BlackMatch wait on the VIP boat with Steven Goddard and his partner Janine from sponsor FedEx Express. Image copyright Jenny Warner.
BlackMatch would like to again thank our sponsor FedEx Express. We would also like to send a special thank you to Steven Goddard and his partner Janine from Latin America Fedex who joined us on the water, although there was not too much action for you today your support was amazing and we hope you enjoyed your day. To the RNZYS, Emirates Team New Zealand and everyone else, thank you for your support.
BlackMatch Racing
World Match Racing Tour
No comments:
Post a Comment