WMRT: BlackMatch suffer terrible day in Portugal, but still in the hunt

by David Swete

A terrible day for BlackMatch Racing saw us lose all 4 races we were involved in, while our perfect scorecard very quickly evaporated into an extremely average one. Now with 4 wins and 4 losses we all of a sudden find ourselves with our backs up against the wall and it all to do tomorrow if we are to proceed through to the quarterfinals.

First up we had a very narrow loss to former World Champion Ian Williams, which was a sign of things to come as we followed this up with close losses to Francesco Bruni, Magnus Holmberg and Manuel Weiller. In three of the four matches today we got the start we wanted, however it was the tricky tidal/wind conditions that proved our undoing, as we couldn’t quite get our heads around Portimao’s many intricacies.

Tomorrow is another day however and the team remains very upbeat and focussed about progressing further in this regatta. We have three remaining matches in the round robin and will be looking for a good showing in these to regain some momentum and get back to the form we know we are capable of.

BlackMatch would like to thank their sponsors FedEx Express and Events Clothing/Line 7 New Zealand. We would also like to thank our new sponsor Steinlager Pure and Emirates Team New Zealand, as without their support we would not have this opportunity.

Day 3: Current Round Robin Standings

Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 7-1
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 7-1
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 7-4
Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge* 7-4
Manuel Weiller (ESP) Team Iberdrola 6-5
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing* 5-3
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 5-3
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 4-4
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 4-7
Björn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team 3-5
Alvaro Marinho (POR) Seth Sailing Team 1-10
Eugeny Neugodnikov (RUS) Team Synergy 1-10

* Deducted 0.5 point for damage

BlackMatch Racing
World Match Racing Tour