Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar at Day 4, Portimão Portugal Match Cup © Subzero Images 2010.
by Cailah Leask
Twenty five matches were raced today with wind speeds peaking at 15 knots for mouth watering match racing. The Round Robin was smoothly finished first thing, moving swiftly into the Quarter Finals with the remaining 8 skippers and the subsequent 4 Semi Final slots decided.
The Quarters were raced as the first to 3 points. After 4 matches Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team and his fellow Australian, Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing headed convincingly through to the Semi Finals, both with a secure score of 3-1. It is now the end of the line for Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge with this match race legend eliminated by his counterpart Gilmour. Manuel Weiller (ESP) Team Iberdrola was driven down by hot ticket Mirsky.
Yannick Simon looks around the forestay as Adam Minoprio crosses ahead of Mathieu Richard. Portimao Portugal Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Portimao, Portugal. 26 June 2010. Image copyright Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images.
Gilmour is revving up his results as he progresses through the 10 events and after his races against Holmberg today said, “I’ve been racing against Magnus since he started over 15 years ago, the reason we chose him in the quarters was because he is a similar age to me and is sailing with a new crew. Holmberg today had excellent starts and we were behind him every time, but we managed to pull ahead by the finish line where it counts. It was very technical sailing out there today due to the current from the river and wind shifts. We needed to be strategic and have a good idea of where to go which sat with Cameron Dunn, who did a great job”.
Ian Williams to windward of Torvar Mirsky. Portimao Portugal Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Portimao, Portugal. 26 June 2010. Image copyright Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images.
Weiller has made a notable improvement from Portugal Match Cup 2 years ago when he was 11th, having today gone through to the Quarter Finals paired with Mirsky. Weiller is currently ranked 25th in the ISAF Match Racing World Rankings and Mirsky sits high up in 2nd, this though did not phase Weiller as he went onto beat Mirsky in the first match of the Quarters. “Our aim was to make it through to the quarter finals which we did so we are very pleased. The Iberdrola team would really like to now do more World Match Racing Tour Events”.
Torvar Mirsky to leeward of Ian Williams. Portimao Portugal Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Portimao, Portugal. 26 June 2010. Image copyright Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images.
As the wind made its daily pilgrimage to the right and the sun dipped into the horizon Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar on 3-1 booked his place in the Semis knocking out Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra. The Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing versus current overall Tour leader, Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing, duel was as an epic with Minoprio finally taking victory.
Fireworks flew today when Bruni met Williams and every match was fought to the death. Bruni will be regretting his choice of left on the final beat as Williams’ right hand strategy won the deciding match.
Minoprio was quoted earlier saying that if he could have chosen his Quarter Final opponent he would have chosen Richard to try and knock the Frenchman out early in an attempt to square up this year’s Tour leader board. This is another big call which this young Kiwi is beginning to become synonymous with. Match 1 was a winner for Minoprio and by match 2 he had a firm grasp over Richard who picked up 2 penalties and then went onto rub salt into his wounds with a ripped spinnaker. In the 4th and final match Richard led for the majority of the race but Minoprio edged past Richard in the final 50 metres of the race to make the Semis with a 3-1 score line.
Bjorn Hansen rounds the windward mark ahead of Adam Minoprio. Portimao Portugal Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Portimao, Portugal. 26 June 2010. Image copyright Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images.
Pairings for the Semi Finals will be picked at the start of Sunday. This will be the defining point of Portimão Portugal Match Cup as the Tour heads into the 4th finals day of WMRT 2010 and the spotlight again turns to Mirsky to see if the 24 year old can retain his winning title from last year and make a much needed comeback from Korea.
Semi Finalists
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing
Day 4: Quarter Final Results
Torvar Mirksy (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team v Manual Weiller (ESP) Team Iberdrola (3-1)
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing v Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge (3-1)
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GBR v Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra (3-1)
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing v Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team (3-1)
Adam Minoprio. Portimao Portugal Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Portimao, Portugal. 26 June 2010. Image copyright Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images.
Final Round Robin Standings
1 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 9 points
2 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 7.5 points
3 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 7 points
4 Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge 6.5 points
5 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 6 points
6 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 6 points
7 Manuel Weiller (ESP) Team Iberdrola 6 points
8 Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 6 points
9 Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 4 points
10 Björn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team 4 points
11 Alvaro Marinho (POR) Seth Sailing Team 1 point
12 Eugeny Neugodnikov (RUS) Team Synergy 1 point
World Match Racing Tour
