Race Boat Branding/Layout. Korea Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Gyeonggi, Korea. 10th June 2010. Image copyright Ian Roman/Subzero Images.
by Cailah Leask
As the sailors waited in anticipation for the mega wind turbines on the race course horizon to start up they finally jumped into action by 4pm. With wind building to a steady 9 knots on Day 3 of Korea Match Cup’s Round Robin perfect match racing conditions were enjoyed by the 12 teams.
Five out of the overall nine selected 2010 World Match Racing Tour card holders are so far commanding Korea Match Cup. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing is jointly leading with Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar who has now been dedicated to pro-racing for 5 years. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing pulled back considerably today in the welcomed stronger airs, he sits 3rd overall having moved up from 9th position yesterday along with Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team and Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team. Mirsky is rapidly getting back to top form after yesterday expressing his concerns at travelling to Korea so closely after completing Chicago Match Race and arriving in Gyeonggi the morning the WMRT event started, “I didn’t recover and won’t do it again”.
Bowman Graeme Spence hiking hard for Torvar Mirsky on day 3 of Korea Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Gyeonggi, Korea. 11 June 2010. Image copyright Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images.
Williams looked back at Match Race Germany where during this stage of the regatta he was consistently putting in good results however, his form changed when reaching the quarter finals. When asked if he had a different strategy for Korea Match Cup to retain his team’s strength into the quarters he replied, “I think we will just carry on in the same relaxed fashion for Korea Match Cup, the way we are this year without the consistent team and dedication to training we will make mistakes, but if we remain relaxed we should win more than we lose and continue progressing, then we hope that when we go into the quarters it will go our way”.
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra upped his match race considerably today after a disappointing day yesterday which saw him defeated in all matches. The charming Italian helm who is new to the Tour this year, is now ranked 8th after one win today and could still be in play for a slot in the quarters as this skipper is termed a ‘light wind specialist’.
Francesco Bruni. Korea Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Gyeonggi, Korea. 10th June 2010. Image copyright Ian Roman/Subzero Images.
Further down the score board in 9th position sits another Tour card holder, Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team, who has won only 4 out of 10 matches at this event. The 2010 Tour has not yet gone in Pacé’s favour as he was also knocked out in the Round Robin at Match Race France. Pacé commented on his current position, “We are not doing well with the wind or with our match racing”. Continuing at the post race press conference he also related that he didn’t agree with the umpire call in his match against local hero Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match.
During the morning’s postponement the Tour card holders were asked about their thoughts on the innovations to the Tour since this global sports brand was taken over by Regal Faith Ltd in September 2009. Consensus was given on the introduction of LIVE communications such as, streaming, blog, facebook, twitter and upgraded website.
Phil Robertson (helming). Korea Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Gyeonggi, Korea. 10th June 2010. Image copyright Ian Roman/Subzero Images.
The final two days of Korea Match Cup (12/13 June) will be televised LIVE to a global audience. With 11 combined TV cameras on-shore and water covering all of the action. The onboard audio and commentary broadcasters, will be distributing a variety of live, delayed live and highlight shows.
A number of different trans-global broadcasters are taking footage from Korea Match Cup including; Orbit Showtime in the Middle East and Africa, Untamed Sports and America One in the USA, national broadcaster KBS in Korea, ESPN/Star Asia, TVNZ and Sky NZ in New Zealand as well as CNBC Asia Pacific and Setanta Africa. In territories without access to the live television shows, fans can instead pick up the programme live via internet streaming on the WMRT website.
Video of Korea Match Cup 2010 Highlights Day 2
As cultural Korean celebrations run into the night at the mammoth expo style event, the skippers will be heading home to rest up for the final day of the Round Robin tomorrow. The remaining matches will be fought out toughly to guarantee progression through to the next stage of the event. Competition is fierce at Korea Match Cup as the skippers race in anticipation of winning the top prize money of 75,000,000 KRW, which is the second largest prize money packet of the 2010 Tour.
Day 3: Current Round Robin Standings
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 6-2
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 6-2
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 5-3
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 5-3
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 5-3
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 5-5
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team 5-5
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 4-4
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 4-6
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 4-6
Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 3-7
Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match 2-8
Korea Match Cup
World Match Racing Tour
