by Rob Kothe
Another glorious sunny day in the Portuguese resort town of Portimao, the breeze came in late again but there was plenty to see and do for the waiting crews.
Peter Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing team of Cameron Dunn, Thierry Douillard, Yasuhiro Yaji and Kazuhiko Sofuku had an 'interesting' start to the fourth event on the 2010 ISAF World Match Racing circuit.
YANMAR Racing's first match was against Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, the reigning world champion.
Tactician Cameron Dunn explains 'We muffed the first race, to be honest. We had the lead half way up first beat but it was very close.
'Then we misjudged our approach to the top mark. We tried to do a lee bow but we could not make it stick, they rounded the top mark ahead of us, then we collided with them, another misjudgement, which cost us 0.5 points.
'Against Eugeny Neugodnikov (RUS) Team Synergy, Peter started well. YANMAR Racing took the favoured right and had a good 30 second lead at top mark and sailed away.
'Then we sailed against Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team. Another really nice job in the start, we held the right again. Pace was just on our stern at the top mark however we extended slightly down the run and made him pay up the second beat and went on to win.
'In summary - a rough start but we came back for two really nice wins and our confidence is up.'
'The forecast for the event week ahead is for solid sunshine and that should bring good breezes so our YANMAR Racing crew are looking forward to plenty of match racing.'
Day 1: Current Round Robin Standings
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 3-0
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 2-0
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 2-0
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 2-1
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 2-1
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 1-1
Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge 1-1
Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 1-2
Alvaro Marinho (POR) Seth Sailing Team 1-2
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team 0-2
Manuel Weiller (ESP) Team Iberdrola 0-2
Eugeny Neugodnikov (RUS) Team Synergy 0-3
YANMAR Racing
World Match Racing Tour