Spence using his weight. Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.
by Kyle Langford
Day one of the Bermuda Gold Cup brought shifty conditions to Hamilton Harbour, where MRT managed to make the most of the tricky conditions to secure two come from behind wins.
Starting off against local Bermudian, Blythe Walker, MRT trailed off the start after Walker executed a near perfect start. The shifty conditions tested both teams but MRT managed to place multiple shifts together and pass the local team by the first mark. MRT then went on to extend their lead for a comfortable win over Walker.
Race two against Olympian Anna Tunnicliffe was a similar storey with Tunnicliffe winning the start, "Anna got the start against us, on day one of an event we are still getting used to the boats as they react very differently to the other boats we race on the tour, we were behind off the line but we sailed smoothly up the first beat and ate in to her lead, we rounded the top mark narrowly ahead and our tactican, Kinley Fowler called for the gybe set, where as Anna continued, that was the game winner there as we extended our lead and held on for the rest of the race" said Torvar Mirsky.
Tudur Owen assists with the hoist. Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.
The Gold Cup format is a little different from other Tour events, there are 24 teams which are divided into 3 groups of 8, the top 2 teams from each group progress to the next stage, 3rd and 4th places then go onto a repechage to decide the final two quarter finalists.
"It is a cutthroat format, you have to be on your game from the start so we are happy to come out with two wins, still 5 more races remain to we have to remain focused and keep our composure" added Mirsky.
The Gold Cup has a live stream video which can be viewed at www.wmrt.com if you have Flash player, racing starts tomorrow at 1000 local time.
Mirsky Racing Team
World Match Racing Tour
