Reuben Corbett (NZL) leads Ben Ainslie (GBR). Image copyright Charles Anderson/RBYC.
by Talbot Wilson
French sailor Mathieu Richard did not have a good Tuesday in Bermuda. In the first three flights of the Stage 1 qualifying round-robin races in Bermuda’s Argo Group Gold Cup, Richard’s French Match Racing Team, the current leader on the World Match Racing Tour, suffered two critical losses.
Six skippers remain unbeaten moving into Wednesday after three flights. Wednesday the 22 teams will sail three flights and then the one more on Thursday to qualify for the next stage. The top two teams in each of the three groups automatically move into the Quarter-Finals. The third and fourth in each group sail a 6-boat round robin and the top two from that round move into the quarters, too. It is a last chance for teams to regain their composure and move up with the winners.
BlackMatch Racing (NZL). Image copyright Charles Anderson/RBYC.
Quarterfinals begin on Friday, after the Thursday night ‘Rock the Dock’ party at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.
Looking back on Tuesday, Richard lost to Terry Mclaughlin (CAN) Team Commonwealth and to Lucy Macgregor, current ISAF women’s Match Racing World Champion (GBR) GBR Match Race Girls. Richard’s only win was over first time Gold Cupper Mike Buckley (USA). Buckley was ahead of Richard in the early stages of the race, but lost his lead by failing to cover from ahead on the first leeward leg. Richard won the Gold Cup in 2007.
Leading Group 2 is Reuben Corbett (NZL) Black Sheep Racing with three wins and no losses. Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch also has an unblemished record at 2-0 with one bye for the day.
Walker (BER) leads Williams (GBR) - Williams won. Image copyright Charles Anderson/RBYC.
In Group 3 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team has two wins, Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar sponsored by Argo Group has two and Jonnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team has two. Those skippers all had a bye in one flight today and have no losses. Alvaro Marinho (POR) Seth Sailing Team has three wins for a perfect day as well. He’ll even up on numbers when his bye comes around later.
In Group 2 and Group 3, each team has a bye because the field is only 22 boats, not the full 24-boat fleet. Some of the sailor only raced two races today.
Complete results for the three groups are on the World Match Racing Tour website
Jesper Radich (DEN) Gaastra Racing Team and Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team and Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing lead Group 1 at two wins each. Taylor Canfield (USA), a 21-year-old skipper from the USVI, defied the odds by winning his first two matches, the second against the seasoned veteran Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team.
Richard’s victory against Mike Buckley in his third race today couldn’t hide his frustrations and he faces his highest ranked opponents on Wednesday: “It was not a good day for us – this is a tricky place to sail and the boats are also difficult. We made some big mistakes and don’t feel good right now. We know we must make some changes to have a chance of going through to the Quarter-Finals.”
Ainslie (GBR) leads Fraser (BER). Image copyright Charles Anderson/RBYC.
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin, last year’s winner of the King Edward VII Gold Cup, came away with only one win in two flights he sailed. His win came over Bermuda schoolboy Lance Fraser Team TOP’s Ltd. Ainslie’s loss was to 23-year old Ruben Corbett, one of the hottest competitors on the world match racing scene, whop was perfect in his firs three matches.
Action continues all week with the finals scheduled for Sunday October 10th.
At home, spectators can enjoy all the action on www.wmrt.com with live commentary, streaming video and all the results and news of the day. Also featured is the Argo Group Gold Cup World Match Racing Tour “Play of the Day” and plenty of photos and video, too.
In Bermuda, the Bermuda Sports Network, http://www.bermudasportsnetwork.com/, hosts the live video and commentary.
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club
World Match Racing Tour
