St Moritz Match Race 2008: Day One - BlackMatch Lead Round Robin B

Paolo Cian sparring with Philippe Presti on St Moritzersee. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/www.myimage.ch

by Kirsten Bollinger

St. Moritz Match Race got under way this morning (Wednesday, 3rd September) and, while the lake looked like glass, as promised the wind came through in time for the scheduled start. With eight of the top ten ISAF ranked teams competing, competition is sure to be fierce as the teams battle out for their share in the $135 000 prize pool.

The format for this regatta sees the teams split into two groups for the Round Robins. In Round Robin A, Eric Monnin (SUI), Phillipe Presti (FRA), Bjorn Hansen (SWE), Mathieu Richard (FRA), Sebastien Col (FRA) and Michael Hestbaek (DEN) race each other with the top three teams proceeding to the quarter-finals.

The remaining three teams will compete in a repechage Round Robin with the bottom three teams from Round Robin B to decide the final two quarter final places. Round Robin B consists of Ian Williams (GBR), Paolo Cian (ITA), Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Peter Wibroe (DEN) and Jes Gram Hansen (DEN).

A fleet race started the day off with the teams from Group A all fighting for a top spot, knowing that if it came to a count-back it would be the fleet race result that would help decide the outcome. Michael Hestbaek took out 1st place in the fleet race, while regatta favourite Mathieu Richard was disqualified for rounding the wrong top mark.


Match racing at the top of the world on St Moritzersee, Switzerland. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/www.myimage.ch

The last match of Round Robin A saw Eric Monnin’s search.ch team of Switzerland come face to face with Michael Hestbeak’s Team Hestbaek of Denmark. Hestbaek was leading down the final run and decided his only option to win was to try and offset the penalty he was carrying. While Hestbaek waited, Monnin attempted to gybe onto starboard but could not keep clear and plowed into the side of Team Hestbaek, receiving a penalty and offsetting Hestbaek's penalty.


Top Swiss match racer, Eric Monnin, gets involved in penalties on Day One in St Moritz. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/www.myimage.ch

Monnin then attempted to luff Hestbaek, who gybed onto port and caused another collision. Both teams received penalties, Hestbaek for not keeping clear, and Monnin for taking Hestbaek past proper course.

However, that wasn’t the end of the penalties with the umpires giving a twin penalty in a further incident before the finish. With the penalties offset, Monnin went on to win the race, but not before interrupting Sebastien Col and Mathieu Richard, who were seconds away from starting their race.

Round Robin A finished with Col in the lead with 4 wins. The battle for the remaining two places saw a 3-way tie between Richard, B Hansen and Monnin. “We got really lucky with the count-back” said Monnin, “since in the fleet race we were last coming up to the final mark we went around both marks just in case. Neither Hansen nor Richard went round the right mark so they got disqualified, which means we go through to the quarterfinals in 2nd”.

The third quarterfinalist from Round Robin A is Mathieu Richard’s French Match Racing Team, who won their head to head with Hansen.

The afternoon saw another fleet race and then Round Robin B got underway with a standout performance from Adam Minoprio’s BlackMatch Racing, who go into tomorrow undefeated with 3 wins.

In a close match between Minoprio and Jes Gram Hansen, the bottom mark rounding saw some exciting racing. Minoprio led to the mark and dropped his spinnaker. “Hansen then gybed and didn’t keep clear of us so he got a penalty, then when he dropped his spinnaker he sailed over it which caused even more problems for him”, explained Minoprio after the race.

At the completion of the day's racing, Peter Wibroe is on two wins while the remaining teams from Round Robin B are all on one win.

At this stage, no teams from Round Robin B have secured a quarter-final spot, so sailors and spectators alike will just have to wait for racing to commence in the morning.


Gilles Favennec trims the spinnaker for Round Robin A winner Sebastien Col at the St Moritz Match Race 2008. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/www.myimage.ch

Results from Day One

ROUND ROBIN A FLEET RACE - used for count-back positions in match race results
1st Micheal Hestbaek
2nd Philippe Presti
3rd Sebastien Col
4th Eric Monnin
5th Bjorn Hansen
6th Mathieu Richard DSQ

ROUND ROBIN A FLIGHTS
(Winners in Bold)

FLIGHT 1
M1 Eric Monnin v Philippe Presti
M2 Bjorn Hansen v Mathieu Richard
M3 Sebastien Col v Michael Hestbaek

FLIGHT 2
M1 Eric Monnin v Bjorn Hansen
M2 Philippe Presti v Sebastien Col
M3 Mathieu Richard v Michael Mestbaek

FLIGHT 3
M1 Bjorn Hansen v Sebastien Col
M2 Michael Hestbaek v Philippe Presti
M3 Mathieu Richard v Eric Monnin

FLIGHT 4
M1 Michael Hestbaek v Bjorn Hansen
M2 Eric Monnin v Sebastien Col
M3 Philippe Presti v Mathieu Richard

FLIGHT 5
M1 Michael Hestbaek v Eric Monnin
M2 Philippe Presti v Bjorn Hansen
M3 Sebastien Col v Mathieu Richard

Round Robin A Results (wins-losses)

1. Sebastien Col (FRA) 4-1
2. Eric Monnin (SUI) 3-2
3. Mathieu Richard (FRA) 3-2
4. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) 3-2
5. Michael Hestbaek (DEN) 2-3
6. Philippe Presti (FRA) 1-4

Top three progress to quarterfinals; bottom three to repechage round robin

ROUND ROBIN B FLIGHTS
(Winners in Bold)

FLIGHT 1
M1 Peter Wibroe v Adam Minoprio
M2 Torvar Mirsky v Ian Williams
M3 Paolo Cian v Jes Gram Hansen

FLIGHT 2
M1 Peter Wibroe v Torvar Mirsky
M2 Adam Minoprio v Paolo Cian
M3 Ian Williams v Jes Gram Hansen

FLIGHT 3
M1 Torvar Mirsky v Paolo Cian
M2 Jes Gram Hansen v Adam Minoprio
M3 Ian Williams v Peter Wibroe

St Moritz Match Race
World Match Racing Tour

St Moritz Match Race 2008: Line-up and New Boat

Ian Williams (GBR), with crew Andy Estcourt (NZL) and Mark Nicholls (GBR), defeated a former winner, Mark Mendelblatt (USA), 3-2 in a thrilling final to be crowned King of the Mountain on St Moritzersee in 2007. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/www.myimage.ch

by SailRaceWin and Yvonne Reid

Strong Line-up for St Moritz Match Race

The sixth event in the 2008 World Match Racing Tour commences in St Moritz, Switzerland, today, with a practice day for the crews, and runs until 7th September. The entrants have been divided into two groups for Round Robins, based on the ISAF match race rankings of 6th June 2008.

Round Robin Group A is comprised of: Mathieu Richard (FRA), Sebastien Col (FRA), Bjorn Hansen (SWE), Philippe Presti (FRA), Eric Monnin (SUI) and Michael Hestbaek (DEN). There should be some good racing in this half-French group.

To SailRaceWin, Round Robin Group B looks slightly tougher: Ian Williams (GBR), Paolo Cian (ITA), Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Peter Wibroe (DEN) and Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN). Both Williams (2007) and Cian (2006) have won the St Moritz Match Race, and been crowned 'King of the Mountain', before.


Ian Williams, accompanied by Andy Estcourt and Mark Nicholls, lifts the King of the Mountain trophy at the prizegiving in St Moritz in 2007. Image copyright Max Ranchi/www.maxranchi.com

Crew List for St Moritz Match Race 2008

Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team / French Spirit
Crew: Greg Evrad, Olivier Herledant, Jean Marie Dauris

Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar
Crew: Mark Nicholls, Richard Sydenham, Gerard Mitchell

Paolo Cian (ITA) Shosholoza
Crew: Teva Plichart, Pierluigi de Felice, Pierluigi Fornelli

Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team / K Challenge
Crew: Christophe André, Gilles Favennec, Fred Guilmin

Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Alandia Sailing Team
Crew: Anders Jönsson, Fredrik Ekman, Mathias Bredin

Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Crew: Graeme Spence, Tudur Owen, Kinley Fowler

Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing / Team New Zealand
Crew: Tom Powrie, Nick Blackman, Dave Swete

Philippe Presti (FRA) French Match Racing Team / French Spirit
Crew: Erwan Israel, Julien Falxa, Gilles André

Eric Monnin (SUI) search.ch
Crew: Jean-Claude Monnin, Marc Monnin, Simon Brügger

Peter Wibroe (DEN) Wibroe Sailing Team
Crew: Jeppe Rasmussen, Phillip Guhle, Fredrik Aurell

Jes Gram Hansen (DEN) Mascalzone Latino / Trifork Team
Crew: Mads Ebler, Chris Keene, Frederik Sparvath

Michael Hestbaek (DEN) Team Hestbaek
Crew: Peter Poulsen, Thomas Hartvig, Niels Gramkov

This year, the St Moritz Match Race uses a new boat for the competition. Some crews, including Tour leader, Ian Williams, have already test-sailed the Blu26.

Blu26 One Design


The Blu26 sail plan has been adapted for the Swiss Lakes and uses a 21 m2 Mainsail, 19 m2 Genoa and 14 m2 Jib. Image copyright Max Ranchi.

The Blu26 One Design was designed by Naval Architect Christian Bolinger for Bluboats in Switzerland. The architect worked closely together with Match Racing Sailor and St. Moritz Match Race event organiser Christian Scherrer.

The goal was to produce an easy transportable boat which is optimised for Match Racing, but can also be used for Fleet Racing and Corporate Sailing. With a weight of 1,2 tons and a deck layout like a bigger yacht the Blu26 is also meant to develop new talent in Switzerland for the international Match Racing Circuit.

The 8 metre sport boat is raced with a crew of 4. Its sail plan is adapted for the Swiss Lakes and uses a 21 m2 Mainsail, 19 m2 Genoa and 14 m2 Jib. The Class Boat has a Masthead Spinnaker with 71 m2. For Match Racing a Fractional Spinnaker with 54 m2 is used.


Ian Williams test sails the Blu26 on St Moritzersee. Image copyright Max Ranchi.

The Blu26 is not only used at the St. Moritz Match Race but also at different stages of the national Swiss Match Racing Tour which counts for the Swiss Match Racing Championship as a Qualifier event for St. Moritz Match Race.

SPECIFICATIONS
LOA — 8 m
LWL — 7.19 m
Beam — 2.20
Draft — 1.80 m
Displacement — 1200 kg
Mainsail — 21 m2
Genoa — 19 m2
Jib — 14 m2
Spinnaker — 54 m2 for Match Racing / 71 m2 Class

St Moritz Match Race
World Match Racing Tour

World Match Racing Tour Leaderboard

by Yvonne Reid

After 5 events on the Tour, Ian Williams' Team Pindar has upped its points to 72 and stretched its lead to 15 points over Sebastien Col’s French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge, who lie second with 57. Both Mathieu Richard and Torvar Mirsky leap-frogged Bjorn Hansen to make third and fourth on 47 and 45 points, respectively, leaving Hansen in 5th on 40.

SailRaceWin notes that BlackMatch Racing (Adam Minoprio) are now 11th on the Tour leaderboard, without having competed in all events on the Tour this year. They lie ahead of names such as Peter Gilmour (AUS), Jesper Radich (DEN), Ben Ainslie (GBR) and Johnie Berntsson (SWE) on the Tour leaderboard.

ISAF Match Racing World Championship Leaderboard (Top 12)
(After Stage 5 of 9)
1. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar, 72
2. Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge, 57
3. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team/Team French Spirit, 47
4. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team, 45
5. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Alandia Sailing Team, 40
6. Mattias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team, 34
7. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza, 33
8. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge, 31
9. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) Trifork Racing/Mascalzone Latino, 26
10. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team, 25
11. Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing/Emirates Team New Zealand, 21
12. Peter Wibroe (DEN) Team Wibroe, 18

World Match Racing Tour

Ian Williams and Team Pindar Win Danish Open Match Race 2008

Team Pindar (Ian Williams, Simon Shaw, Mal Parker, Richard Sydenham and Mark Nichols) celebrate their victory at the Danish Open 2008 afloat. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

by Yvonne Reid

An estimated 30,000 people have come to see the sights and sounds of Frederikshavn this week as the town played host to the fifth stage of the World Match Racing Tour. The Danish Open ended today with Ian Williams (GBR) of Team Pindar taking 1st place in a best of three final against Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge.

In the deciding match of the semi final, Williams trailed Berntsson all the way round the course until the final run. After splitting gybes halfway down the run, when the pair met again Berntsson gybed in front of Williams but the extra speed that Williams carried enabled him to roll over Berntsson and slide around his bow and book his berth in the finals, his second of the year.

With the score in the other semi final at 2-1 Sebastien Col could hear the final calling, but a feisty Torvar Mirsky wasn’t going to let him have it all his own way. After racking up a penalty early in the race Col needed to produce something special and he extended well throughout the race and opted to take the penalty at the finish line. As Col took the penalty spin Mirsky was heading right for him and before the penalty was completed Mirsky had to avoid a collision putting a penalty back onto Col and handing the race to Mirsky to level the score.

Col bounced back in the deciding match and lead Mirsky all the way round the course to push Mirsky to the petit final and elevate himself to a showdown with Ian Williams in a repeat of the final of the Korea Match Cup. In Korea it was Col that was victorious, winning 3-1. Could Col repeat his performance and take down the Tour leader?

A fully pumped Team Pindar attacked the finals with gusto sailing a faultless series to win 3-0.


Sebastien Col (FRA) trails Ian Williams (GBR) in the finals of the Danish Open 2008. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

Sebastien Col said “On the first two races we picked the wrong side, we thought left but the best was right. We made the finals easy for Ian, to many errors were made. We finish the event happy though because when we started we have a new team and we made it to the final, which is very positive.”

A jubilant Simon Shaw from Team Pindar said “Today we were on fire. Ian was sailing the boat really fast. We started where we wanted, we sailed where we wanted, we sailed the way we wanted, we got the shifts right. There was no stopping us.”


Champagne spraying by the winning Team Pindar at the Danish Open 2008. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

After the match Ian Williams was highly praising of his crew “We got it right today. For the first time this year we really felt like World Champions. We won five straight matches today, which in this field is no mean feat. Mal Parker worked out well here trimming the jibs and spinnaker. Our speed this week and especially today was amazing. The team were fast, they were smart, we were right on the money. Now we need to carry the momentum in to St Moritz next week to extend our lead at the top of the Tour leader board.”

In the petit-final the results went to one all after Johnie Berntsson equalled the score by winning the second race against Torvar Mirsky. Berntsson then went on to win the third match which secured him $13,000 of the total $100,000 prize purse.


Champagne wars erupt as the winners celebrate at the Danish Open 2008. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

The prize giving was held in the late afternoon sunshine in the midst of the thousands of spectators who have enjoyed the racing this week. “It’s been a great event and we look forward to doing it all again next year” said Erik Sørensen the mayor of Frederikshavn.

FINAL STANDINGS
1. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar $32,000
2. Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge $16,000
3. Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team $13,000
4. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team $10,000
5. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team/Team French Spirit $9,000
6. Peter Wibroe (DEN) Wibroe Sailing Team $8,000
7. Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing Team $7,000
8. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge $5,000
9. Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team
10. Mads Ebler (DEN) Team AWL Grip
11. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Alandia Sailing Team
12. Andrey Arbuzov (RUS)

FINALS
M1 Ian Williams v Sebastien Col
M2 Sebastien Col v Ian Willliams
M3 Ian Williams v Sebastien Col

PETIT FINALS
M1 Johnie Berntsson v Torvar Mirsky
M2 Torvar Mirsky v Johnie Berntsson
M3 Johnie Berntsson v Torvar Mirsky

SEMI-FINALS
(winners in BOLD)

FLIGHT 1
M1 Ian Williams v Johnie Berntsson
M2 Sebastien Col v Torvar Mirsky

FLIGHT 2
M1 Johnie Berntsson v Ian Williams
M2 Torvar Mirsky v Sebastien Col

FLIGHT 3
M1 Ian Williams v Johnie Berntsson
M2 Sebastien Col v Torvar Mirsky

FLIGHT 4
M1 Johnie Berntsson v Ian Williams
M2 Torvar Mirsky v Sebastien Col

FLIGHT 5
M1 Sebastien Col v Torvar Mirsky

Danish Open 2008
World Match Racing Tour

Danish Open: BlackMatch 7th but could have been in Semis; Team Pindar Win

Ian Williams and the winning Team Pindar at the Danish Open 2008. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

by David Swete, BlackMatch Racing

On completion of the round robin we missed out on the semi-finals very narrowly by one point. With 3 teams guaranteed semi-final positions, there was a 5-way tie for the final position and we were left rueing our earlier losses against the top ranked teams as this is how the tie break was decided.

BlackMatch, Mirsky, Wibroe, Richard and Holmberg were locked on 6 wins – 5 losses, and although we had convincingly beaten Mirsky in our race against him he had beaten two of the teams who had qualified already, so he was handed the final spot in the semi-final, after we were initially given the spot.

It was a double blow for us as the way the cookie crumbled we didn't even get the opportunity to race for 5th place and were left the unenviable task of racing veteran Magnus Holmberg for 7th.

We managed to defeat Magnus 2-1 in our race off for 7th position and had some awesome racing against him which was a positive way to end a heart breaking week.

We take solace from the fact that last years finalists did not qualify and also the world #1 Mathieu Richard, it shows how tough the racing here was and we are looking forward to the upcoming World Tour Event on St Moritzersee in Switzerland next week.

A special thank you to our sponsors, FedEx Express and Ross Munro from Line 7, with their ongoing support we have able to promote BlackMatch to #8 in the world and be over here competing with the worlds best. To the RNZYS and everyone else thank you for your support.

From SailRaceWin: In the third match (in easterlies on Sunday) against Holmberg, Minoprio and the BlackMatch team sailed higher (partly thanks to being gradually lifted) and faster than Holmberg up the first leg. However, Holmberg got the inside berth at the windward mark, so squeezed ahead.

A gybing duel towards the end of the run saw the BlackMatch boys get inside at the leeward mark. They were again able to climb out slightly on the Victory Challenge team, maintain the starboard advantage and prevent Holmberg from tacking up the second windward leg (which was, again, a one tack affair). This meant that they led Holmberg in to the top mark, and maintained their lead down the final leg for a 15 second victory. This gave them 7th overall, by 2 victories to 1 over Holmberg.

For reasons of time, the 7th/8th and 5th/6th place and petit-final sail-offs were reduced to best-of-three races. The semi-finals were first to three wins.

The finals saw three clear victories for Ian Williams over Seb Col. In the second race of the 5th/6th sail-off, there was a dead heat between Mathieu Richard and Danish sailor Peter Wibroe, before Richard, who had won the first race, took the third too to obtain 5th overall. In the petit-final, Mirsky won the first race before Berntsson obtained two victories for third place overall.

A full report on the semi-finals and finals will follow from Yvonne Reid.

BlackMatch Racing

Danish Open Match Race 2008 - Day Three

Ian Williams and Team Pindar finished top of the Round Robin with 8 wins. They lie 1-1 with Johnnie Berntsson in the best-of-five race semi-final at the end of Day 3. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

by Yvonne Reid

The warm sunny weather returned to the shores of Frederikshavn in Denmark, bringing out a record crowd of spectators to watch the final flights of the round robin and see the semi-finalists emerge. As the crowd eagerly watched from the rocky shores overlooking the race area, 12 teams fought hard to determine who would make it to the Semi Final round to compete for their share of the $100,000 total purse in this fifth stage of the World Match Racing Tour.

With four flights left in the round it was all wide open with 6 teams capable of getting to the magic number of seven wins and the possibility that 6 wins might get you there on count back.

Ian Williams on 7 points had to beat local Peter Wibroe to assure his place in the semi’s but Wibroe was not going to lie down as he also needed the win to get to 7 wins. In the end it was Williams that controlled the match from the start, never letting Wibroe into the race.


Johnie Berntsson (SWE) earns his place in the semi-finals, beating Mads Ebler (DEN) on Day 3 of the Danish Open 2008. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

Johnie Berntsson started the day on 4-4 and knew he had a bit of a mountain to climb to make the cut. After vowing to try and keep away from umpire decisions he immediately got stuck in, forcing 2 penalties onto Sebastien Col in his first match, 3 penalties onto Torvar Mirsky in the pre-start of his second match, earning Mirsky a black flag DSQ, and one penalty onto Mads Ebler in his third match.

Opening the day at 5-3 Sebastien Col had a good chance to qualify but a loss to Johnie Berntsson in match one meant he needed to pull out all the stops against both Adam Minoprio and fellow Frenchman Mathieu Richard. Against Minoprio he led at mark 1 and held off a charging Kiwi all the way round the course to take the win and consign Minoprio’s hopes of making the semi-finals to a watery grave.

Col’s next match against Richard was nip and tuck all the way round with the boats never more than a few feet apart. No matter what Richard did he couldn’t rattle Col who kept control and stopped Richard’s regatta in its tracks.


Sebastien Col and his French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge win through to the semi-finals on Day 3 of the Danish Open. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

“This week has not been so easy. We have a new tactician who I have sailed with twice so we are learning but we have a good curve. It’s been hard”, said Col.

The lucky man of the day award went to Torvar Mirsky. “I just won the lucky dip, I can’t believe we got through on 6 points”, said an elated Mirsky after seeing how the 5 way tie was unravelled. “I thought we were gone, I’d better grab the lads from out of the bar!”

So it was Ian William’s Team Pindar that topped the Round Robin followed by Johnie Berntsson in second, the French Match Racing Team/K Challenge of Sebastien Col in third and Torvar “Lucky man” Mirsky rounding out the Semi-finalists.

As winners prerogative, Ian Williams was given the opportunity to choose his opponent in the semi-final which was a little trickier than you might think as Johnie Berntsson and Torvar Misky had both beaten him in the Round Robin and a lucky wave and gust had helped him snatch defeat from Col in the dying seconds of their match. In the end he chose Berntsson, leaving Col and Mirsky to fight it out in the second semi-final.

In semi-final one against Johnie Berntsson, Ian Williams was over the line early but a big left shift saved his bacon and propelled him back into a lead he never relinquished. In the second match Berntsson struck back leading Williams from start to finish to level the score.

In semi-final two Torvar Mirsky capitalised on a big right shift to get the jump he needed on Sebastien Col to take a big lead and the win. Their second match was much closer with Col leading at the first mark. Mirsky put the pressure on downwind but with an outstanding penalty he had some work to do. By the bottom of the run Col had to defend hard and a fast luff was judged too fast by the umpires and the penalties were offset. Col scrambled to the leeward mark getting there just ahead of Mirsky, a lead he defended well to the the finish.

Racing starts again on Sunday at 10am local time, with the completion of the first to three point semi-finals followed by the finals in the afternoon.

Standings After Day 3:

Semi-Finals
Ian Williams v Johnie Berntsson 1-1
Sebastien Col v Torvar Mirsky 1-1

7th/8th Place Sail-Off
Adam Minoprio v Magnus Holmberg 1-1

Note from SailRaceWin: See the report below for an account of the first tantilisingly close 7th/8th place match between Minoprio and Holmberg. Minoprio won the second match by 1 minute 35 seconds.

Danish Open 2008
World Match Racing Tour

BlackMatch at the Danish Open + Semi-Finalists Decided after 5-Way Count-Back

Close racing between BlackMatch and Peter Wibroe's team at the Danish Open 2008. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

from David Swete, Flemming Vitus and SailRaceWin

BlackMatch report after Day 2 - In another day of shifty trying conditions here in Frederikshavn, we had an average day of 2 wins-3 losses but still remain in the hunt for that elusive semi-final berth with an overall record of 4 wins 4 losses.

With no teams guaranteed a berth in the semi-finals yet, perhaps world #1 Mathieu Richard and world #2 Ian Williams look the best bet to go through, with only 2 and 3 losses respectively. For the remaining teams it looks like the magical number to proceed through will be 7 wins, however there will be a host of teams on 7 wins and it is looking like it will come down to a 'count back' situation where it depends on who has beaten who to break the tie.

Our wins today came against last year's runner up Peter Wibroe, and Andrew Arbuzov of Russia. Peter was a major scalp as he is one of the teams looking to finish on 7 wins. Our losses today came against Swede Johnny Berntsson and we had two very close losses to another Swede Magnus Holmberg and the current World Tour leader Ian Williams.

In our loss against Ian Williams we led him the whole way around the course after an excellent start, but the cunning Brit sailed a very good tactical last upwind, picking up a good wind shift on the left hand side of the course to take a narrow lead going into the final downwind and take a close win.

As we are on 4 wins and 4 losses with three races remaining, every race tomorrow is a must win and we are also relying on some favours from other teams who we need to take one more win off Johnny Berntsson as we lost to him today and he is also looking to get to 7 wins.

On Day 3 in the round robin we are racing former world #1 Sebastian Col, recent runner up in Match Cup Sweden Torvar Mirsky and local talent Mads Ebler. If we can secure victories against all of these competitors and Johnny loses to one of them, we will be guaranteed a berth in the final 4, but it will be tight.

A special thank you to our sponsors, FedEx Express and Ross Munro from Line 7, with their ongoing support we have able to promote BlackMatch to #8 in the world and be over here competing with the worlds best. To the RNZYS and everyone else thank you for your support.

Update after completion of the Round Robin on Day 3

A count-back decided the fourth semi-final berth, after BlackMatch Racing beat Mirsky and Ebler, but lost to Col. They are now in the 7th/8th place sail-off (best of five races) against Magnus Holmberg (SWE - Victory Challenge).

The best-of-five semi-finals are between Ian Williams (GBR) and Johnnie Berntsson (SWE), and Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and Sebastien Col (FRA).

The Danes were very disappointed not to have a representative in the semi-finals, after an all-Danish final in 2007. However, Peter Wibroe is in the best-of-five sail-off for 5th and 6th place with Mathieu Richard on Sunday.


Magnus Holmberg and the Victory Challenge crew at the Danish Open 2008. Image copyright Per Heegaard.

In the round robin, BlackMatch had a very close race with Holmberg, leading out of the start and halfway up the first beat. However, Holmberg and his crew are very familiar with the DS 37 Match Racer boat and managed to get out of phase with Minoprio and the BlackMatch crew. A favourable windshift then saw Holmberg take the lead. Despite BlackMatch challenging all the way, Holmberg managed to finish 4 seconds ahead in that race.

Saturday saw a change to warmer southerly winds for the competitors. The first race in the 7th/8th place sail-off saw Holmberg ahead at the start gun, but unable to tack as Minoprio had him pinned. BlackMatch Racing were too far back, so received dirty air from the Victory Challenge crew and had to tack off up the first beat. Minoprio gained better pressure with the split and went into a narrow lead. However, coming together again, Minoprio was unable to cross Holmberg, whose lee bow tack forced Minoprio to tack off again. When they came together again, Minprio went hunting. However, Holmberg was able to gain the inside berth and lead around the windward mark.

On the first downwind, Minoprio covered Holmberg closely for the first half of the leg, but then gybed away into his own air. When they converged to round the bottom mark, Holmberg had gained a few metres. Initially the advantage appeared to be with Holmberg on the second upwind leg, as he was lifted higher towards the mark than Minoprio. The match was still very close and when they came together, Minoprio again forced Holmberg to tack, but then had to sail in Holmberg's dirty air to the top mark.

A better rounding of the second windward mark by the BlackMatch team (thanks, in part to Mirsky, in another match, affecting Holmberg's rounding), saw them with a very close cover on Holmberg downwind. Minoprio gybed off trying to hot the angle up, with Holmberg covering. However, Holmberg shepperded the BlackMatch team out to the side of the course. When they gybed back, Holmberg took things to the bounds of proper course, heading approximately parallel to the finishing line. Minoprio escaped, gybing behind Holmberg, to a heading just outside the finishing line. Holmberg delayed his gybe until he was sure of crossing the finishing line directly.

The finish was even closer than the first race race between the pair, during the round robin. Minoprio squeezed around the committee boat as Holmberg crossed the line just 3 seconds ahead.

In the first semi-final races, between Williams and Berntsson, and Mirsky and Col, respectively, there were distant wins for Williams and Mirsky.

Round Robin results (skipper - number of wins/losses):

1. Ian Williams 8/3
2. Johnie Berntson 7/4
3. Sebastian Col 7/4
4. Torvar Mirsky 6/5
5. Mathieu Richard 6/5
6. Peter Wibroe 6/5
7. Magnus Holmberg 6/5
8. Adam Minoprio 6/5
9. Jesper Radich 5/6
10. Mads Ebler 4/7
11. Björn Hansen 3/8
12. Andrey Arbuzov 2/9

BlackMatch Racing
Danish Open 2008
World Match Racing Tour