by SailRaceWin
Europe
The Danish Open finals (Minoprio 1 - Mirsky 0) and petit-finals (Richard 1 - Bruni 0) are currently on video on http://www.wmrt.com
North America
Sam Osborne is in the semi-finals of the ISAF Grade One Buddy Melges Challenge at the US Sailing Center Sheboygan on Lake Michigan later. Osborne won this event in 2009. Livestream video will be available when racing gets under way on http://syc.axiscam.net:8080/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.swf
Asia
No live video - but congratulations to the Kiwis won won the Han River International in Korea: once again, this was Reuben Corbett and Black Sheep Racing.
With Kiwi teams at the top of the main international match racing events in three continents this weekend, it is definitely Black to the Future in Match Racing!
Sunday, 12 September 2010
WMRT: BlackMatch 2 nil up in semi finals of Danish Open
by David Swete
Needing 2 wins from our 3 remaining matches this morning to qualify for the semi finals, we came out firing and won all 3 to claim the top qualifying position for the semi finals. We had three action packed wins against Torvar Mirsky, Bjorn Hansen and Ben Ainslie, with our match against Ben becoming so heated that a protest flag was hurled at us from the frustrated Brit, after a bottom mark incident. Our reward for qualifying top meant that we could choose our semi final opponent and we picked Italy’s Francesco Bruni, which left Torvar Mirsky to battle it out with Mathieu Richard. We are currently on match point 2 nil up against Bruni following two extremely tight races, while the in form Richard is also 2 matches up on Mirsky.
TeamOrigin's Ben Ainslie had a terrible day losing all three of his matches and was perhaps venting some anger when we gained a slight overlap to claim mark room at a bottom mark rounding. A minor yelling match ensued when he launched his protest flag at us, before a decision was even made on the incident. He was first handed a penalty for not giving us room and then a second for dissent toward the umpires.
In our first match against Bruni we both had a pretty even start. We managed to live to windward and hold the Italians all the way to an obstruction zone when there was an odd incident regarding a ‘water and room to tack call’ that saw us landed with a penalty. We managed to extend throughout the remainder of the race to hold what we thought would be enough of a lead to do our penalty turn on the finish line, however it was going to be close. We executed a nice drop right on the finish line and after our turn we only took the race by a few metres.
The next race was just as close and in a similar situation, although the roles were reversed. We gained the initial advantage with a great start, however Bruni closed the gap on the first downwind and managed to hold us out past the bottom mark. The umpires deemed that we had however broken the overlap and they were not entitled to sail us past the mark so they were handed a penalty. The next upwind we did our best to keep it close and even managed to gain in on the Italians, so they had no choice but to wait for us on the final downwind to try and force a penalty back on us. We have seen this situation many times and although they did a nice job of slowing down and setting up a trap, we managed to keep cool heads and roll them right on the finish line to set us up on match point.
In the other semi final Current World Tour Leader Mathieu Richard seems to be dominating Torvar Mirsky. This does not bode well for overall tour points, so not only are we hoping to get the win needed tomorrow to qualify for the final, but we are also cheering for our Australian rivals.
For a live feed and coverage of the finals please visit www.wmrt.com. There will be a live stream including onboard cameras available on the World Tour website, so we hope you can tune in tomorrow from 8pm NZ time (9am UK time).
Video highlights of the day's racing:
We would again like to say a special thank you to our sponsors FedEx Express and Events Clothing/Line 7. Owen Rutter from Events Clothing has supplied us with new sailing gear this season, keeping the boys looking very sharp. The ongoing support of our sponsors is helping make this opportunity possible for the BlackMatch boys and we would also like to thank Emirates Team New Zealand and Steinlager Pure.
BlackMatch Racing this week is Adam Minoprio, Dan McLean, Tom Powrie, David Swete, Nick Blackman and local boy Jonas Frank Hviid-Nielsen.
BlackMatch Racing
World Match Racing Tour
Needing 2 wins from our 3 remaining matches this morning to qualify for the semi finals, we came out firing and won all 3 to claim the top qualifying position for the semi finals. We had three action packed wins against Torvar Mirsky, Bjorn Hansen and Ben Ainslie, with our match against Ben becoming so heated that a protest flag was hurled at us from the frustrated Brit, after a bottom mark incident. Our reward for qualifying top meant that we could choose our semi final opponent and we picked Italy’s Francesco Bruni, which left Torvar Mirsky to battle it out with Mathieu Richard. We are currently on match point 2 nil up against Bruni following two extremely tight races, while the in form Richard is also 2 matches up on Mirsky.
TeamOrigin's Ben Ainslie had a terrible day losing all three of his matches and was perhaps venting some anger when we gained a slight overlap to claim mark room at a bottom mark rounding. A minor yelling match ensued when he launched his protest flag at us, before a decision was even made on the incident. He was first handed a penalty for not giving us room and then a second for dissent toward the umpires.
In our first match against Bruni we both had a pretty even start. We managed to live to windward and hold the Italians all the way to an obstruction zone when there was an odd incident regarding a ‘water and room to tack call’ that saw us landed with a penalty. We managed to extend throughout the remainder of the race to hold what we thought would be enough of a lead to do our penalty turn on the finish line, however it was going to be close. We executed a nice drop right on the finish line and after our turn we only took the race by a few metres.
The next race was just as close and in a similar situation, although the roles were reversed. We gained the initial advantage with a great start, however Bruni closed the gap on the first downwind and managed to hold us out past the bottom mark. The umpires deemed that we had however broken the overlap and they were not entitled to sail us past the mark so they were handed a penalty. The next upwind we did our best to keep it close and even managed to gain in on the Italians, so they had no choice but to wait for us on the final downwind to try and force a penalty back on us. We have seen this situation many times and although they did a nice job of slowing down and setting up a trap, we managed to keep cool heads and roll them right on the finish line to set us up on match point.
In the other semi final Current World Tour Leader Mathieu Richard seems to be dominating Torvar Mirsky. This does not bode well for overall tour points, so not only are we hoping to get the win needed tomorrow to qualify for the final, but we are also cheering for our Australian rivals.
For a live feed and coverage of the finals please visit www.wmrt.com. There will be a live stream including onboard cameras available on the World Tour website, so we hope you can tune in tomorrow from 8pm NZ time (9am UK time).
Video highlights of the day's racing:
We would again like to say a special thank you to our sponsors FedEx Express and Events Clothing/Line 7. Owen Rutter from Events Clothing has supplied us with new sailing gear this season, keeping the boys looking very sharp. The ongoing support of our sponsors is helping make this opportunity possible for the BlackMatch boys and we would also like to thank Emirates Team New Zealand and Steinlager Pure.
BlackMatch Racing this week is Adam Minoprio, Dan McLean, Tom Powrie, David Swete, Nick Blackman and local boy Jonas Frank Hviid-Nielsen.
BlackMatch Racing
World Match Racing Tour
WMRT: MRT have their Backs Against the Wall in Denmark
MRT in action at the Danish Open. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/WMRT.
by Kinley Fowler
An 8 - 3 scoreline saw MRT through to the semi finals after the first round, but facing the current Tour leader Mathieu Richard the team have their backs against the wall, down by 2 points after the first two races.
BlackMatch Racing won the round with 9 wins and 2 losses, and chose to race Team Azzura lead by Italy's leading skipper Francesco Bruni. This left MRT with no choice, facing off against the French Match Racing Team who have had a phenomenal season so far, winning 3 events.
MRT were ahead in both matches of today's semi finals, but when a team is so in form, you cannot make any mistakes, and in both matches it all boiled down to one split second that cost the lead, or in the case of the second race, a penalty.
A nice extension by MRT on the final downwind kept people holding their breath as the Australians did their penalty on the finishing line, but it just wasn't enough as Mathieu Richard's boat snuck ahead to snatch the lead by a mere 2 feet.
Video from Kinley Fowler (Kiwi racing with the Aussie Mirsky Racing Team):
Mirsky Racing Team
World Match Racing Tour
Black Sheep Conquer the Han River, Korea
by Reuben Corbett
The race committee tried to get racing underway but with a dying breeze and relentless current it was all to no avail. Authorities were quick to ban all sailing on the river again so that was the regatta. With five flights remaining to complete the round robin, the results were determined by your win percentage. Our team was unbeaten, the Australians lost one followed by the top Korean team with two losses.
We are happy with the win but disappointed we couldn't at least finish the round robin.
With the cancelling of yesterdays racing a bus load of sailors ventured up to the border of North Korea where we checked out the demilitarized zone and had a quick history lesson. We are off now to check out the city of Seoul before the official prize giving later today.
Our next regatta is the Bermuda Gold Cup, a World Tour event held October 4-11. The team is heading to Seattle and New York for some training in the meantime.
The team would like to thank the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, friends and family for your support. Thank you!
Black Sheep Racing is Reuben Corbett, Brad Farrand, Tom Bentham, Nicolas Derberque and James Sandall.
Black Sheep Racing
The race committee tried to get racing underway but with a dying breeze and relentless current it was all to no avail. Authorities were quick to ban all sailing on the river again so that was the regatta. With five flights remaining to complete the round robin, the results were determined by your win percentage. Our team was unbeaten, the Australians lost one followed by the top Korean team with two losses.
We are happy with the win but disappointed we couldn't at least finish the round robin.
With the cancelling of yesterdays racing a bus load of sailors ventured up to the border of North Korea where we checked out the demilitarized zone and had a quick history lesson. We are off now to check out the city of Seoul before the official prize giving later today.
Our next regatta is the Bermuda Gold Cup, a World Tour event held October 4-11. The team is heading to Seattle and New York for some training in the meantime.
The team would like to thank the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, friends and family for your support. Thank you!
Black Sheep Racing is Reuben Corbett, Brad Farrand, Tom Bentham, Nicolas Derberque and James Sandall.
Black Sheep Racing
Freshie Racing Report from the Hahn River International, Korea
by Travis Keay
The Freshie Racing Team is currently in Korea competing in the Hahn River International Match Race. In unusual conditions we are currently on flood alert waiting on further news if we are able to head out racing today. The rain hasn’t stopped since we arrived in korea on Wednesday and together with 7 metre tides at sea the current is very very strong.
After competing 9 flights, we are currently in second position behind New Zealand’s Reuben Corbett. In light conditions and challenging current we won 4 out of 5 races.
Our race against Corbett was full of drama with him miss-judging the tide and receiving a penalty for a collision. He was able to out sail us on the first up-wind leg before we made up huge ground with more pressure in the left on the final down-wind leg. Corbett however was able to hold us out by 2 boat lengths.
The organising authority has had a tough time dealing with the conditions but has done their best. All other fleets where cancelled yesterday except for the match racing. They were concerned for the safety of the smaller yachts as the current could potentially sweep them away. Hopefully we get to race later today and it stops raining for tomorrow the last day of competition.
Freshie Racing would like to thank Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, North Sails Western Australia, Zhik, Ron Tough Yachting Foundation and Peter Chappell for their great support.
Freshie Racing is Peter Nicholas, Travis Keay, Luke Payne and Jay Halligan.
Freshie Racing
The Freshie Racing Team is currently in Korea competing in the Hahn River International Match Race. In unusual conditions we are currently on flood alert waiting on further news if we are able to head out racing today. The rain hasn’t stopped since we arrived in korea on Wednesday and together with 7 metre tides at sea the current is very very strong.
After competing 9 flights, we are currently in second position behind New Zealand’s Reuben Corbett. In light conditions and challenging current we won 4 out of 5 races.
Our race against Corbett was full of drama with him miss-judging the tide and receiving a penalty for a collision. He was able to out sail us on the first up-wind leg before we made up huge ground with more pressure in the left on the final down-wind leg. Corbett however was able to hold us out by 2 boat lengths.
The organising authority has had a tough time dealing with the conditions but has done their best. All other fleets where cancelled yesterday except for the match racing. They were concerned for the safety of the smaller yachts as the current could potentially sweep them away. Hopefully we get to race later today and it stops raining for tomorrow the last day of competition.
Freshie Racing would like to thank Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, North Sails Western Australia, Zhik, Ron Tough Yachting Foundation and Peter Chappell for their great support.
Freshie Racing is Peter Nicholas, Travis Keay, Luke Payne and Jay Halligan.
Freshie Racing
7th Overall at Buddy Melges Challenge for Team Tunncliffe
by Anna Tunnicliffe
It was a day of rain, light wind, fog and big waves today at the Buddy Melges Challenge. Our regatta ended a day earlier than we had hoped as we went 2-2 today to bring our record to 3-4 overall. We had some very close races and lost the last race by inches to decide if we advanced on to the semi's or not. However, we didn't and ended up 7th overall.
We are a bit disappointed as we sailed very well most of the time. We were winning six of the seven races in the quarter finals at some point during the races, but made small mistakes that took us out of the lead.
We are giving ourselves a big debrief this afternoon and taking lots of notes on what we did wrong and what we did right. This was a training regatta for us as we lead into our World Championships starting in ten days, but we were hoping for a slightly better result. But as they say, sometimes you learn more by losing than by winning, so we are taking that to heart and going to learn from our mistakes so that in two weeks time, they won't happen again.
We had three very good races today, two of them against our American teammates, and the last race against Lotte Meldgaard from Denmark. Our first race of the day was against Sally Barkow. She led us at the top mark after we made an error on the layline call. Downwind we caught up to her and she earned a penalty for sailing past her proper course. Up the second beat, we kept the race close so that downwind she wouldn't have the distance needed to burn her penalty. We managed to get to the right of her and set our kite, forcing her to the finish line where we took the race. In our second race with Genny Tulloch, she led us around the top mark.
Downwind we managed to pass her, took control of the race and went on to take the win. After a delay due to fog, we started racing again. We lost our next race; we went to the right off the line as we planned, and Nicky Souter from Australia went left. When the two boats came back together again, we were behind and couldn't quite catch up.
Our final race, however, was the closest race we had all series. We led Lotte off the line and around the course. Up the second beat, we lost three of our four boatlength lead which was going to make for a difficult downwind leg as the wind was dying. She managed to roll us shortly after the rounding, so we split away. We did a couple of gybes at each other and we managed to get back to her. As we came together on the last one, it was a matter of completing the gybe, gaining a bit of speed and soaking across the line. Unfortunately for us she had a bit more speed and crossed just ahead of us.
So, next week we are heading to Noroton for some practice in Sonars before we head to Newport, RI next weekend. We are very excited for the training and the Worlds, and sitting down with our coach and debriefing this regatta.
Tomorrow we will be out cheering on Sally and team in the semi's. You can check the results at the regatta website.
We would like to thank Carmeuse and Trinity Yachts for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their support.
Team Tunnicliffe
Buddy Melges Challenge
It was a day of rain, light wind, fog and big waves today at the Buddy Melges Challenge. Our regatta ended a day earlier than we had hoped as we went 2-2 today to bring our record to 3-4 overall. We had some very close races and lost the last race by inches to decide if we advanced on to the semi's or not. However, we didn't and ended up 7th overall.
We are a bit disappointed as we sailed very well most of the time. We were winning six of the seven races in the quarter finals at some point during the races, but made small mistakes that took us out of the lead.
We are giving ourselves a big debrief this afternoon and taking lots of notes on what we did wrong and what we did right. This was a training regatta for us as we lead into our World Championships starting in ten days, but we were hoping for a slightly better result. But as they say, sometimes you learn more by losing than by winning, so we are taking that to heart and going to learn from our mistakes so that in two weeks time, they won't happen again.
We had three very good races today, two of them against our American teammates, and the last race against Lotte Meldgaard from Denmark. Our first race of the day was against Sally Barkow. She led us at the top mark after we made an error on the layline call. Downwind we caught up to her and she earned a penalty for sailing past her proper course. Up the second beat, we kept the race close so that downwind she wouldn't have the distance needed to burn her penalty. We managed to get to the right of her and set our kite, forcing her to the finish line where we took the race. In our second race with Genny Tulloch, she led us around the top mark.
Downwind we managed to pass her, took control of the race and went on to take the win. After a delay due to fog, we started racing again. We lost our next race; we went to the right off the line as we planned, and Nicky Souter from Australia went left. When the two boats came back together again, we were behind and couldn't quite catch up.
Our final race, however, was the closest race we had all series. We led Lotte off the line and around the course. Up the second beat, we lost three of our four boatlength lead which was going to make for a difficult downwind leg as the wind was dying. She managed to roll us shortly after the rounding, so we split away. We did a couple of gybes at each other and we managed to get back to her. As we came together on the last one, it was a matter of completing the gybe, gaining a bit of speed and soaking across the line. Unfortunately for us she had a bit more speed and crossed just ahead of us.
So, next week we are heading to Noroton for some practice in Sonars before we head to Newport, RI next weekend. We are very excited for the training and the Worlds, and sitting down with our coach and debriefing this regatta.
Tomorrow we will be out cheering on Sally and team in the semi's. You can check the results at the regatta website.
We would like to thank Carmeuse and Trinity Yachts for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their support.
Team Tunnicliffe
Buddy Melges Challenge
Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: Norse Gods Align for the Winners
RAN, Niklas Zennstrom. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
by Jill Campbell
The final day of the 2010 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup has proved every bit as fascinating as the previous days. But what would one expect with forty-nine of the world’s biggest sailing yachts racing off the stunning Sardinian coast in bright sunshine and on azure blue waters. Today was the day to determine the winners and losers at the year’s premier exposition of inshore maxi yacht racing. For those ending the day on the podium an array of trophies and prizes awaited, including the coveted Rolex Yacht-Master chronometers.
This year’s maxi aces are: Igor Simcic and Esimit Europa 2 (SLO) in Maxi, Claus Peter Offen and Y3K (GER) in Wally; John Williams and Ranger (CAY) in the J-Class; Otto Happel and Hetairos (CAY) in Supermaxi; whilst at the inaugural Mini Maxi Rolex Worlds, Niklas Zennstrom and Rán (GBR) took pole overall, and, Brian Benjamin and Aegir (GBR) struck gold amongst the Racer/Cruisers.
Before the prize-winners could be formally declared there was the small detail of today’s competition that needed to be resolved. The Mini Maxis were set two windward-leeward races of 8.8 and 8 nautical miles in distance. The classes for the larger contestants were sent on a 35nm challenge that took them to pastures new, certainly for this week.
Winds were by no means settled and nor was the sea-state. The swell leftover from the southeasterly earlier in the week was being buffeting by more northerly winds. Two metres of lump and bump greeted the yachts, with 15–16 knots of near-northerly. The wind swung about during the day, with persisting southward shift to end up from the northwest.
The entertaining quest for navigators and strategists in the Maxi, Wally and Supermaxi classes was as follows; short beat to a laid windward mark; shallow dive into the channel to a mark in the Golfo di Saline (avoiding Isola delle Bisce and Secca di Tre Monti by leaving both sufficiently to starboard); an upwind scoot to the faithful rocks of Monaci, before a headlong downwind descent south to Mortoriotto and the novelty of a circumnavigation of the island chain formed by Mortorio and Soffi; finally, head north and upwind to the finish off Porto Cervo.
Final day winners were: Rán, twice, in Mini Maxi; Irvine Laidlaw’s Highland Fling (MON) in Maxi; Y3K in Wally; Ranger in J-Class and Marco Vogele’s Gliss (SUI) in Supermaxi.
TITAN 15, Bill Koch. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
And so to the real story of the day: the biggest shoot out with the most surprising outcome was in the Mini Maxi Rolex Worlds where the Judel/Vrolijk designed seventy-two footer Rán put her troubles of yesterday to one side to score two bullets to steal the world championship from under the nose of Andres Soriano’s Alegre (GBR), which had led the series from day one.
The first hour-long race was relatively straightforward. Rán winning by over a minute on corrected time from Hap Fauth’s Bella Mente (USA). Significantly, Alegre were down in fourth. The pressure had piled on good and proper. A four-point lead over a supposedly wounded opponent had reduced to just one. The north wind appeared to be looking after its own.
The second race start was a boiling kettle by comparison: a huge left-shift, boats over early and an apparent massive pin-end bias all culminated in an abandonment before the windward mark. Deep breath all round, before trying a second time.
Rán had a game plan, which took some nerve to maintain, according to her stand-in strategist, Olympic medallist, Thierry Peponnet, “on the second race we wanted to be to leeward of our opponents because we expected the wind to go left. At the start there was a right shift, which did not help us. It did go left eventually, but very late and only once we were at the top mark. Shockwave was in front at this point doing a very good job. Downwind, fortunately, we were very fast. I was really impressed by the boat speed.”
For Zennstrom the result is a dream come true after a less than simple week, “today I am very, very proud of the team. It has been hard, we had a dreadful start on the very first day, we lost (strategist) Tim Powell through a land-based injury and then hit a rock. It has been a struggle.” But struggles are what make life interesting, sorting the men from the boys, presenting challenges that must be risen to.
Zennstrom described the scenario, “before yesterday, we were behind by only one point. It went pear-shape when we hit the rock and had to pull out. We knew it was still possible to win, but only if we won both races and Alegre had two poor races.” Rán’s physical shape was uncertain. There was no where to lift the yacht last night and properly check the damage, so there was some finger-crossing onboard the largely British crewed boat, “we didn’t know this morning if the keel would stay on and it was quite a lumpy sea. We made the decision that if we heard anything we would bear away quickly. Before the start we sailed upwind, hit a few big waves and thought ‘the keel is still hanging on so lets still go for it’.” Good job too, in the eventual circumstances.
Brian Benjamin was sailing his last races on Aegir today, with a new 82-foot yacht nearing completion in Newport, Rhode Island, so he was thoroughly impressed to have won the battle of the Racer/Cruisers in the Mini Maxi Rolex Worlds fleet, “we had a very good week: the boat sailed well, the crew was fantastic, we had lots of problems all week, but we just overcame them. We’ll be back with the new boat. Our first mission in Europe (next year) will be the Giraglia Rolex Cup, then Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, and finally Rolex Middle Sea Race.”
With both Rán and Aegir named after Viking gods; gods that actually were married according to legend, there is reasonable cause to think that both winners in the Mini Maxi had something extra on their team.
VELSHEDA. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
In the Maxi division, Esimit Europa 2 had done enough not to have to race today. With a discard coming into play if five races were conducted, Esimit was unbeatable and with two big tests still to come this season – La Barcolana and the 606 nm Rolex Middle Sea Race, expediency won the day. Simcic was understandably delighted with the overall result, “our rating is very big, we have to arrive very far ahead of the second boat to win on corrected time. This is not easy in all conditions, but we got three first places and one second place. This means that not just is the boat very fast, but the team is very good.”
For a project that took off just a few months ago, Simcic and his crew have come a long way. Simcic is well aware of that and the win this week is icing on the perfectly rising cake, “this boat is very complex, with a high level of technology, so we are learning everyday and we have come a long way since the Giraglia Rolex Cup in June. Right now I feel very good. I have great confidence in both my crew and skipper Flavio Favini.”
The Wallys were led home for the second year in a row by Y3K. Claus Peter Offen’s crew have sailed consistently well this week and whilst the maths suggested they could lose today on count-back if Magic Carpet 2 had won, Y3K would have needed a shocker of a result. As it was, Y3K put the issue beyond doubt winning the race from the front. Offen expressed his huge satisfaction, post racing, “it’s our third win at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the second time in a row. It is really a great feeling, even more since it is with our new boat. So, of course, we are coming again next year to try to make it a triple win! This will not be easy, since the level of the Wally fleet is very strong, especially this year. This makes it even more interesting and so the win counts for even more.”
Hetairos took the Supermaxi class after a second place today. Apart from a sixth in the first race, which could be dropped with today’s result, Hetairos has been all but unstoppable scoring two firsts and two seconds. Owner, Otto Happel, has participated at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup a number of times before and really enjoyed the contest, “we had a great week with good breeze most days which is extraordinary and much better than previous years. There were forty-nine boats, which we have never had before, so it was a lot of fun to have that kind of competition.”
In the J Class battle, Ranger put the issue beyond doubt pretty much from day one. The only blip on the otherwise horizon of perfection was a second in race four, which was discarded. John Williams has been in this position before at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and was no less impressed that the first time he won, “when you have just four-points you cannot do any better than that. The boat was great and we never made a tactical or mechanical mistake. When you sail perfectly and you have a great crew you expect to do well.” Williams plans further campaigns in the J-Class and is looking to the future even whilst the dust settles on his latest victory, “we continue to make little tweaks to the boat, to improve it, to make it a little bit better, which is our goal and something you have to do. We’ve already got lists to work on for the next fo ur or five months!”
John Williams, RANGER, winner of the J-Class & Supermaxis. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
At the prize-giving on the Piazza Azzurra in front of host club, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, the winners received their spoils from the weeklong gladiatorial combat. For two owners though there were trophies to be collected for a season-long campaign, the Rolex IMA Championship, where Andres Soriano and Alegre secured the Mini Maxi class, and, Andrea Recordati and Indio, the Maxi class.
The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA), From the most luxurious, through the most traditional, to the most advanced monohulls afloat today, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is nothing if not an astonishing line up of sailing power.
Niklas Zennstrom, RAN, winner of the Rolex Mini Maxi World Championship. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
MAXI YACHT ROLEX CUP - PROVISIONAL FINAL STANDINGS
Place, Boat, Skipper, Races 1-2-3-4-5, Total Points
Maxi (Racing & Racing/Cruising)
1) Esimit Europa 2, Igor Simcic, 1-2-1-1-(DNC 7), 5.0 points
2) Highland Fling, Irvine Laidlaw, (2)-1-2-2-1, 6.0
3) Singularity, Deniy Yacht Mngmt, (4)-3-3-4-2, 12.0
Supermaxi/J Boats
1) Ranger, R.S.V. Ltd, 1-1-1-(2)-1, 4.0 points
2) Velsheda, Tarbat Investment, 2-3-(7)-1-2, 8.0
3) Hetairos, Rockport Ltd, (8)-2-3-3-4, 12.0
Supermaxi
1) Hetairos, Rockport Ltd, (8)-2-3-3-4, 6.0 points
2) Gliss, Marco Vogele, 3-(7)-4-2-1, 10.0
3) Visione, Hasso Plattner, (4)-3-1-3-3, 10.0
Place, Boat, Skipper, Races 1-2-3-4-5-6, Total Points
Wally
1) Y3k, Claus Peter Offen, 2-2-2-1-(4)-1, 8.0 points
2) Magic Carpet 2, Lindsay Owen Jones, (5)-1-3-4-2-4, 14.0
3) Indio, Andrea Recordati, (4)-3-4-2-3-3, 15.0
Place, Boat, Country, Skipper, Races 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9, Total Points
Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship
1) Ran, Niklas Zennstrom (GBR), 6-2-1-2-2-2-DNF(25)-1-1, 17.0 points
2) Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 1-1-4-1-1-4-3-4-(5), 19.0
3) Shockwave (NZL), Neville Crichton, 2-3-2-(5)-5-3-4-3-2, 24.0
Mini Maxi Racer-Cruiser
1) Aegir, Brian Benjamin (GBR), 8-8-13-8-(140-9-2-6-9, 63.0 points
2) Stig, Alessandro Rombelli (ITA), (14)-7-8-14-11-13-7-13-6, 79.0
3) Charis, Fabio Mangifesta (ITA), 11-13-(18)-13-9-10-5-7-14, 82.0
Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
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