MRT took down the World Champions 2-0 in the quarter finals to advance to the semis tomorrow.

Finishing the Round in 4th place, MRT were paired up against BlackMatch Racing when nobody opted to race the two young guns. The intense rivalry between the two up and coming stars shone through in the best of 3 series.

The first race saw MRT lead off the line, bouncing BlackMatch Racing to the unfavoured side of the course. Minoprio managed to keep the heat on MRT, however the Australians defended well to extend their lead. It wasn’t until the final downwind that any doubt of MRT’s victory was put into the minds of the spectators as their spinnaker began to tear. Minoprio pounced on Mirsky, trying to force him into putting more pressure on the sail, but fortunately they had enough of a lead to take out the first of two wins.

The second race played out similarly, with strategist Graeme Spence teaming up with tactician Kyle Langford to piece together the shifts perfectly, taking Mirsky through to the semi finals.

“The boys had their best day of the whole regatta today” said MRT’s coach Rob Bell. “They clearly had their heads switched on to the tricky conditions here in Korea. They are certainly on a roll and are looking like they will be a force to reckon with in tomorrow’s semi finals against Mathieu Richard.”

Watch the racing live tomorrow at http://www.mirskyracingteam.net/video-channel/live-video-from-korea-match-cup-2010/

When there is no live stream, footage of the week can be viewed at http://sportzzone.tv

After low tide brought a different cause for delayed racing on day 3, MRT came out strong to defeat Team Italia’s Paolo Cian, dubbed “The Little General” for his fiery displays of Italian Passion.

Day 3: Current Round Robin Standings

• Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 6-2
• Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 6-2
• Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 5-3
• Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 5-3
• Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 5-3
• Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 5-5
• Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team 5-5
• Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 4-4
• Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 4-6
• Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 4-6
• Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 3-7
• Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match 2-8

After another tough day on the water, MRT come out on top with 4 wins, 3 losses.

After a long delay with no wind keeping the teams ashore, MRT went out to take on Team Azzura, lead by Italy’s America’s Cup hopeful Francesco Bruni.

Both teams came out firing, eager to get some much needed points on the board, but it was MRT who came out on top with a penalty on Azzura off the start line, and a small lead which the Australian team extended on to take out their first win of the day.

The team then moved on to the French Match Racing Team’s Mathieu Richard in another match that came down to the wire.

After being over at the start, MRT fought hard and won the lead on the upwind, only to let the French Match Racing Team gybe off to gain back the lead at the bottom mark, but with a faster rounding they were right back in the game for the second upwind. Keeping the game tight, MRT slowly made gains back on Richard and began to roll over the top of the French into the finish. In a last ditch attempt, Richard luffed his boat up to hit MRT, but missed. As MRT celebrated, the umpires gave them a penalty for not keeping clear, handing the race to Richard.

“We were really frustrated when we saw that they had given us the penalty, because we feel pretty strongly that it wasn’t the right call. Having said that though, we made some mistakes that let Richard take the lead, so we are trying to focus on those points going into tomorrow.” – Tudur Owen

Korea Match Cup 2010 – RR Flight 5 – Mirsky vs Pacé from Valencia Sailing on Vimeo.

Onboard Torvar Mirsky’s yacht in the race against Bertrand Pacé in the Korea Match Cup round robin. Jeongok Marina, 9 June 2010. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

After an early start on Day One with skipper Torvar Mirsky and tactician Kyle Langford arriving only hours before the beginning of today’s racing, having flown directly from an event in Chicago, MRT are now sitting on 1 win.

The first race for MRT saw them line up against the kiwi team of Waka Racing, lead by Phil Robertson. Robertson received an early penalty for not keeping clear on port after the entry, and although he led of the line MRT did a great job of keeping close behind for the duration of the race. Culminating in MRT rolling Robertson near the finish, a second penalty for Robertson failing to provide room on an obstruction left the young kiwi team floundering as MRT cruised on for their first win of the event.

The “match of the day” was against Bjorn Hansen of Sweden was a tightly fought match right up until the finish. Following a well executed start MRT was advantaged from the first shift gaining a healthy lead up the first work. Hansen was able to take advantage from a dying sea breeze, whilst MRT got caught in traffic, to gain an overlap inside on the first bottom mark.

Pushing a little hard with a marginal overlap outside MRT would surface from a heated and very vocal rounding with 2 penalties. Showing excellent boat speed and smart strategy MRT was able to complete their first penalty and out sail Hanson’s team to overtake on the final downwind. With just enough extension to complete a penalty, MRT executed the turn on the finish line in time to take the flag from the committee boat. However with the umpire team deciding the spinnaker head was not below the gooseneck MRT would have to deal with the disappointment of losing from such a marginal decision.

“We were very disappointed when our flag didn’t come down, because we felt pretty strongly that we completed the penalty correctly, however there isn’t much you can do once the call has been made so we just have to take out of it what we can and move on to tomorrow’s racing. Despite today not being a great start to the regatta, we feel like we have a lot of room for improvement and will hopefully be able to build up to a strong finish.” – Kyle Langford.

Results from Day One

• Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 3-0
• Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 3-0
• Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 3-0
• Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 2-1
• Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team 2-1
• Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 1-2
• Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 1-2
• Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 1-2
• Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 1-2
• Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match 1-2
• Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 0-3
• Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 0-3

You can watch live streaming of the event here…

With two races to determine their overall finishing position, MRT faced Team Blackmatch (Minoprio) where they were defeated in the lightest of breezes.

Now they were left to sail French Team Spirit (Richard) for 7th and 8th place. Team French Spirit took the start and lead around for the first lap, but in the fickle breezes MRT managed to pass on the second lap and consolidate their lead to the finish to finish 7th in the 2009 Korea Match Cup.

Mirsky has kept a positive outlook despite not making the semi finals .

“Of course we always want to win but we are keeping the big picture in mind. This is only the third event of the year and we are still developing as a team. As long as we are still learning and improving our sailing we cannot complain because the results will come with that. We can take a lot out of the Korea Match Cup and we will definitely come out firing in Portugal”.

Final results of the 2009 Korea Match Cup

• 1st Team Shosholoza (Paolo Cian) ITA
• 2nd Bahrain Team Pindar (Ian Williams) GBR
• 3rd Team Origin (Ben Ainslie) GBR
• 4th Team Onboard (Bjorn Hansen) SWE
• 5th ETNZ Blackmatch (Adam Minoprio) NZL
• 6th Team Yanmar (Peter Gilmour) AUS
• 7th Mirsky Racing Team (Torvar Mirsky) AUS
• 8th Team French Spirit (Mathieu Richard) FRA
• 9th K-Challenge/French Match Racing Team (Seb Col) FRA
• 10th Kiwi Match (Laurie Jury) NZL
• 11th French Match Racing Team (Phillip Presti) FRA
• 12th Byeong Ki Park KOR

MRT Gets Two Penalties on Bahrain Team Pindar

In a tough day at the Korea Match Cup Mirsky Racing Team get eliminated from a close quarter final battle
against reigning world champion Bahrain Team Pindar.

Hitting the water this morning, the scores were equal at 1-1. Williams took victory in the first race. The race
committee, under tight time restrictions were forced to race the competitors in near unsailable conditions
which saw MRT ‘follow the leader’ as there were no passing opportunities.

With Bahrain Team Pindar now within a win of progressing to the next stage MRT went out in the next race
determined to take victory. In an intense prestart battle which saw Bahrain Team Pindar receive two penalties
on the approach to the line, in a change of control, MRT were on the receiving end of a penalty as the starting
gun was fired.

Bahrain Team Pindar held their lead throughout the race and completed their penalty to make the scores 3-1
in the quarter finals. In a red flag hearing Bahrain Team Pindar were deducted half a point for serious damage
they incurred whilst receiving their penalties which gave MRT another chance of qualifying for the semi finals.

MRT filled with enthusiasm knew they had been given another chance went firing into the next race. Mirsky
dominated the prestart when half way up the first windward leg Bahrain Team Pindar 3 boat lengths behind
dropped their sails in protest of a technicality of the race committee. MRT went on to finish the race and take
the scores to 2.5 – 2.

In the deciding race, MRT fought hard but could not catch Bahrain Team Pindar in the light Korean breeze as
the Brits showed why they are the reigning two time world champions, and qualifying through to the semi finals.

Tomorrow MRT will be racing off for 5th place, valuable World Tour ranking points and their share in the
300,000,000 Won prize pool.

A special thanks to Line7, Harken and the Royal Perth Yacht Club for their support.

Round the Top Mark - Photo by Gareth Cooke

Mirsky Racing Team progress to the quarter finals of the Korea Match Cup in a long action packed day filled with penalties and crashes.

With 6 races left to race in the round robin Mirsky Racing Team hit the water this morning knowing that a quarter finals berth was well in reach.

In a few tight races MRT won 2 of their 6 remaining races against Team Yanmar (Peter Gilmour) and the French Match Racing Team (Phillipe Presti). Despite losing 4 races they still continued to fight for each race and were satisfied with how they were sailing. Torvar Mirsky at the commencement of racing today:

“We had a few tight battles out there this morning, the start is so crucial in these conditions and how you come off the line can determine the race result”

Qualifying 6th in the round robin, they were left to face reigning world champion Bahrain Team Pindar (Ian Williams) in the quarter finals. Going down in the first race against Bahrain Team Pindar, MRT fought back to even up the scores in the second race.

The remaining races of the quarter finals will be raced tomorrow in a best of 5 series, where the winners will then advance to the semi final stage.

Live video coverage of the racing can be found at http://www.vidzapper.net/live/iframes/matchcup2009/.

Racing will commence at 10am tomorrow morning and the live video streaming will be available from the above link at 9am WST, 11am EST and 3pm GMT.

Results (wins/losses)

Quarter finals

• Mirsky Racing Team (Torvar Mirsky) AUS vs. Bahrain Team Pindar (Ian Williams) GBR 1-1
• Blackmatch (Adam Minoprio) NZ vs. Team Shosholoza (Paolo Cian) ITA 2-0
• Team Yanmar (Peter Gilmour) AUS vs. Team Onboard (Bjorn Hansen) SWE 1-1
• Team French Spirit (Mathieu Richard) FRA vs. Team Origin (Ben Ainslie GBR 0-0
• 9th Kiwi Match (Laurie Jury) NZ
• 10th K-Challenge/French Match Racing Team (Seb Col) FRA
• 11th French Match Racing Team (Phillip Presti) FRA
• 12th Byeong Ki Park KOR

A special thanks to Line7, Harken and the Royal Perth Yacht Club for their support.