Quarter Final Pairings:

• Jesper Radich (DEN) Vs. Francesco Bruni (ITA)
• Ian Williams (GBR) Vs. Magnus Holmberg (SWE)
• Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Vs. Damien Iehl (FRA)
• Ben Ainslie (GBR) Vs. Mathieu Richard (FRA)

]]> http://www.mirskyracingteam.net/2010/07/09/watch-mirsky-racing-team-at-match-cup-sweden-live-here/feed/ 0 http://www.mirskyracingteam.net/2010/07/08/mirsky-racing-team-on-top-at-match-cup-sweden/ http://www.mirskyracingteam.net/2010/07/08/mirsky-racing-team-on-top-at-match-cup-sweden/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:22:29 +0000 admin http://www.mirskyracingteam.net/?p=1044

Strong winds and sunshine prevailed yet again on the second day of Match Cup Sweden, suiting MRT’s style who went through the day undefeated.

The local Perth derby was first on the agenda, with Black Swan Racing’s Keith Swinton facing off against the Mirsky Racing Team. The two teams grew up racing each other and know all the tricks to take the other team out. It was MRT who got the better of Swinton in this race though, leading off the line and pushing hard in to the rocks to extend their lead and take the first of 3 wins for the day.

The next two races against Magnus Homberg and the up and coming kiwi Reuben Corbett played out similarly, with MRT leading off the line, and playing the course to extend their lead.

Tomorrow the team has the day off racing, before the quarterfinals start on Friday.

And from the Official Tour News Room…

Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team and Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar headed back into buzzing Marstrand safe in the knowledge that they have a place in the quarter finals combat. These three sailors are on a roll with Mirsky at 6-1, Williams at 5-1 and Richard at 5-2. Also with a confident charge at joining the quarter finals fray are Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAM ORIGIN sitting snugly on 5-2 and new face to the 2010 Tour, Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team, who has found his feet quickly and sits on 5-1.

Mirsky who is now based out of Sweden was quick to mention the lay day scenario for Stage 5,

“Last year and also this year we’ve got the same problem, we have a day off before the quarters because there are 2 regattas at once the men’s and women’s. This is a unique thing to Sweden it doesn’t happen anywhere else, you get lots of breaks so we are going to have to try and stay focused and not get too distracted with all the island distractions out here in Marstrand and make sure we are ready for the boys. We’ll probably be racing someone who has sailed on Thursday and that’s going to be really tough for us”.

Setting aside the distractions of Sweden, MRT hit the water to take 3 wins from 4 races.

This year’s format is cut throat, with four teams from two groups advancing through to the quarterfinals, which means that all the teams need to be in top shape from the get go.

The first race for MRT didn’t go well, with Ian Williams from GAC Team Pindar winning the race at the start, and then showing off exactly how to navigate around this difficult arena to extend to the finish.

MRT took notes into the next races and won all three in a row against the sailing power houses from TeamOrigin and Yanmar Racing Team, but it was the surprise talents of the local Berntsson Sailing Team that pushed MRT to the limits.

The fiery Swede Johnie Berntsson came out hot, and throughout the race was constantly keeping the game tight, but when he picked up a penalty for hitting the top mark MRT switched into a tight defensive mode and just lead into the finish.

Tomorrow will see MRT finish the round robin with the first three races of the day on. First up, the local derby against Perth’s new talent, Keith Swinton and his Black Swan Racing team.

Light Winds During the 5th to 8th Racing.

MRT faced the inform Frenchman Sebastien Col who battled his way through the repechage to scrape through to the quarter finals in a best of 5 series.

With an extra two days sailing under their belts, the French Match Racing Team came out firing in the first race to win the prestart and defend on the one sided course to sail to victory.

MRT attacked hard but could not force an error on the current world number one team who brought their A-game today.

The following two races were a similar story with the French Match Racing Team gaining the right hand side of the course and essentially the race.

“They simply sailed better than us today, the start was crucial and Seb and his guys had the edge on us. We always knew it would be difficult to go out and race someone who had made it through the repechage round. It’s a pretty big high for them to make it through such a tough round, but again all credit to the French Match Racing Team who are definite title contenders”, said MRT’s Torvar Mirsky.

Despite the disappointment of not making the semi finals, MRT dominated the celebrity fleet race where they won both races by a considerable distance which entertained the large crowds of Swedish holiday makers who made their way down to watch the racing.

The afternoon saw MRT face the local Berntsson Sailing Team in the all important 5th-8th sail off. With World Match Racing Tour points at stake MRT found their rhythm to inflict a penalty on the Swedes in the prestart then sail comfortably in the fading sea breeze.

Next on the radar was Victory Challenge skipper and recent Match Cup Sweden Hall of Fame inductee, Magnus Holmberg. A close race saw MRT lead for the first lap before Holmberg showed his expertise when he managed to position himself inside MRT at the final top mark and defend down the final run to leave MRT with 6th place.

“We are happy with where we are at at this stage of the year. We are developing as a team and always improving. We are all really hungry to win so when we dont, it hurts, but its just more motivation to keep on going”, said Bowman Graeme Spence.

At the half way stage of the World Match Racing Tour MRT are still in a very strong position to take out the title.

3 French Teams Reached the Semis. Photo by David Fuller

Quarter final day at Match Cup Sweden, stage 5 of the 2009 World Match Racing Tour brought an early westerly breeze that built throughout the competition. The racing started a little after 10am and by midday the crowds were out in force enjoying the sun and sailing.

An on-form Torvar Mirsky (AUS) took on a resurgent Sebastien Col (FRA). With the extra sailing Sebastien Col has seen this week and a tough repechage he clearly had more fight in him that the young Australian and took only three matches to dispatch him to the 5-8 competition and elevate himself to his first Tour semi of the year.

Local hero Magnus Holmberg (FRA) was paired with Damien Iehl (FRA). Holmberg, still looking for his first victory at Match Cup Sweden looked very confident going out to race and pressed Iehl hard but a slippery Iehl found a slight edge and eased his way to a 3-0 victory dashing Holmberg’s hopes of a coveted win.

The all French duel between Mathieu Richard (FRA) and Philippe Presti (FRA) promised much with Presti gunning hard for his fellow French Team mate. Richard however show amazing control and superior strategy loosing dropping only one match to Presti when Presti managed to gain the right hand advantage. With a final score line of 3-1 and with both Ian William’s and Adam Minoprio out of the Tour points at this event Richard is now in a position to leap to the top of the Tour leaderboard, third or better will secure that.

The biggest match of the day taking five matches to decide was the Gilmour vs Berntsson head to head. The crowd were clearly rooting for Berntsson who represents the host club GKSS but many here in Marstrand see six time winner Gilmour as a second son. Gilmour took the first match after loading Berntsson with penalties galore throughout the race. Berntsson wasn’t rattled and took the next two matches returning the penalty favours to Gilmour in both races. An under pressure Gilmour is a dangerous Gilmour and he came out blazing in match four, pinning a penalty on Berntsson and sailing away to set up the deciding match. It started well for the Swede with Gilmour picking up a pre-start penalty for tacking too close to Berntsson right at the start mark. Gilmour battled back and by the top of the first beat he was right on Berntsson’s tail. Gilmour positioned himself to windward of Berntsson on starboard tack but then dived around Berntsson’s stern as Berntsson luffed. The resulting contact between Gilmour’s spinnaker and the backstay of Berntsson resulted in a penalty to Berntsson offsetting Gilmour’s start line transgression. With the power of starboard tack now with Gilmour he was fast to capitalize and lead Berntsson around the leeward mark. A dummy tack at the mark didn’t bring any joy to Berntsson and Gilmour defended the right hand side of the course leading the rest of the race to knockout Sweden’s last hope.

In reference to the penalty he was given a disappointed Berntsson said “We did everything to avoid contact, but I feel that the umpires made the wrong call. If he had been dominating me would be one thing, but he didn’t. We sailed aggressively, fast and tactically well all day. But we made a last mistake to go into the gibe with Gillie.”
A relieved Gilmour said “On every level Johnie was better today, so we had to sail a bit ugly, and force him to a mistake. He did a fine, fine job and should be very proud. But of course, we decided to choose to meet Berntsson since his experience on the tour is fairly limited. This time it turned out in our favour.”

In the first half of the 5-8 Competition Torvar Mirsky took on Johnie Berntsson and won. Magnus Holmberg took out Philippe Presti to head for the 5th place race. Victory gave Magnus 5th place and Mirsky 6th. In the other playoff Berntsson took 7th leaving Presti with 8th.

As well as the serious racing Match Cup Sweden brings fun racing too. On Wednesday the Pro-Am race saw sponsors take on other sponsors with a little bit of guidance from the assembled sailing talent. Today was the celebrity race. A new addition to Match Cup Sweden last year, the celebrity race this year saw a whole range of famous Swedes from the worlds of football, handball, Olympic sailing, television and pop music. It was Sara Lumholdt’s team that was victorious. Sara started out as part of Sweden’s biggest ABBA tribute band before growing in popularity with her own music.

The weekend in Marstrand will see the ladies take to the water on Saturday for their semi’s and finals followed on Sunday by the men.

Quarter Final Results

• Sebastien Col (FRA) v Torvar Mirsky (AUS) 3-0
• Damien Iehl (FRA) v Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 3-0
• Peter Gilmour (AUS) v Johnie Berntsson 3-2
• Mathieu Richard (FRA) v Philippe Presti (FRA) 3-1

5-8 Competition

• 5th – Magnus Homlberg (SWE) Victory Challenge
• 6th – Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
• 7th – Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team
• 8th – Philippe Presti (FRA) French Match Racing Team

Live web streaming at – www.matchcupsweden.com

Kinley and Tudur Watch the Qtr Final Draw. Photo David Fuller

With the quarter finals of Match Cup Sweden planned for tomorrow, Mirsky Racing Team will face Sebastian Col’s French Match Racing team who today won their way through the repechage round to make up the last quarterfinalist.

By fast tracking their way to the next stage by a solid first round, MRT has spent the past two days maintaining their fitness and watching the other competitors race to stay in tune with the race course and conditions.

“Having a day off mid-event is quite different but we have enjoyed maintaining our fitness and keeping an eye on the competition. We also competed in a corporate Pro-Am race with the Santa Maria Company who are big supporters of Match Cup Sweden which got us out on the water” said a relaxed Torvar Mirsky who is clearly enjoying the Swedish summer.

Tomorrow MRT will aim to continue their form in their quest for the 2009 Match Cup Sweden title, and with ETNZ/ BlackMatch Racing and Bahrain Team Pindar out of the running, it is an opportunity to gain some valuable World Tour points.

Quarterfinals

• Mirsky Racing Team (Torvar Mirsky) AUS vs.  French Match Racing Team (Seb
  Col) FRA
• *Yanmar Racing* (Peter Gilmour) AUS vs. *Berntsson Sailing Team *(Johnnie
  Berntsson) SWE
• *French Match Racing Team *(Matteui Richard) FRA vs. *French Match Racing
  Team *(Phillip Presti) FRA
• *Victory Challenge *(Magnus Holmberg) SWE vs. *French Match Racing
  Team *(Damien
  Iehl) FRA

9th *Wibroe Sailing Team* (Peter Wibroe) DEN
10th *ETNZ Blackmatch *(Adam Minoprio) NZL
11th *Bahrain Team Pindar* (Ian Williams) GBR
12th *Stena Bulk Sailing Team *(Mattias Rahm) SWE
13th *Team Onboard *(Bjorn Hansen) SWE
14th *Joe Fly Racing *(Francesco Bruni) ITA
Article by Kyle Langford

Mirsky Gets Gilmour on Starboard

Mirsky Racing Team has qualified for the quarter finals of Match Cup Sweden.

In an important day of racing Mirsky Racing Team proved once more that they can stand up to the pressure, and finished third in the Group A round robin.

A cutthroat format here in Marstrand, Sweden sees the top three teams from both Group A and B automatically qualify for the quarter finals, while the remaining 8 teams go to a repechage round where only the top 2 will make it through – putting a lot of pressure on the teams to perform in each race.

The final race of the Group A round robin saw MRT face Sebastien Col’s French Match Racing Team. In a do or die race to decide who would automatically qualify for the quarter finals, MRT gained the advantage off the start line after an intense prestart which saw spinnakers set and a few close manoeuvres.

MRT held and extended their lead to comfortably defeat the French Match Racing Team and continue their current form on from the Portugal Match Cup.

Quarter Final qualifiers

• Mirsky Racing Team (Torvar Mirsky) AUS
• Yanmar Racing (Peter Gilmour) AUS
• French Match Racing Team (Phillipe Presti) FRA
• Victory Challenge (Magnus Holmberg) SWE
• French Match Racing Team (Damien Iehl) FRA
• French Match Racing Team (Mathieu Richard) FRA

Repechage Round

• Bahrain Team Pindar (Ian Williams) GBR
• ETNZ Blackmatch (Adam Minoprio) NZL
• Team Onboard (Bjorn Hansen) SWE
• French Match Racing Team (Seb Col) FRA
• Berntsson Sailing Team (Johnnie Berntsson) SWE
• Wibroe Sailing Team (Peter Wibroe) DEN
• Puma Sailing Team (Mattias Rahm) SWE

Match Cup Sweden 2009. Photo Dan Ljungsvik

Coming off their win in Portugal last week, MRT got off to a steady start today in Sweden, with 2 wins and 1 loss in glamorous conditions. Holding true to its reputation, the 15th edition of Match Cup Sweden brought in crowds of sailing enthusiasts who lined the rocks to lap up the sunshine and watch the action packed racing.

In a rematch of the Troia Portugal Match Cup finals, MRT faced off against BlackMatch Racing in the last match of the day. The two teams came out firing, with an intensive prestart which saw the  Australian team come out on top with a penalty over BlackMatch Racing. Mirsky managed to pin the Kiwis out of the box, and in an attempt to get back to the line, Minoprio tacked right into

MRT, earning himself a penalty.

“I was sure there was going to be fibreglass flying everywhere!” said Tudur Owen, “I had to brace myself, but these boats are so quick to turn, so we just managed to avoid them. From there we managed to maintain our lead to finish the day on a high note.”

MRT is proudly supported by Line7, Harken and the Royal Perth Yacht Club.

RESULTS:
Group A

• Torvar Mirsky, AUS, Mirsky Racing, 2-1
• Sebastien Col, FRA, French Team/K-Challenge, 2-1
• Adam Minoprio, NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch, 1-1
• Damien Iehl, FRA, French Team, 2-1
• Bjorn Hansen, SWE, Team Onico, 1-1
• Mattias Rahm, SWE, Stena Bulk Sailing Team, 0-1
• Peter Gilmour, AUS, YANMAR Racing, 0-1

Group B

• Mathieu Richard, FRA, French Team, 2-1
• Ian Williams, GBR, Bahrain Team Pindar, 2-1
• Philippe Presti, FRA, French Team, 2-0
• Johnie Berntsson, SWE, Berntsson Sailing Team, 0-2
• Peter Wibroe, DEN, Wibroe Racing Team, 0-1
• Magnus Holmburg, SWE, Victory Challenge, 1-0
• Francesco Bruni, Team Joe Fly Match Racing, 0-1