“Its frustrating not being able to race for the title, we felt as though we were sailing well but we can’t control the wind. We are on the pace and we are really looking forward to Korea next week” said Torvar Mirsky.

MRT through to the Quarter Finals of Match Race Germany

A tough day on the water saw MRT finish the stage one round robin in 4th place, automatically placing them into the quarter finals.

With only 3 races remaining in the round, the team suffered two losses to rivals Adam Minoprio and Mathieu Richard, but with a guaranteed pass through to the next stage the team was able to relax a little.

Now moving on to the quarter finals MRT will face their Australian rival and match racing legend, Peter Gilmour.

Gilmour has managed to get the best of MRT in their last few meetings, but the team is feeling its about time to turn the tables and take down Gilmour at the game in which he has been competing at for over 30 years.

The last time they race Gilmour knocked MRT out of the Monsoon Cup, thus diminishing their hopes of winning the 2009 WMRT.

“The wind was very tricky today, the light winds made the decision of when to turn back to the line in the pre-start crucial, we were a bit slow in adjusting to this and as a result we didn’t get the opportunity to take the first shift, from then on we were on the back foot”

“We are not unhappy with the day though, we feel as though we are progressing nicely and look forward to taking on Gilly in the quarters, we have unfinished business with him” commented Mirsky on the days performance.

Tomorrow live video footage can be seen here at 10am.

Semi Finalist

• French Match Racing Team FRA

Quarter Finals

• MRT AUS vs. Yanmar Racing AUS
• ETNZ Black Match NZL vs. Victory Challenge SWE
• Team Pindar GRB vs. Radich Sailing Team DEN

Other Results

• 8th Team Italia ITA
• 9th Team Proximo RSA
• 10th Ebler Match Racing DEN
• 11th Ewe Sailing Team GER
• 12th Gill Global Team SWE

Langenargen delivers a picture perfect day as MRT climb to 6 wins on day two of Match Race Germany.

After a strong day yesterday, the Mirsky Racing Team kept up their strong form, only losing two races against the old fox Peter Gilmour from Yanmar Racing and Team Pindar’s Ian Williams who is currently leading the event on 7 wins and 1 loss.

Coming into the event, MRT knew that starting well in the Bavaria 35′s was going to be the deciding factor for a lot of races, especially in the light winds on display this week. Today this rang true, with MRT losing both their races at the start line. In particular was the team’s 4th race of the day against Peter Gilmour.

MRT were well in control of Yanmar Racing Team, pushing them to the wrong side of the starting line, but in the dying seconds before the gun, they were unable to gain momentum and Gilmour came out on top.

“There was a small miscommunication onboard our boat which let them build speed and get off the line while we were still dead in the water.” Said MRT’s bowman Graeme Spence. “However that error aside we feel really comfortable and relaxed this week. We are also learning a lot about the boats and this tricky venue with each race, so hopefully we can keep this momentum going into the later stages.”

After some tough racing in fickle winds, and a little bit of good fortune, the Mirsky Racing Team have finished day one of Match Race Germany undefeated.

A slow start to the day saw MRT stepping on in the 4th flight to race fellow SailRacing representative Magnus Holmburg of Victory Challenge. After three attempts, racing finally got under way in very shifty winds. With a substantial lead off the line, the team extended their lead to put their first win comfortably in the bag.

Next up was Radich Racing Team who fought hard in the close battle for the lead, but with a miscommunication on board, they handed the victory to MRT by sailing to the wrong mark.

The race committee then managed to squeeze in one more race in the dying breeze. MRT faced Team Proximo, helmed by Ian Ainslie from South Africa. The team managed to hold onto a tight lead throughout the race, but a small shift favoured Team Proximo, and they stole the lead within metres of the finish line.

“We thought it was all over because they were so close to the line, but we had one last shot at it, and with a perfectly timed gybe we just squeezed back in front” said an elated Tudur Owen after the victory. “There must have been half a foot in it at the most, but we would have been really upset if we had lost it because we put everything into staying in front – not an easy task in today’s conditions.”

After a very solid week of racing MRT were awarded the silver medal when frustrating conditions ruled out any further racing. Light winds plagued the week and unfortunately the race committee could not fit in the format.

“It was tough to finish the regatta with only one loss in the round robin, Damien beat us on count back in stage one and that is the result that will stand for today” said Kinley Fowler, Trimmer.

MRT will now have a two week break before the second event of the World Match Racing Tour, Match Race Germany.

Final Results:

• 1st Damien Iehl FRA
• 2nd Torvar Mirsky MRT AUS
• 3rd PA Morvan FRA
• 4th Bjorn Hansen
• 5th Peter Wibroe DEN
• 6th Manu Weiller ESP
• 7th Michele Perris MON
• 8th Ian Ainslie RSA
• 9th Alvaro Marinho POR
• 10th Will Tiller NZL
• 11th Eugeny Neugodnikov
• 12th Mads Ebler DEN

The third race of the day saw MRT face Frenchman Damien Iehl. MRT lost the prestart but attacked up the first windward leg to force a penalty on Iehl at the top mark. MRT remained on the Frenchman’s tail all around the course until Iehl luffed MRT around the finish mark, rather than sailing directly to the finish as required. An unorthodox call saw MRT awarded a penalty and the match was given to Iehl.

After the race with Iehl, MRT was placed 2nd in the round robin, meaning they would face Michele Perris of Monaco in the quarter final.

MRT regained their composure and went to defeat Perris 3-0 to advance to the semi final.

Tomorrow MRT will race the semi final against an opponent still to be decided.

Results:

• MRT Torvar Mirsky def Michele Perris 3-0
• Damien Iehl def. Ian Ainslie 3-1
• PA Morvan def. Manu Weiller 3-1
• Bjorn Hansen def. Peter Wibroe 3-1
• 9th Mads Ebler
• 10th Alvaro Marinho
• 11th William Tiller
• 12th Eugeny Neugodnikov

Racing got underway in a stable 10knot breeze. MRT got off to a rough start against Peter Wibroe of Denmark. MRT received a red flag penalty off the starting line, handing the lead to the Danes.

The team attacked hard around the course to close in on Wibroes lead, the final top mark saw MRT edge out Wibroe and narrowly pass and go on to take victory.

The remaining 5 races of the day saw MRT find their rhythm to go on and defeat their opponents comfortably.

“We had a momentum on our side today which was helpful, all of the races were close but we stuck to our game plan and managed to come out on top today” commented Torvar Mirsky.

Todays video update can be viewed HERE

Results after day 2

• MRT – Torvar Mirsky AUS 8-0
• French Match Racing Team – Damien Iehl FRA 8-0
• Team Proximo – Ian Ainslie RSA 3-6
• Team Onboard – Bjorn Hansen SWE 6-2
• Team Synergy – E. Neugodnikov RUS 1-8
• Seth Sailing Team – Alvaro Marinho POR 2-8
• Wibroe Sailing Team – Peter Wibroe DEN 6-3
• Dangerous But Fun – Michele Perris MON 4-5
• Full Metal Jacket Racing – William Tiller NZL 2-8
• Team Iberola – Manu Weiller ESP 4.5-5
• Mads Ebler DEN 2-8
• PA Morvan FRA 9-2

The forecast for the whole week is predicting light winds, and Calpe delivered today with only four races of the round robin being completed in a light sea breeze, which soon died and the teams were sent ashore.

The Mirsky Racing Team raced Michelle Perris of Monaco, who despite being one of the lowest ranked skippers here has a hot shot crew with world number one Adam Minoprio calling the shots, Dave Swete from Minoprio’s BlackMatch Racing trimming and Pietro Mantovani from Team Azzura on the bow. Although the race turned out in MRT’s favour with a strong prestart giving them the early advantage, Perris is not one to be taken lightly.

“It was a good day in light conditions, we managed to put together the shifts to take 2 wins.” says Kyle Langford, MRT’s tactician. “There is still a long way to go so we are going to keep on building on today’s performance.”

Tomorrow’s forecast is similar to today’s, with light winds in the morning, dying off in the afternoon.

Mirsky Racing Team with 9 Wins at Match Race France. Image Subzero Images

The Mirsky Racing Team go trough to the quarterfinals on top of the leaderboard with just two losses in the round robin

After a long day on the water,, with seven races remaining in the round this morning, MRT stepped up to the plate and performed, dropping only two races against the two teams from Italy – Francesco Bruni’s Team Azzura and Team Italia skipperedby Paolo Cian.

With 7 of the best teams to choose from, MRT’s skipper selected to race Francesco Bruni in the first to three quarter finals.

“Obviously it was a very hard choice for us” Said Kinley Fowler who has stepped in as the coach for this week, “but after studying all of the teams throughout the week I think we are best suited to Francesco’s style in these boats. Don’t get me wrong, they are amazingly talented sailors and it will be very tough, but hopefully we have made the right choice.”

With Marseille playing host to all varieties of weather, tomorrow’s forecast is as easy to predict as the results of the quarter finals. Almost anything could happen.

Round Robin Results:

• 9 wins Mirsky Racing Team – Torvar Mirsky
• 8 wins Team Origin – Ben Ainslie
• 7 wins Blackmatch racing – Adam Minoprio
• 7 wins French Team – Philipe Presti
• 7 wins Team Italia – Paolo Cian
• 5 wins French Team – Mathieu Richard
• 5 wins Team Azzura – Francesco Bruni
• 5 wins All4One – Sebastien Col
• 4 wins – Pierre-Antoine Morvan
• 4 wins Team Aleph – Bertrand Pace
• 3 wins Peter Gilmour – Yanmar Racing
• 2 wins Gian Luca Perri