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Latest News Links Matchrace - Ian Williams adds Monsoon Cup to 3rd ISAF Match Racing World Title . . . Matchrace - Britain's Ian Williams is new ISAF Match Racing World Champion . . . Matchrace - Mirsky defeats Berntsson at Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda . . . Matchrace - Youth Match Racing champions crowned . . . Matchrace - Macgregor goes out in semi-final at Nations Cup . . . Matchrace - Ian Williams keeps World No.1 ranking . . . Matchrace - Britain's Ian Williams takes World Match Racing Tour lead . . . Matchrace - New E-zine for match racers . . . Matchrace - Williams Secures Back-to-Back Wins After Lifting Stena Match Cup Sweden . . . Matchrace - Ainslie and MacGregor No.1 in ISAF World Rankings . . . Matchrace - Lucy Macgregor out of Semi Finals at Stena Match Cup Sweden . . . Matchrace - Lucy MacGregor goes clear on day 1 at Stena Women's Match Cup . . . Back to latest Sailing News reports here . . . Ian Williams adds Monsoon Cup to 3rd ISAF Match Racing World Title . . . Ian Williams has added the Monsoon Cup to his third ISAF Match Racing World Champion crown after the British sailor defeated Johnie Berntsson 3-1 in the final of the World Match Racing Tour’s finale event in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.  The double is a feat Williams first achieved in 2007 and is the second consecutive year a British sailor has won both the Monsoon Cup and the World Championship after Ben Ainslie in 2010. Speaking after his victory, the British skipper of Team GAC Pindar, said: “This really tops off a terrific season! We couldn’t let our emotion run too high yesterday because we were so focused on winning today. We came here to win and to take the World Championship yesterday and then this today, it’s just superb." Final Monsoon Cup Standings 1 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 2 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 3 Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners 4 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 5 Will Tiller (NZL) Full Metal Jacket Racing 6 Phil Robertson (NZL) Team China powered by WAKA Racing 7 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team 8 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing 9 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat 10 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 11 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 12 Jeremy Koo (MAS) Abdullah Chan / KRT Final World Championship Standings 1 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar – 144pts 2 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing – 112pts 3 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team – 106.2pts 4 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat – 105.8pts 5 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing – 102.8pts 6 Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners – 99.2pts 7 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team – 90pts 8 Phil Robertson (NZL) Team China powered by WAKA Racing – 74.4pts 9 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 74pts 10 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 72.6pts Britain's Ian Williams is new ISAF Match Racing World Champion . . . Britain's Ian Williams is the new ISAF Match Racing World Champion. Williams, who won the Championship in 2007 and 2008, now joins Russell Coutts, Chris Dickson, Peter Gilmour and Ed Baird as only the fifth skipper to win the World Championship at least three times. After defeating Italian Francesco Bruni in a tense quarter-final of the Monsoon Cup, the final event on the World Match Racing Tour, Williams could not be caught and had done enough to take the world title. It is the second consecutive year that a British skipper has won the title after Ben Ainslie took the crown in 2010.  Williams paid tribute to his Team GAC Pindar crew of Bill Hardesty, Mal Parker, Gerry Mitchell and Matt Cassidy: “It feels fantastic to have won our third world title! We’ve had a really strong season - we won two regattas heading into the Monsoon Cup which is the most we’ve won in a season and we felt really strong as a team. They are fantastic and we can’t manage without any one member. The Monsoon Cup semi-finals were continuing at the time of the release going to press. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing is currently 2-1 down against Berntsson however should the Australian win the Monsoon Cup, he will finish second in the World Championship. Mirsky defeats Berntsson at Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda . . . Torvar Mirsky of Australia won a sudden death final against Johnie Berntsson of Sweden at the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda to claim his second consecutive victory on the 2011 World Match Racing Tour. A win in the petit final for Francesco Bruni over Phil Robertson means just over six points now separate the trio of Ian Williams, Bruni and Mirsky with only the Monsoon Cup to go. Going into the final day, Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team was already assured of an automatic qualifying spot for the Monsoon Cup while Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing would retain tenth place overall regardless of his petit final result. They were fired up though, as were their opponents who were both seeking to close the gap on Tour leader Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar sponsored by Argo Group Gold Cup. Overall Championship Standings after 7 stages: 1 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar - 106pts 2 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing - 100pts 3 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat - 99.8pts 4 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing - 78.8pts 5 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team - 75pts 6 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team - 74pts 7 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team - 73.2pts 8 Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners - 71.2pts 9 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team - 69.6pts 10 Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing - 64.4pts Youth Match Racing champions crowned . . . RYA Youth National Match Racing Championship titles were decided last weekend as James French and his young crew of Robert Southwell and Bradley McNaughlin triumphed out on the waters of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy as they claimed both the U25 and U20 National Match Racing titles. The 19-year-old French, from Gurnard SC, who competed this year with two of the youngest crew members, both 16, won the 2010 U20 Match Racing title last year and has gone one step better this year as he added the U25 title to the trophy cabinet. With a very exciting round robin completed on the Saturday, there was only a single semi-final flight on the Sunday deciding the Championship titles due to very light shifty winds of around five knots. By winning the weekend regatta, French and his crew secured a place in the RYA National Match Racing Series Grand Final on 18-20 November at Queen Mary Sailing Club. Due to only one semi-final being raced at WPNSA, the RYA has invited the top four teams from this event to the RYA Match Racing Finals on 18-20 November 2011. Joining James French will be Tom Phipps, Mark Lees and Kate Macgregor who will all be vying for Championships honours at the Queen Mary Sailing Club. Macgregor goes out in semi-final at Nations Cup . . . Lucy Macgregor and her crew Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor had a challenging day in the strong winds and high seas at the Nations Cup against the heavier New Zealand team of Laurie Jury, Logan Frasier and Mike Edmonds, with Jury’s team going 3-0 to take the Open semi-final.  Sunday’s conditions for the finals were brisk, with a strong onshore southeast 15- to 18-knot breeze with gusts to 20, and the seas built to 3 to 6 feet, with larger breaking waves roaring through the starting area, putting boat handling at a premium Claire Leroy of France, with Elodie Bertrand, Marie Riou, went 3-0 against Rita Goncalves, Mariana Lobato and Diane Neves of Portugal in the Women’s division, sailed in Elliott 6m’s. This is the third straight Nations Cup win for Leroy, a first in event history. With a 2-1 lead going into race four of the Open division sailed in Sonars, Jury sailed clean while top-seeded Mads Ebler, Soeren Toender and Chris Keene Boye of Denmark) was able to clear his first penalty, but received another at the final top mark during a luffing match. Jury was able to sail ahead to the finish to win the Open title. Ian Williams keeps World No.1 ranking . . . Ian Williams maintained his top spot in the ISAF World Open Match Race Rankings, released Wednesday, following another good performance at the sixth stop of the World Match Race Tour in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Williams regained the World #1 spot in August 2011 after last holding it in June 2008, and the Brit posted a third place finish in the World Match Race Tours sixth stop in Switzerland to solidify top spot whilst Francesco Bruni (ITA) remains #2 after coming seventh in St. Moritz. Anna Tunnicliffe of the USA has moved to the top of the Women’s Match Race Rankings for the first time. Tunnicliffe overhauled Claire Leroy of France to take the top spot for the first time since her first inclusion in the Women’s Match Race Rankings in 28 March 2006. Britain's Lucy Macgregor moves into second place and Sally Barkow of the USA takes third place with Leroy dropping to fourth. Men - ISAF World Open Match Race Rankings 1 Williams Ian GBR 11771 pts 2 Bruni Francesco ITA 11501 3 Mirsky Torvar AUS 11391 4 Hansen Bjorn SWE 10985 5 Morvan Pierre-antoine FRA 10880 6 Ainslie Ben GBR 10685 Women - ISAF World Match Race Rankings 1 Tunnicliffe Anna USA 11193 pts 2 Macgregor Lucy GBR 10964 3 Barkow Sally USA 10740 4 Leroy Claire FRA 10721 5 Souter Nicky AUS 10197 Britain's Ian Williams takes World Match Racing Tour lead . . . Britain's Ian Williams finished in third place at the 2011 St. Moritz Match Race to move up into first position in the overall Championship standings going into stage 7 of the World Match Racing Tour. Torvar Mirsky is the new ‘King of the Mountain’ after beating Pierre-Antoine Morvan in the final of St. Moritz Match Race. In the end, a count back decided both the final and petit final on Lake St. Moritz. The Maloja breeze had arrived like clockwork all week however on the final day, heavy cloud cover and light rain created much lighter conditions and continual wind shifts that made racing impossible. After a series of race abandonments, the Race Committee decided to end racing with no races completed in either the final or petit final. New Championship leader Williams looked in imperious form all week only to fall to a 3-0 whitewash against Morvan in the semi-finals. The Brit though is happy to settle for a third place and the Championship lead: “We came to win but we always said from the start that looking at the points we only needed to get to the podium to put ourselves in a good position on the Tour overall. Bruni not making the cut was really an added bonus and helped push us to the top. We’re pretty consistent having finished on the podium in the past 3 events that we’ve competed in and will try and do the same in Bermuda. The pressure is really on the likes of Hansen, Mirsky and Bruni now." Overall Championship Standings – after 6 stages: 1 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar – 90pts 2 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing – 89pts 3 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat – 84pts 4 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing – 74pts 5 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team – 73pts 6 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 67pts 7 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 63pts 8 Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners – 61pts 9 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team – 48pts 10 Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing – 43pts New E-zine for match racers . . . Despite the Olympic match racing event being dumped after its one and only appearance in 2012, the World Match Racing Tour has launched a new digital multimedia magazine - Match Racing 360° - devoted solely to the discipline of match racing.  The quarterly interactive e-zine will be a digest of match racing events from all round the world, and of all grades from world-status to club level, not just the World Match Racing Tour events. Match Racing 360° is available as a browser version for those who want to read it on a PC or laptop, with a mobile application for download through the World Match Racing Tour’s iTunes channel currently in development. Jim O’Toole, CEO of the World Match Racing Tour, said: "Rather than being just a communication tool for the World Match Racing Tour, we want Match Racing 360° to be about connecting match racers of all levels around the world and providing them with relevant and engaging content. Match Racing 360° is as much about the countless lower-profile match racing events that go on around the world as it is the high-profile ones. It’s a platform for the match racing fan, whatever level they race at." The launch issue includes reflections on the America’s Cup World Series from one of the sport’s biggest stars Brad Butterworth, match racing legend Magnus Holmberg on the importance of educating youngsters in match racing, an insight into the world of blind match racing and a spotlight focus on the Swedish match racing mecca of Marstrand. Full story at http://www.wmrt.com Williams Secures Back-to-Back Wins After Lifting Stena Match Cup Sweden . . . Ian Williams ensured Stena Match Cup Sweden stayed in British hands today as he scored his second consecutive win of the 2011 World Match Racing Tour. Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar picked up where 2010 event winner Ben Ainslie left off, coming from behind to defeat local hero and arch rival Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team in an exciting five-match finale.  Williams will be aiming to pick up his third world title after closing the gap at the top of the overall Tour standings. The win moves Williams within three points of second-placed Peter Gilmour (AUS) and within ten points of Tour leader Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing. “It was an incredible final,” Williams said. “We improved throughout and in that last deciding race, we were racing smoothly which allowed us to stay close to them and we took our opportunity when it came at the top mark. “It’s unbelievable to come through in that style – to come from behind. The team is new this year, we needed time to settle in so while we won some other match race events before the start of the Tour, we’re now improving with every race.” 2011 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings (After Stage 5): 1 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing – 81pts 2 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing – 74pts 3 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar - 71pts 4 Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners – 59pts 5 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat – 59pts 6 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team – 57pts 7 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team - 57pts 8 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 53pts 9 Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing – 39pts 10 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team - 34pts Ainslie and MacGregor No.1 in ISAF World Rankings . . . Ben Ainslie and Lucy MacGregor retain the number one positions for Great Britain in the ISAF World Rankings but there are plenty of changes below them as the 2011 season continues. Ainslie retains the #1 position on the ISAF World Match Race Rankings but as he is now focusing on the 2012 Olympics, his hold on the top is diminishing as the 2011 World Match Racing Tour gains pace. Moving up ten places to a career best of #2 is Francesco Bruni (ITA) who has had an exceptional run of form, topping the podium at Match Race Germany before finishing second at both the Korea Match Cup and Portimao Match Cup. A win in Portugal keeps Ian Williams (GBR) at the #3 position whilst Mathieu Richard (FRA) and Torvar Mirsky (AUS) stay at #4 and #5 respectively. Lucy MacGregor (GBR) stays at #1 in the Women’s Rankings but with three ISAF Grade 1 regattas counting to this release it’s all change through the rest of the top ten. Nicky Souter (AUS) moves up three places to #2 ahead of Renee Groeneveld (NED) at #3. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) moves back up to #4 while Ekaterina Skudina (RUS) completes the top five. ISAF World Rankings - Men 1 Ainslie Ben GBR 12128 pts 2 Minoprio Adam NZL 11582 pts 3 Williams Ian GBR 11455 pts 4 Richard Mathieu FRA 11398 pts 5 Mirsky Torvar AUS 11391 pts ISAF World Rankings - Women 1 Macgregor Lucy GBR 11085 pts 2 Leroy Claire FRA 11085 pts 3 Barkow Sally USA 10628 pts 4 Groeneveld Renee NED 10613 pts 5 Souter Nicky AUS 10485 pts Lucy Macgregor out of Semi Finals at Stena Match Cup Sweden . . . American Olympic gold medallist Anna Tunnicliffe beat Great Britain’s world number one female match racer Lucy Macgregor 3-0 in tricky, shifting conditions at the Stena Match Cup Sweden on Tuesday.  “We had a great day of racing today,” Tunnicliffe said. “Conditions out there were pretty tough, racing was tight and a lot of fun. We have been sailing really well and we hope we can keep up our form going into the final tomorrow.” Macgregor, who along with sister Kate and crew Annie Lush are currently the number one choice to represent Team GBR at the London Games, added: “It is disappointing to lose in the Semis to Anna but it is all great training for the Olympics. Everything is very much on course for London 2012.” Tunnicliffe will face world number two Claire Leroy from France in the Final tomorrow, after Leroy defeated last year’s women’s division winner Ekaterina Skudina from Russia in the other Semi Final match. Women’s class Semi Final results: Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) Team Tunnicliffe beat Lucy Macgregor (GBR) Match Race Girls 3-0 Claire Leroy (FRA) Mermaid Sailing Team beat Ekatherina Skudina (RUS) Yacht Russia 3-2 Lucy MacGregor goes clear on day 1 at Stena Women's Match Cup . . . Racing started Monday at the Stena Women's Match Cup in Marstrand, Sweden. Claire Leroy of France and Lucy MacGregor of Britain are tied for the lead after 5 flights were completed. It's cloudy but windy for the second day of racing. Five flights remaining in the Round Robins and then the Semis. Caroline Sylvan of Sweden didn’t get any points yesterday but Anna Kjellberg (SWE) and her team won the two last matches and still has a chance to go through to the Semis. Stena Women's Match Cup - Results after Monday's racing: 1. Claire Leroy, FRA, 5 points 2. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 5 3. Anna Tunnicliffe, USA, 4 4. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS, 4 5. Nicky Souter, AUS, 5 6. Mandy Mulder, NED, 3 7. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 2 8. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN, 1 9. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 0 10. Trine Abrahamsen, DEN, 0 |
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