WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR - MONSOON CUP 2007 TO DECIDE WORLD CHAMPION

WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR - MONSOON CUP 2007

TEAM PINDAR TAKE MONSOON CUP TITLE

KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia (02 December 2007) The Malaysian kettle drums thundered as Team Pindar – Skipper Ian Williams, Bill Hardesty, Mark Williams, Mark Nicholls and Simon Shaw paraded from the dock to the awards podium after winning the final match of the Monsoon Cup in Terengganu, Malaysia by defeating immediate past World Champion, Dato’ Peter Gilmour of PST.

“What a fantastic event,” said Williams, "We are absolutely blown away. Today we thought we had a speed edge and so we could put the pressure on when we were behind. The conditions were pretty tricky but in all honesty have been brilliant for the past four days."

Team Pindar was awarded the Monsoon Cup and their purse of MYR250,000 ($100,000) by the Prime Minister of Malaysia in front of thousands of spectators and media cameras. Peter Gilmour’s team including Yashuhiro Yaji, Christian Scherrer, Kazuhiko Sofuku and Rod Dawson claimed second prize and Bjorn Hansen’s Team Apport.Net with Magnus Woxen, Karl Kjerstadius, Martin Stromberg and Gustav Tempelman marched up on stage to received the third place prize from the Minister of Terengganu.

The finals started right on time in 12-14 knots and sunny skies for the live television coverage on Eurosport and ESPN Star Sports. In Race 1, Gilmour made an unforced error and copped a penalty in the pre-start. However, he lead the entire way around the three lap course and with only a 40 meter lead tried to unload his penalty on the finish line to win the race. However, it was not enough as Williams crossed ahead by half a boat length.

In Race 2, Gilmour lead from the start and never relinquished the lead showing his skill and confidence in a World Tour final. Race 3, saw the most spirited race of the match. Williams copped a penalty in the pre-start but lead around the first lap. Near the first leeward mark Williams tried to luff Gilmour and push him off the course. Williams then faked a gybe to the mark and then headed back at Gilmour now on port. Gilmour was not ready for the move and copped the penalty which offset the penalty Williams already had. However the umpires had determined that Gilmour who had now rounded ahead an inside gained an advantage through the foul and gave him another penalty which cost him the race. A boisterous Gilly, had a few choice words for the umpires during the race.

In the 4th and final race, Williams drew a penalty on Gilmour in the pre-start and then lead the entire way around the course to take the win and the coveted Monsoon Cup. While regatta organizer, Dato’ Peter Gilmour has had probably more time in the racing yachts than anyone else on the World Tour, Ian Williams out maneuvered him in some close pre-start and mark rounding situations.

“Today we were simply not good enough," said Peter Gilmour "Ian sailed well but we certainly helped to open the door, which at this level you just can't do."

In the petit-finals Bjorn Hansen and Paolo Cian went to the final race to decide 3rd & 4th places. In the final race they stayed within two boat lengths of each other throughout their race for third place in the Monsoon Cup. Paolo Cian was overlapped with Bjorn Hansen at the finish, but it just wasn’t enough. Bjorn Hansen took third place in the Monsoon Cup and Cian and Team Shosholosa were fourth. Cian’s Team Shosholosa also claimed the World Match Racing Tour’s third place trophy for his finish in the Petit Final.

“This has been an incredible season and World Championship” commented, World Tour President, Scott MacLeod “After 15 stages around the world, to have this championship come down to one race with three potential winners is fantastic for the sport”

Along with the Monsoon Cup, Williams and his Pindar Racing Team were awarded the ISAF Match Racing World Championship Trophy designed by Wedgwood by ISAF Vice-President David Kellet and the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Williams graciously thanked the organizers, particularly Dato’ Peter Gilmour, for putting on a tremendous show at the Heritage Bay Club in Terengganu, Malaysia.

Overall Standings
1st Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar - 250,000.00 MYR
2nd Dato’ Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST - 150,000.00 MYR
3rd Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Team Apport.Net - 100,000.00 MYR
4th Paolo Cian (ITA) Shosholoza - 90,000.00 MYR
5th Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team - 80,000.00 MYR
6th Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team - 70,000.00 MYR
7th Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing - 60,000.00 MYR
8th Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing - 56,000.00 MYR
9th Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team - 46,000.00 MYR
10th Sebastien Col (FRA) Areva Challenge - 46,000.00 MYR
11th Katie Spithill (AUS) Team Acuity - 30,000.00 MYR
12th Tiffany Koo (MAS) UK Halsey Gapurna Team - 28,000.00 MYR

Further reports can be found at: http://www.monsooncup.com.my and at: http://www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com

WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR - MONSOON CUP 2007

WILLIAMS WINS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia (1 December 2007)
Ian William’s Team Pindar of Great Britain has won the ISAF Match Racing World Championships at the Monsoon Cup in Kuala Terrneganu, Malaysia. Williams clinched the World Championship by virtue of his win over Shosholoza’s Paolo Cian in a nail biting semi-final that went to the final race and a score of 3-2. He and his crew of Bill Hardesty, Simon Shaw, Mark Nichols and Mark Williams became the first British Team to win the coveted title.

“We managed to bluff our way in the quarter finals and sat down last night to talk about how to handle the pressure.” Williams said, “I was very nervous today with the World Championship on the line and Bill (Hardesty) did a great job of calming me down. We had the upper hand in the pre-starts and got the choices of where to go but Paolo never gave up. The team did a great job and really gave us the edge we needed to win the Worlds.”

It was a tension filled day as three skippers (Richard, Williams and Cian) entered the day with the possibility to win the match racing title. Mathieu Richard was the first skipper to make a mistake when he chose Paolo Cian to race in the quarterfinals. His crew had told him prior to the press conference to pick Jesper Radich. However, in the heat of the moment he mistakenly picked Cian. This was to be his undoing as Cian and his Shosholoza crew beat him in the quarters by a 3-1 score and moved onto the semi-final.

“We are very disappointed. This morning we were fighting for the World Championship but now Ian has won. It’s been a long and exciting season, we have exchanged the Tour lead many times but finally it has gone to him. This has been a great final event and fantastic Monsoon Cup.” Richard said.

Williams kept his hopes alive by beating Denmark’s Jesper Radich by a 3-0 score which set up the battle for the World Championship between Williams and Cian in the Semi-finals. In the other quarter finals, Peter Gilmour continued on his winning ways having a tough time against New Zealand’s Adam Minoprio in a match that ended 3-2 in Gilmours favour and then Swede’s Bjorn Hansen by a 3-0 score moving Gilmour into the finals for the first time in two years.

The win by Williams of Team Pindar also decided the podium places in the World Championship with Mathieu Richard clinching second place and Cian finishing third. The final points will be finalized tomorrow.

The conditions were perfect with winds between 10-14 knots out of the Northeast. The current really favored the right side of the course on the first leg which made wining the right in the pre-start critical to the match.

“The guys did a great job, they were very smooth and we felt faster both upwind and downwind but in the end we didn’t quite manage to get the final win,” said Paolo, “I must congratulate Ian and his crew, it has been a long season and we have been playing catch up since Germany this year. The organisers have been incredible and Dave Tallis and his crew on the water did an amazing job with the courses.”

Tomorrow will see the finals of the Monsoon Cup between Ian Williams and Peter Gilmour’s PST Team. Bjorn Hansen will race Paolo Cian in the petit-finals for 3rd and 4th places. Racing for 5th to 8th places will also take place in the morning.

Finals Pairing
Ian Williams vs Peter Gilmour

Petit Finals
Bjorn Hansen vs Paolo Cian

Semi Finals
Peter Gilmour vs Bjorn Hansen – 3-0
Ian Williams vs Paolo Cian – 3-2

Quarter Finals
Peter Gilmour vs Adam Minoprio – 3-2
Paolo Cian vs Mathieu Richard – 3-1
Ian Williams vs Jesper Radich – 3-0
Bjorn Hansen vs Torvar Mirsky – 3-0

Further reports can be found at: http://www.monsooncup.com.my and at: http://www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com

WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR - MONSOON CUP 2007

THREE REMAIN IN FIGHT FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia (30 November 2007)
Report by Lynn Fitzpatrick.
The breeze was on when sailors arrived at the Heritage Bay Club in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia for the last six flights of the round robin series to determine who would qualify for the quarter finals of the final stage of the 2006/07 World Match Racing Tour. Tour scores are so close among the top six going into the regatta that any of the teams can win, so long as they make the first cut and go through to the quarterfinals.

The day started with the match that would elevate even a sloth’s heart rate – the face off between the #1 and #2 ranked teams on the World Match Race Tour - Mathieu Richard of Saba Sailing Team (1) and Ian Williams of Team Pindar (2). The pair used every play in the book during the pre-start sequence. Williams copped a penalty seconds before the start after nearly boxing Richard off at the committee boat. Williams was in hot pursuit throughout the three laps, but never gained enough of an advantage to do his penalty turn before Richard crossed the finish line only a few boat lengths ahead of him.

Three flights were completed in the morning and the fate was sealed for the women and Staffan Lindberg. The women took the stage first after lunch and Katie Spithill won her first, and only, match of the regatta.

In the Mirsky Williams match. Torvar Mirsky and Ian Williams did a dizzying number of circles during the pre-start with each trying to gain the right side advantage at the start. During the final approach, the boats luffed beam to beam and Williams, who went beyond head to wind, was given a penalty. Williams shot out of the starting area with the speed advantage and Mirsky went left. Williams rounded the weather mark just ahead of Mirsky who went bow down so that Williams couldn’t put a lock on him. The boats came together several times and multiple green flags were raised by the judges. Once he took the lead, Mirsky held on. It was a thriller of a race.

With the women eliminated and Staffan Lindberg knocked out with his fifteenth round loss, the feature match was between Sebastien Col and Bjorn Hansen to determine who would make it through to the quarter finals. Hansen was over early at the pin end of the line in his face off against Col. Hansen closed the gap and blanketed Col on the second run. The beat was close and the pair luffed up at the weather mark. Hansen popped his chute first and the pair sailed their final run with Hansen in the lead. Hansen’s win secured his entry into the quarter finals, while Col was excused from the remainder of the competition.

The quarter finalists will start the day on Saturday with a clean scoreboard, a greater understanding of local conditions, better boat handling and a heightened desire to win every race toward the World Championship Title and the purse for the Monsoon Cup’s grand prize.

Among the top three leaders going into the final stage of the World Match Racing Tour’s 2006/2007 season, it will come down to who moves on to the next round. With Sebastien Col eliminated from the series, the young Turks and Peter Gilmour have the potential to be spoilers and knock the top three out of contention for the season’s Grand Prize.

In a change to the format, the top competitors chose their initial opponents for the first flight of the quarterfinals. Dato Peter Gilmour will face off against Adam Minoprio; Torvar Mirsky will race Bjorn Hansen; Mathieu Richard chose Paolo Cian leaving Jesper Radich matched with Ian Williams.

Round Robin RESULTS
Friday, 30 November 2007

Skipper	MR	IW	PC	SC	SL	BH	TM	PG	JR	AM	KS	TK	Pts	Place
Richard	ZZZ	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	7	4
Williams	0	ZZZ	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	8
Cian	1	0	ZZZ	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	6	6
Col	0	0	1	ZZZ	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	4	10
Lindberg	0	1	0	1	ZZZ	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	9
Hansen	1	0	0	1	1	ZZZ	0	1	0	0	1	1	6	7
Mirsky	0	1	1	1	1	1	ZZZ	0	1	0	1	1	8	3
Gilmour	1	1	0.5	1	1	0	1	ZZZ	1	1	1	1	9.5	1
Radich	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	ZZZ	0	1	1	7	5
Minoprio	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	0	1	ZZZ	1	1	8	2
Spithill	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		ZZZ	1	1	11
Koo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	ZZZ	0	12

At the end of the Round Robin the results are:

1st Dato’ Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST: 9.5-1
2nd Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing 8-3
3rd Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team: 8-3
4th Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team: 7-4
5th Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing 7-4
6th Paolo Cian (ITA) Shosholoza 6-5
7th Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Team Apport.Net: 6-5
8th Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar: 5-6
9th Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team: 4-7
10th Sebastien Col (FRA) Areva Challenge: 4-7
11th Katie Spithill (AUS) Team Acuity: 1-10
12th Tiffany Koo (MAS) UK Halsey Gapurna Team: 0-11

Further reports can be found at: http://www.monsooncup.com.my and at: http://www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com

WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR - MONSOON CUP 2007

Thursday, 29 November 2007
After eleven of the seventeen flights have been completed it is reigning ISAF Match Racing World Championship Peter Gilmour on 6.5 points that leads the standings. A four way tie between WMRT leaders Mathieu Richard, Ian Williams, Day 1 leader Torvar Mirsky and Jesper Radich on five points puts them in a prime position to battle it out over the remaining matches. After an up and down sort of day with races won and lost Paolo Cian, Bjorn Hansen and Adam Minoprio trail on four points but still are within striking distance of the leaders.

ROUND ROBIN RESULTS MATRIX

Skipper	MR	IW	PC	SC	SL	BH	TM	PM	JR	AM	KS	TK	Pts	Place
Richard	ZZZ			1		0	1		1	0	1	1	5
Williams		ZZZ	1	1		1		0	0		1	1	5
Cian		0	ZZZ		1		0	0		1	1	1	4
Col	0	0		ZZZ	0		0		0	1	1		2
Lindberg			0	1	ZZZ	0	0	0	0		1	1	3
Hansen	1	0			1	ZZZ	0	1		0	1		4
Mirsky	0		1	1	1	1	ZZZ	0		0	1		5
Gilmour		1	0.5		1	0	1	ZZZ	1	1		1	6.5
Radich	0	1		1	1			0	ZZZ		1	1	5
Minoprio	1		0	0		1	1	0		ZZZ		1	4
Spithill	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0		ZZZ		0
Koo	0	0	0		0			0	0	0		ZZZ	0

Points won through 11 of 17 flights:

Gilmour 6.5 (Half point penalty for damage)
Richard 5
Williams 5
Radich 5
Mirsky 5
Cian 4
Hansen 4
Minoprio 4
Lindberg 3
Col 2
Spithill 0
Koo 0

Full reports can be found at: http://www.monsooncup.com.my and at: http://www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com

WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR - MONSOON CUP 2007

MONSOON CUP TO DECIDE WORLD CHAMPION

Frenchman Mathieu Richard leads by 8 points going into the final stage of the World Match Racing Tour.

Frenchman Mathieu Richard and his Saba Sailing Team are on fire having won the last two stages of the World Match Racing Tour. After taking wins at the Bermuda Gold Cup and the recently completed Brazil Sailing Cup, Richard has taken an 8 point lead going into the fifteenth and final stage of the World Tour. Richard is in prime position to be the second Frenchman to win the ISAF Match Racing World Championship at the Monsoon Cup in Kuala Terrenganu, Malaysia from Nov 28 – Dec 2nd. However, there are still five teams that could win the World Championship title in Malaysia.

The top six skippers on the leader board will be attending the Monsoon Cup which is worth double the points of a regular World Tour event and must be counted in the skippers final score. Mathieu Richard leads with 140 points followed by Team Pindar’s, Ian Williams on 132. Italian Paolo Cian of Shosholoza is in third place with 115 followed by Frenchman Sebastion Col on 93 and Bjorn Hansen on 87. However, each skipper will drop there worst race and count the final score making the scores even tighter. With a drop the score line reads:

Matthieu Richard (FRA) - Saba Sailing Team: 130 points
Ian Williams (GBR) – Team Pindar: 122 points
Paolo Cian (ITA) – Shosholoza: 107 points
Sebastion Col (FRA) – Areva Challenge: 89 points
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) – Team Apport.net: 87 points
Peter Gilmour (AUS) – PST: 66 points

There will be 200 points up for grabs to the top eight places out of the 12 competing teams. Points will be allocated as follows: 1st – 50 points; 2nd – 40; 3rd – 30; 4th – 24; 5th – 20; 6th – 16, 7th – 12 and 8th – 8points. A zero score at this event could cost any of the skippers dearly and could decide the ISAF Match Racing World Championship. In addition to the top five teams, Dato’ Peter Gilmour the defending World Champion will be sailing and still has a shot at making the podium at his home event.

It’s very close at the top. For instance, if Paolo Cian wins the event then Richard will have to finish 3rd or better. If Williams wins the event then he will automatically shut out Richard and become the first Brit to take home the World Championship title. However, Richard has recently been the hottest match racer on the World Tour having won the last two events. “It’s going to be really close and I expect a very tough battle in Malaysia” said Richard “Our team has been sailing very well in the last two events and we look forward to carrying that momentum forward”. Williams took the lead of the World Tour from Richard after the Danish Open this year only to be reeled back in and overtaken by him. “Mathieu and his team have had a great run recently, winning in both Bermuda and Brazil” said Ian Williams “but we are pretty fired up for Malaysia and look forward to the final battle for the title”

Duyong Island at the mouth of the Terengganu River plays host to the Monsoon Cup where the purpose built sailing facility acts as a grandstand overlooking the racing area making a spectacular setting for this final event and with $300,000 in Prize Money on offer the action will be non-stop. The Monsoon Cup will be sailed in the identically matched and supplied Bakewell-White designed Foundation 36’s with 5 crew. Live coverage for the semi-finals and finals, will be shown on Eurosport, Star Sports Asia, Showtime Arabia and Sky NZ. You wouldn’t want to miss it!

The line up for next week’s Monsoon Cup includes:

1. Mathieu Richard FRA – Saba Sailing Team
2. Ian Williams GBR – Team Pindar
3. Paolo Cian ITA – Team Shosholoza
4. Sebastien Col FRA – Areva Challenge
5. Bjorn Hansen SWE – Apport.Net
6. Dato’ Peter Gilmour AUS – PST
7. Jesper Radich DEN – Radich Racing Team
8. Staffan Lindberg FIN – Alandia Sailing Team
9. Torvar Mirsky AUS – Mirsky Racing Team
10. Katie Spithill AUS – Team Acuity
11. Adam Minoprio NZL – BlackMatch Racing
12. Tiffany Koo MAS – UK Halsey Gapurna

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