Matthew Humphries sails Kaffeknappen to new Swedish triumph
by Lars-Ola Nordqvist 9 Aug 2000 18:09 BST
Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday 8 August 2000 - Matthew Humphries scored a new
Swedish victory last weekend, August 5, by winning Karlskrona Sail Cup with
the V.O.60 "Kaffeknappen".
Out of the seven races in different conditions and environments, inshore,
offshore and match racing, Matthew Humphries and the V.O.60 "Kaffeknappen"
crew won six, finished second in one and scored the final victory. The
competition was tough, with some of Sweden's and Denmarks most merited
offshore sailors on board the V.O.60's Nokia and Avant, the Maxirater
Europolitan and the trimaran First Hotels.
This was a great victory for a our whole crew who worked hard and dedicated
and it was satisfying to see that our strategy proved succesful once more.
We had a good race plan and focused on putting the right people in the
right places at the right time. It worked out very well, says Matthew
Humphries.
Matthews strategy to win the race focused on using his multinational crew
in the best possible way. Onboard was the New Zealand match race specialist
Cameron Appleton, who was helming Kaffeknappen, while Matthew skippered and
made the tactical decisions.
The seven races offered different conditions with light to fresh winds
ranging from 7 to 20 knots, with both inshoreand offshore races to test the
crews. The race also included a series of Match races, of which
Kaffeknappen won all its competitions.
It was all very close and good racing and a really good experience of
inshore racing with an ocean racer. We learned a lot about the compromises
you have to do in the deck layout to be even more competitive, says
Matthew, who is now heading for the Gothenburg Offshore Race 11-12 August
and after that the classic Tjorn Runt August 19 on the Swedish West coast.
More Information: