Brazilian Navy team wins Porto Alegre Match Cup

Porto Alegre Match Cup © Silvio Avila

The title of the sixth Porto Alegre Match Cup was won by the Brazilian Navy team / VDS, formed by Geison Mendes / Gustavo Thiesen and Martin Rump this Sunday at Veleiros do Sul.

The gauchos defeated Arrivederci, from Iate Clube do RJ, with Victor Demaison / Fábio Pillar / Guilherme Hamelmann (RJ) by three to zero in a series of best of five races. In the race for third place, the team of Philipp Grochtmann / Vilnei Goldmeier / Rodolfo Streibel (Veleiros do Sul) won the trio Renata Decnop / Fernanda Decnop and Tatiana Ribeiro, from Check Mate / Marinha / RJ by 2 to 1 in the best of three races.

On the last day of Match Cup tense duels marked the competition on the Guaíba River. In the three races of the final, the team of Victor Demaison did not complete any of the matches for having suffered three penalties, in each race, of the umpire who accompanied a boat the clashes. It was a singular final for Arrivederci that had finished first in the qualifying phase, but that is part of the game. After commemorating the victory, helmsman Geison Mendes spoke about his participation in the Porto Alegre Match Cup.

"The competition started with a little wind, but the arrival of the cold front on Sunday created a very good situation for the remaining matches. The boat-to-boat confrontations became more intense. It was also good for us to update on the changes to the new rules for the match race, "said Geison.

The semifinal was difficult for the champions. The team of Philipp Grotchmann had a good performance. With the score of 1 all they went to the last match and won over the finish line. The final series was also of radical confrontations before the race. In the first race, the Arrivederci's boat caught the keel in the anchor of an official vessel, managed to break free, but then took two more penalties and was black flagged. The other matches were a replay of match 1.

"We were well positioned in all the pre-starts and this gave us an advantage in the race, but we did not think we would win the finals in that curious way, with our opponents disqualified in all three races," said Sgt. Geison. The Porto Alegre Match Cup champions also won the Brazilian Match Race title 2018 of the first stage of the South American Match Race circuit wit the other two events also part of the Match race Super League 2018 season.

The 6th Porto Alegre Match Cup had eight teams from RS, DF, RJ and BA. The Cup was the first event of the International circuit of the Match Race Super League, composed of 18 tournaments in 14 countries spreading over four continents. The Match Race Super League is tied to Match Racing Association Inc which promotes competition worldwide.

As president of the Brazilian Match Race Association (Abramatch), Nelson Horn Iha spoke to the attendees about the Super League's participation in the international match race in general and thanked the support and dedication of the Veleiros do Sul team for the accomplishment of the Match Cup. The chief umpire, the Argentine Flávio Naveira also spoke to those present and invited to the next South American stage of match in Buenos Aires (Argentina).