Monsoon Cup at Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia - Day 2
by Sean McNeill 1 Dec 2006 13:50 GMT
30 November - 3 December 2006
Jesper Bank and Mathieu Richard race close aboard in Flight 12, won by Bank on day two of the Monsoon Cup © Guido Cantini / World Match Racing Tour
WILLIAMS SEALS ROUND ROBIN AT MONSOON CUP
Frantic shuffle expected as teams jockey for position with quarterfinals looming
Ian Williams (GBR), leader of the World Match Racing Tour standings and skipper of Team Pindar, secured the top spot in the Monsoon Cup round robin today by finishing his 11 races with a 9-2 record.
Williams, who won the King Edward VII Gold Cup in Bermuda last month, ensured his win in the round robin with a 6-1 record today, the best record in another trying day of racing as light winds again kept the racecourse wide open and taxed the mental capabilities of the sailors.
“We had good starts today,” said Team Pindar tactician Bill Hardesty. “We were keeping our eye on the next puff trying to connect the puffs. That seemed more effective than looking for the next windshift.”
Williams wrapped the round robin despite eight matches remaining to complete the 17 flights. Behind him there’s a mad scramble to determine placings for the Quarterfinal Round. In the knockout round, first will race eighth, second will race seventh, third will race sixth and fourth will race fifth.
Jesper Bank (DEN), skipper of United Internet Team Germany, is second at 7-3, Mathieu Richard (FRA), Saba Sailing Team, is third at 6-3, and Björn Hansen (SWE), skipper of Team Apport.net, is fourth at 6-4. Hansen had the second best day with a 5-1 record.
“We sat down after yesterday and worked on our communication,” said Hansen, who finished third last year at the Monsoon Cup. “We were too much into each other’s areas, talking too much. Today we tried to work on our own areas.”
Sébastien Col (FRA), Areva Challenge, stands fifth at 6-5 and owns a tiebreak advantage over Paolo Cian (ITA), helmsman for Team Shosholoza, also at 6-5. Col and Cian have completed their round robin, so their fate is somewhat out of their hands.
James Spithill (AUS), helmsman for Luna Rossa Challenge, is seventh at 5-4, and also owns a tiebreak advantage over Peter Gilmour (AUS), skipper of PST and the reigning event champion.
On the outside looking in is Peter Holmberg (ISV), helmsman for Alinghi, at 4-5. For Holmberg to advance he’d have to win both of his remaining races and look for help elsewhere.
“For those sitting and watching the racing it’s not easy out there,” said Holmberg. “A lot of it could go either way. We’re going to have to sail loose tomorrow, otherwise this mon soon be going home.”
The wind today was from the more normal northerly direction, but still very light, rarely topping 5 knots. The rare excitement came when monsoon squalls ripped through and pumped the wind over 15 knots. The tide, however, seemed to have less influence on the racecourse than yesterday.
“The wind was from a different direction than yesterday, so tide wasn’t as much of a factor,” said Hardesty. “One noteworthy thing we noticed was the clouds coming through. They tended to shift the wind in their direction. We passed Holmberg by sailing to the cloud. It’s just like a junior sailing lecture, sail towards the clouds.”
There were a number of notable close races today and one major upset. Wearn Haw Tan (SIN), a member of China Team, took down Gilmour in Flight 13. Tan opened a big lead in the first lap but Gilmour closed up on the second upwind leg and rounded the windward mark on his rival’s transom.
The beginnings of a squall were coming through, however, and it propelled both Tan and Gilmour to the finish, reducing Gilmour’s chances of a comeback win.
“If we get lucky breaks we try to stay in contact and cover our opponent,” said Tan. “We got some lucky breaks today. We have a steep learning curve. We have some new guys with us, but this will help us next year in Valencia.”
“Anyone can win at this level,” said Gilmour.
Tiffany Koo, Malaysia’s lone female match racer who made a huge splash yesterday by winning her first ISAF Grade WC match race, nearly pulled a huge upset of Spithill. After trailing around the first lap Koo lured Spithill into a tacking duel and closed up on the second beat.
Halfway down the run to the finish she approached Spithill on port jibe, but couldn’t cross and Spithill forced her to jibe back to starboard. A slow maneuver on Koo’s part allowed Spithill to jibe away, and he crossed the finish line less than five feet ahead of Koo.
“I got nervous when he attacked there,” Koo said of the deciding moment on the last leg. “Never mind that, we have two more races tomorrow.”
“I was almost passing out,” said Spithill. “She sailed a fantastic race. Full credit to Tiffany.”
Racing is scheduled to resume tomorrow around 9:45 a.m., and a busy day is planned including completion of the round robin, the quarterfinals and then, time and weather permitting, the semifinals as well.
Racing tomorrow is scheduled to be broadcast live on our Sail.TV viewer. It will also be broadcast live on ESPN/Star Sports, Eurosport, Fox Australia and Showtime Middle East. Sky New Zealand will broadcast a same day tape delay (check local listings for times).
The events of the World Tour serve to determine the ISAF Match Racing World Champion. Next year the Monsoon Cup will be the final event of the 2006-’07 season, and will crown the 2007 World Champion.
The World Tour is sanctioned by ISAF, sailing’s world governing body. The World Tour Partner and Official Car is BMW (Munich, Germany). World Tour sponsors include Sebago (Rockford, Mich.), the Official Footwear Supplier, Travel Places (West Sussex, England), the Official Travel Partner, and Wedgwood (Stoke-on-Trent, England), the Official Trophy Sponsor.
For more information on the World Match Racing Tour, its competitors and events, please visit the official World Tour Web site, www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com. World Match Racing Tour television programs may be viewed on demand by clicking on the television icon on the home page of the Web site.
Monsoon Cup Round Robin Provisional Standings: (after 15 of 17 scheduled flights)
1. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar, 9-2
(Crew: Bill Hardesty, Mark Nicholls, Simon Shaw, Mark Williams)
2. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 7-3
(Crew: Henrik Blaksjaer, Thomas Jacobsen, Mike Mottl, Jan Schoepe)
3. Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team, 6-3
(Crew: Thierry Briend, Greg Evrard, Olivier Herledant, Yannick Simon)
4. Björn Hansen (SWE) Team Apport.net, 6-4
(Crew: Martin Berntsson, Kalle Kjerstadius, Staffan Lindberg, Magnus Woxen)
5. Sébastien Col (FRA) Areva Challenge, 6-5
(Crew: Christophe Andre, Benoit Briand, Gilles Favennec, Thierry Peponnet)
6. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza, 6-5
(Crew: Ian Ainslie, Fernando Colaninno, Pierluigi Fornelli, David Rae)
7. James Spithill (AUS) Luna Rossa Challenge, 5-4
(Crew: Magnus Augustson, Torben Grael, Michele Ivaldi, Joe Newton)
8. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 5-4
(Crew: Rick Brent, Christian Scherrer, Graeme Spence, Yasuhiro Yaji)
9. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 4-5
(Crew: Rodney Ardern, Lorenzo Mazza, Dean Phipps, Piet van Nieuwenhuyzen)
10. Wearn Haw Tan (SIN) China Team, 2-8
(Crew: Thierry Barot, Xavier Husson, Yurii Siegel, Zhang Wenpei)
11. Adam Minoprio (NZL) Black Match Racing, 1-7
(Crew: Nick Blackman, Tom Powrie, Josh Puckey, Dave Swete)
12. Tiffany Koo (MAL) Team Selangor Gapurna, 1-8
(Crew: Rolf Heemskerk, Jeremy Koo, Ong Khong Sing, Looi Sing Yew)
Team Pindar leading at Malaysian Monsoon Cup (from Kate Fairclough)
Ian Williams of ‘Team Pindar’, current leader of the World Match Racing Tour is staying true to form as he tops the leader board going into day four of the Monsoon Cup. ‘Team Pindar’ finished their eleven races of the light wind round robin series with a 9-2 scorecard. The five day event which culminates on Sunday is being sailed in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, and is being contested by the world’s top match racing talent, including six America’s Cup syndicate teams.
Ian, Britain’s most promising match racing helm, and his team of brother Mark, Bill Hardesty, Simon Shaw and Mark Nichols are sponsored by Pindar, the leading print and electronic media company. ‘Team Pindar’ will be fighting for a podium finish in the tricky waters of the Pulau Duyong Basin as they aim to maintain their command of the World Match Racing Tour ladder. ‘Team Pindar’ now move into the quarterfinals as top ranked seed and will race the eighth placed skipper in the exciting quarterfinals tomorrow.
Ian Williams commented: “We are pleased with our performance here at the Monsoon Cup so far, the breeze has proved shifty, and although there was less tide today the sailing conditions have been tricky overall. We had some good starts and our teamwork has been feeling good, so we hope to continue our good form into the quarter finals tomorrow.”