World Yacht Racing Forum

Russell Coutts, CEO and Skipper, BMW Oracle Racing shaking hands with Brad Butterworth, Skipper and vice president, Team Alinghi after the American`s cup debate: what is the future for challengers at the 2009 World Yacht Racing Forum 2009 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
The World Yacht Racing Forum (WYRF) returns in 2009 with more speakers, more exhibition showcase displays, more networking sessions, more evening social functions and even greater industry participation.
A packed programme of plenary address presentations, 8 interactive panel sessions, 9 hours of networking time built into the programme, 2 evening social functions and a host of other benefits will ensure all participants have the time and opportunity to meet and engage during the two-day event.

Monsoon Cup

The 2009 ISAF Match Racing World Championship was at stake on morning four of the Monsoon Cup, the final round of the World Match Racing Tour in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
When this regatta started Australian Torvar Mirsky and his Match Racing Team crew were number two ranked on the Tour leader board and 12 points behind New Zealander Adam Minoprio and his Emirates Team New Zealand BlackMatch Racing. Mirsky was down 0-2 against the defending Monsoon Cup champion, America’s Cup and World Match Racing Tour veteran Peter Gilmour. The maths showed that if Mirsky was eliminated in the Monsoon Cup quarter finals and Adam Minoprio was to win his battle with Mathieu Richard, Minoprio would become the World Match Racing Champion. Entering the starting box Minoprio had his game face on... he nailed the start and was two lengths ahead on the left of the course. After contact at the top mark Minoprio was given a penalty and Richard a red flag, meaning he had to take an immediate penalty. Minoprio extinguished his penalty and went on to win the match.

Mirsky beat Gilmour in the third race; the scoreline was now 1-2. Mirsky had to win the next match in order to earn a fifth and final match that he would also need to win. Coming towards the top mark Gilmour was ahead by half a boat length. Mirsky decided to follow Gilmour, hoping to stay close enough to pounce when Gilmour did his penalty turn. On the third beat Gilmour was 45 metres ahead, looking to do his penalty turn in the best tide. Mirsky closed to 40 metres giving Gilmour no option but do a finishing line spin. Mirksy finished first, but was penalised and Gilmour won the match. Adam Minoprio is the new ISAF Match Racing World Champion.

Ben Ainslie and Adam Minoprio met at the Monsoon Cup final, Sunday 6 December. The drama started even before the pre-start when the New Zealand skipper Minoprio sailed out of the sailing area and ran aground. Crew member Dave Swete stripped to his shorts and went into the water to check the keel for damage and to clean off any of the river mud that may have stuck. In the first match of the final, Minoprio entered on port but headed to the starboard end of the box and had the pre-start advantage. Ainslie was over early and was penalized for failing to keep clear. Minoprio too was over early but was able to duck back while Ainslie almost stalled and was slow to get back. Minoprio had a massive advantage; he was in the current and steaming around the top mark while Ainslie was 18 seconds behind. Minoprio extended and headed for home with a massive ten boat length lead and crossed the finish line first.

It got worse in the second match as Minoprio timed his start perfectly and headed left, leaving Ainslie staggering. Minoprio crossed the line to go two up in the first to three. Regroup was what TeamOrigin certainly needed to do. Just seconds before the third race start, Minoprio saw pressure coming in from the right and did not contest the previously favoured left hand side. Ainslie hit the current on the left but it was not enough, Minoprio was around the mark two lengths ahead. On the third lap and on the right, Minoprio had private current and the best breeze. Adam Minoprio and his BlackMatch Racing team won the Monsoon Cup.

Semi Final ResultsBen Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin vs Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/ALL4ONE 3-2Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing vs Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 3-1

Quarter Final ResultsBen Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin vs Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 3-0Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/ALL4ONE vs Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 3-2Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing vs Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 3-0Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing vs Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 3-1

Monsoon Cup

Adam Minoprio and his Emirates Team New Zealand BlackMatch crew faced a sudden death match, fighting for his season with a scoreline of 4-6, against Sebastien Col, 6-4 (French Match Racing Team ALL4ONE). Sebastien Col attracted a penalty while Minoprio was looking for a clean start. The pair battled throughout the match; Minoprio finally taking the win to keep his World Tour Championship hopes alive.
In the other matches to complete the round robin, Torvar Mirsky (Mirsky Racing Team) defeated Peter Gilmour (YANMAR Racing).
Mathieu Richard (French Team) beat Ben Ainslie and his TeamOrigin crew handsomely.
Francesco Bruni and his Italian Azzurra team took the last match in the last flight from Ian Williams and Team Pindar.
The skippers who did not make the quarter finals were Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge) 5-6, Francesco Bruni (Azzurra), 4-7, Ian Williams (Team Pindar) 4-7 and Hazwan Hazim (Taring Pelangi TESA) 0-11.
Onto the quarter finals and Ben Ainslie (TeamOrigin) chose to sail against Damien Iehl (French Team). Ainslie controlled the left, while Iehl was very happy to go right, and the race started with a big split. Iehl gained two lengths in the heavier current, running up to five knots. But down the run Ainslie gained, staying out of the adverse current.
In the other quarter final matches, Peter Gilmour pushed young Perth competitor Torvar Mirsky to the left side of the line, before heading right. Mirsky headed right, but he fell in behind Gilmour and was unable to make an impression. Forced over the line early by Adam Minoprio (BlackMatch Racing), Mathieu Richard (French Match Racing Team) had to fight to stay in contact. At the bottom mark for the second time, Minoprio was two lengths ahead and headed right. But Richard gained rapidly in the left hand current; Minoprio was just a length ahead. With Richard failing to keep clear in a luffing match, the Frenchman attracted one penalty then another. All Minoprio had to do was to stay clear to win.
Although Phil Robertson lost his quarter final match against Sebastien Col this afternoon, he was still irrepressible.
The last quarter final match was the two Perth, Australian skippers, the old bull Peter Gilmour and the young bull Torvar Mirsky.

Monsoon Cup

After the monsoon drama of the first day, the toughest racing day so far in the history of the regatta, this morning the competitors had time to focus on the leader board. At the start of racing on day two of the Monsoon Cup the Asian Match Racing champion, New Zealander Phil Robertson, was 1-3. His single victory yesterday was against Ian Williams and he had been singled out as one of the teams who could miss the cut. Mathematically a team needs six wins to get through to the quarter-finals, so Robertson and his WAKA Racing crew had work to do.
However Robertson did not expect to beat Peter Gilmour the defending Monsoon Cup champion. Gilmour was aggressive in the starting box, but impressively Robertson outgunned him. Gilmour attracted two penalties in the pre-start; one a red flag meaning he had to take one penalty immediately. Game over. Sailing against the World Tour ranked number two Torvar Mirsky, Robertson forced the Australian to the left side of the starting line. Robertson was fast to the right hand current elevator and sailed to victory. Then came the Kiwi match up - Robertson against fellow New Zealander Adam Minoprio, who is the Tour leader. Minoprio and his crew were confident ahead of the match, but Robertson took control in the pre-start and grabbed the right hand side of the course. They were sailing bow to stern when the two boats reached the current at the top mark. Robertson was just a length ahead but down the run he extended to three lengths. He held the lead and went on to win.

Ian Williams and Team Pindar have dominated the World Tour for the last two years winning both the 2007 and 2008 World Match Racing Championships but right now Williams is in nightmare territory. After the first day Williams was 1-3, having recorded losses to Damien Iehl (French Team) Peter Gilmour (YANMAR Racing) and Phil Robertson (WAKA Racing), while defeating Torvar Mirsky (Mirsky Racing Team). Williams started with a workman like victory over the Malaysian Match Racing champion Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (MAS). He then lost to Sebastien Col (French Team/ALL4One) and Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge). But it was disaster for Williams in his match against Ben Ainslie, earning a penalty in the pre-start. Team Pindar sailed hard, won a leg advantage on the left, but lost the match. Robertson, the world ranked number 25, finished a great morning’s work beating Damien Iehl. WAKA Racing was now 5-3 and heading for the quarter-finals. Next the number 25 ranked sailor tackled former World Tour Champion Magnus Holmberg and in the tight pre-start Holmberg attracted a penalty. Robertson comprehensively outsailed his rival and went on to finish the day with a 6-3 score card.

Monsoon Cup

The Monsoon Cup, the final event of the nine stage 2009 World Match Racing Tour, will commence on the Pulau Duyong Basin course in Kuala Terengganu tomorrow and the stage is set for an epic battle.

Heavy monsoon rains have been falling in eastern Malaysia for the last week and today the World Tour's top match racing crews were on the water acclimatising to the conditions. The leader of the 2009 Tour, New Zealander Adam Minoprio commented as he came ashore this afternoon ‘We are set for a very challenging event this week and there is a lot at stake, the biggest prize money of any sailing event in the world (around US$450,000) and the 2009 World Match Racing Championship. ‘We are glad we had the Perth practice event last week, we certainly needed more time in these boats (Foundation 36s) and we will really need to be on the top of our game to hold out Torvar Mirsky and his MRT Racing Team. The battle for podium placings is going to be exciting.' The World Match Racing Tour's second ranked sailor, Australian Torvar Mirsky, stated ‘On paper it seems simple enough, we are 12 points behind Adam. We’d like to win and have Adam finish fourth. But the reality is much harder than that, the standard is so high and so even that if any of us stumble, we can fall pretty hard. Last year here, we made it to the semi-finals and then Peter Gilmour knocked us out, before going on to win.

‘Ian Williams or Mathieu Richard can take the World Tour crown too, so it’s getting tense.’
Peter Gilmour, the defending Monsoon Cup champion commented, ‘We are all in for an interesting week. It’s a very strong field and a challenging course. We can’t wait to get racing tomorrow.’

World Match Racing Tour Director Craig Mitchell summed up the situation this afternoon. 'With six crews in contention for podium places, the event is wide open. The points awarded in this deciding event are one and a half times that of regular tour events which means that with 150 points to be won, the World Match Racing Tour Championship is far from decided.'

Tour Standings (After 8 of 9 events)

1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 100 Points

2. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 88 Points

3. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar 75 Points

4. Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team Racing 74 Points

5. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR 71 Points

6. Ben Ainslie, (GBR) Team Origin 65 Points

7. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 48 Points

8. Sebastien Col, (FRA) French Match Racing Team 41 Points

Transat Jacques Vabre

Mike Golding and Javier Sanso fin ished the Transat Jacques Vabre on a perfect Caribbean morning, arriving into Costa Rica's historic Puerto Limon - where in 1502 Christopher Columbus landed - to secure a hard won third place in race which winner Marc Guillemot had described as the toughest of his career.

Sailing upwind through the gentle, long swell in just a gentle breeze Golding and Sanso eased the IMOCA Open 60 Mike Golding Yacht Racing through the finish line in the early morning to be greeted by a large, colourful and noisy crowd. Mike Golding Yacht Racing finished at 8:59 in the morning, Costa Rica time, 14:59h GMT. Their time for the course from Le Havre is 17 days, 1 hour, 29 minutes and 38 seconds, finishing 1 day, 6 hours, 7 minutes and 28 seconds after the first placed IMOCA Open 60 monohull Safran.

The duo played their stealth card for the final stage of the race, a spoiler just in case there was any unexpected, major slow down in the final hours of the race, but in the end it was not needed as they never stopped moving through the last hours, trimming hard until the finish gun confirmed their success.

Safran is the Winner

The tricky approach to the coast of Costa Rica ended successfully for the duo, Guillemot - Caudrelier Benac. In light winds, they led Safran to a fully deserved victory after 15 days, 19 hours and 22 minutes of intense sailing. It was daylight in France, but still dark in Puerto Limon when Safran crossed the finish at 2h 52’ and 10’’ (local time) or 8h 52’ 10’’, GMT. It marked the end of some genuine suspense, as Safran and the boat chasing after her, Groupe Bel had both been sailing in stealth mode since the previous day. Marc and Charles did not have any information about their most dangerous rival. As soon as they arrived, Jean-Paul Herteman, President of the board of the Safran group, thanked the two winners.

Safran’s race in figures
Race time: 15 days 19 hours 22 minutes 10 seconds
Average speed on the direct route: 12.46 knots
Average speed out on the water: 13.87 knots
Distance covered: 5263 miles

Transat Jacques Vabre

The last few miles may still hold a sting in the tail for the leading duo as the weather may slow the leading boat, with some nervous hours to the finish. On a race which has a recent history of close, tight finishes, the final miles of the Transat Jacques Vabre can be the most nerve racking.

The finish line is all but in sight, the miles counting down with a pleasing whirr, but for Safran's Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier - who are seeking to convert the lead they have held for nine days - they still have no shortage of pressure, and it is likely to stay heaped upon them until the end.

And with less than 450 miles to go in this ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, the gap back from Safran to Kito de Pavant and Francois Gabart on Groupe Bel is just over 70 miles.

Groupe Bel are an ever present threat, as they have been to Safran since they eased past Mike Golding Yacht Racing a week ago, Saturday night 14th, to install themselves in second place.

A relatively stationary little low pressure trough has installed itself over the Gulf of Panama. That has contributed to some spicy squall activity for the two leaders today but so there is the distinct threat that the final miles in to the finish line off Costa Rica's Puerto Limon will not be easy.

Safran crossed the longitude of Cartagena (Colombia) which was the finish for the Transat Jacques Vabre from 1993 to 1999, with a time of 13 days and 22 hours of sailing.

Underlining the evolution of the class ten years ago, the winner of the IMOCA Open 60 division took 19 days and 17 hours over the same course. By comparison with the course record to Salvador de Bahia, JP Dick and Loick Peyron's 13.51 knots in 2005 compares with the course average so far of Safran at 13.26 knots. Safran had done 375 miles over the 24 hours to 1100hrs today.

While Mike Golding Yacht Racing and Foncia seem assured of third and fourth, the race for sixth to eighth remains the closest group of the IMOCA Open 60. While Pepe Ribes and Alex Pella now hold sixth place on W-Hotels, Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson were breaking away from eighth and the heat of battle to effect a rapid pit stop to collect a replacement generator control panel at a rendezvous off St Lucia. The British duo were just two miles short of Veolia Environnment's seventh when they diverged north.

Transat Jacques Vabre

As Safran lead across their theoretical half way point of this Transat Jacques Vabre from Le Havre to Costa Rica and life has become considerably easier for the IMOCA Open 60 crews and the remaining Multi50 duos, the days of sunshine and trade winds sailing may be pleasant but the pace is still intense right down the fleets, seeking every small gain, trimming more accurately and hand steering as long as possible.

Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier top the IMOCA Open 60 standings by just 23.3 miles this morning, with Kito de Pavant and Francois Gabart on Groupe Bel gaining ten miles since the same time yesterday morning. A third of their lead devoured, Guillemot remarked yesterday that his preference is normally to do the hunting rather than be hunted.

The two leading sister-ships are very evenly matched now, whilst Mike Golding, the British skipper sounded mildly irritated this morning that, try as hard as they can, the two French boats have gained consistently over the last two days. In fact they have been breaking into slightly stronger breeze progressively and both Golding and Sanso acknowledged this morning that they may be losing a little time through manoeuvres - sail changes, mainly - due to their lack of time together as a duo.

Golding and Sanso have lost 34 miles over 48 hours.

Conditions are still not perfect, settled tradewinds. The unstable 12-20 knots breeze swings around in direction and rises and falls in strength, sailing under spinnaker may be pleasant but it is also tiring.

Completing the ninth day at sea today the biggest threat to the leaders might be Michel Desjoyeaux and Jeremie Beyou on Foncia.

Desjoyeaux noted that three hours of solid spinnaker trimming had worn out Beyou. They are now up to fourth place, accounting for Veolia Environnment who are now 45 miles behind and slowed too close to the cente of the high pressure, but Foncia are still 355 miles in arrears of the leader Safran.

Having made just 14 miles on Safran since the same time a couple of days ago, then the leading trio can feel safe for the moment.

Transat Jacques Vabre

Virtually the full range of emotions were starkly evident on the Transat Jacques Vabre race track today as the leading trio fast approach the half way mark for the IMOCA Open 60 fleet on their 4370 miles course from Le Havre to Porto Limon, Costa Rica.

As under-pressure leaders Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier on Safran bent to the task of holding off the rapidly advancing, Kito de Pavant and Francois Gabart, their smiling, chilled rivals on identical design sistership, the laughing cow' logo'd Groupe Bel, back on eighth placed Aviva Britain's Dee Caffari declared herself one 'happy bunny' as she and Brian Thompson hit the trade-winds conveyor belt, into the warmth , the sunshine and brisker winds, for some fast, champagne sailing and a chance to unwrap herself from the layers of warm, waterproof clothing she has had on for the best part of week,

But for Alex Thomson, once again it is the unfortunately familiar welling up of bitter disappointment to deal with, as he and co-skipper Ross Daniel are forced to head for the Azores, limping north with Hugo Boss taking on water after they hit something at high speed yesterday afternoon. After a night at slow speed trying to keep the damaged area, an indentation of about 30 cms, Thomson and Daniel's race is over, all too soon.

If the anger and frustration feels like dejà vu after having to pull out of last year's Vendee Globe with structural damage sustained in the first big storm, less than 36 hours into the race, Thomson's shred of consolation this time is that he had done a good job through the worst storm and had earned a strong position with Hugo Boss. But this afternoon that was a bitter pill to swallow. He had certainly achieved the objective of giving former boat captain Ross Daniel a first hand insight into the rigours of ocean racing on the Open 60 with a view to maximising gear reliability for future endeavours.

When Daniel went forwards after striking an object with a thud during yesterday afternoon he found four tonnes of water in the watertight compartment.