In front of thousands spectators lining the shoreline, Sebastian Col (FRA) and his K Challenge/French Match Racing Team and Ian Williams (GBR) and his Team Pindar each defeated their Quarter and Semi-Final opponents on 14 June to qualify to battle each other in next day's Final round of the Korea Match Cup. The warm dry offshore breeze remained brisk enough for PRO David Tallis to set short multiple-lap courses across the harbor, with the windward mark placed just metres away from the spectator pontoon, giving everyone a front row seat to the mark-rounding action. But later this stability waned, and the shifts and puffs trended right into a light seabreeze by mid-afternoon, before caving in and blowing again offshore. Few leads were safe in these conditions, and even with courses’ short legs and multiple laps there were plenty of passing lanes available for the observant…and lucky. In the Semi-Finals, Col met Jesper Radich (DEN) of the Rudy Project Sailing Team, a tough opponent and former Tour champion, where the Dane took the first win from him after he was given the double indignity of being called over early and given a penalty for not keeping clear. But in the next three matches Col mastered the starts and never allowed Radich to pass, which was a remarkable feat given the shifty conditions on the course. In a fabulous display of match race talent played in front of tens of thousands of spectators at the Korea International Boat Show and live TV beamed to 90 countries, Sebastian Col (FRA). In a first-to-three point Final sailed in shifty, puffy conditions, Col defeated Ian Williams (GBR) and Team Pindar in four tough matches filled at times with collisions, penalties, and numerous lead changes from pre-start to finish.
