Troia Portugal Match Cup

19 June,2009 – After a long day stretched to the limits of sunset, Round Robin racing has been completed along with three flights of two pairs in the Quarter Final stage. Eight teams have advanced to this next stage in the competition out of 12 who came here for a slice of the 50,000 Euro prize money purse at the beautiful Troia Resort. After a fitful start in the morning and an entire flight of matches abandoned for lack of wind, the westerly seabreeze finally filled to perfect strength, with 8-14 knots available all afternoon to complete the six flights of three matches left in the Round Robin. Emerging from the pack as winner of this stage on the strength of 9 wins was Philippe Presti, though he went 1-1 on the day. His success in this stage was also due to a tie-break with fellow member of the French Match Racing Team Mathieu Richard. Others advancing to the Quarter-Finals include Peter Gilmour, Ian Williams, Adam Minoprio, Sebastian Col, Torvar Mirsky and Bjorn Hansen.

20 June, 2009 – After a long first-to-three point Quarter-Final series, four teams have emerged on top to compete in next day Semi-Final stage. The four Semi-Finalists are Adam Minoprio (NZL) and his Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch team, Ian Williams (GBR) and his Bahrain Team Pindar, Mathieu Richard (FRA) and his French Match Racing Team, and Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and his Mirsky Racing Team.

One pair that went to five matches had the oldest and youngest skippers veteran Peter Gilmour, against Adam Minoprio. International umpire team was busy with numerous whistles and penalty flags in nearly all their matches. The 8-10 knot wind conditions were perfect for tight manoeuvring. Another particularly aggressive pair was the match-up between Ian Williams and Sebastian Col. Col had a good start to the series, winning their first match, but this ignited Williams determination, taking three straight.

21 June 2009 – In only their second full season on the World Match Racing Tour, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and his Mirsky Racing Team. claimed their first win at the Troia Portugal Match Cup. Victory here for the 24-year old skipper puts him in company with other world-famous match racing legends who have been champions at this event, including Peter Gilmour, Chris Dickson, Peter Holmberg, and Ed Baird. Mirsky took his fellow antipodean Adam Minoprio in just two matches of the first-to-two point Final, displaying a smooth sailing style and impeccable sense of timing both in the pre-starts and around the track. And while the first match of the Final was decided fairly early in the game as Mirsky took and extended on his winning start, the second match was far from easy.

On the strength of an exciting 2-1 win over Richard in the Petite-Finals, Ian Williams jumped up to the runner-up position.

Troia Portugal Match Cup

After a long day that started with having to defeat one of his own team mates from the French Match Racing Team, Sebastian Col (FRA) and his crew have won the Troia Portugal Match Cup. Getting past Magnus Holmberg (SWE) and his Victory Challenge team 2-0 in an exciting Final series, Col and crew have taken the top prize. Col and his French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge crew had to get better, as the conditions became increasingly challenging throughout the day for the remaining teams in the competition. Besides the fresh 15-22 knot easterly blowing straight down the Rio Sada in front of the Troia Resort Marina, the other huge factor today was the strong tidal current, which reached a staggering 4 knots at its peak. This made pre-start and mark rounding tactics interesting and at times unconventional.

The day started under a cloud of uncertainty, as three teams in the morning’s final flight of the Round Robin had a shot for the last remaining spot in the Semi-Finals. With Paolo Cian defeating Torvar Mirsky in the second match, all eyes were on the final run of the third match, where Bjorn Hansen were fully entangled in a furious match with Damien Iehl on the final run to the finish. Just metres short of the line, Iehl’s one last luff managed to get his SM40 across by what PRO Miguel Allen said was “20 centimetres,” thus earning him the win and the tie-break to the Semis.

Since yet another member of the French Match Racing Team, Mathieu Richard, was on top from the Round Robin, he was free to choose Holmberg to play, the only non-French team in the stage. It didn’t start well for the mostly-Swedish team: 2-0 in the first-to-three point series, and with an all-French final looking imminent, Holmberg rallied in the third match to lead Richard around the track and even draw a penalty on his French rival at their bottom mark turn. In a close fourth match, Richard got managed to get past Holmberg on the run towards the bottom mark. A disastrous kite drop by the French allowed Holmberg to waltz through into a convincing win to bring the series even.

In the last match, Holmberg chose the right side of the beat, Richard the left, and while right was initially favored, it soon caved in, so when Holmberg tacked to cover the closing French, he did so a little too close, earning him a penalty. He still kept the lead by tacking back left, getting to the top and bottom marks first, and extending enough on the beat to do his penalty turn before Richard closed to within only 2 lengths at the finish downwind.

And in the Finals, Holmberg and Col initially split off to different sides of the first beat, with a shoal area on the left side providing a little more relief from the gushing tide than the beach side on the right. Since Col got there and controlled that side better, he led throughout the first match and even managed to extend enough to wipe off a pre-start penalty.

With a major wind shift requiring course realignment and a new boat to rig, the decision was made to shorten the Finals and Petit-Finals to first-to-two points. So, under increasing clouds, breeze, tide, and approaching rain, the stage seemed to have more fireworks among the two French teams in the Petit-Final, with Iehl and Richard taking one each under the watchful eyes of match umpires.

The Troia Portugal Match Cup was the seventh of nine stages on the World Match Racing Tour.

Troia Portugal Match Cup

Light fluky breeze and strong tides delayed the start of racing today in Day Three of Troia Portugal Match Cup, with the resumption of the Round Robin not commencing until mid-afternoon and extending right up to sunset. But once the late seabreeze did finally fill, it provided the opportunity for great match race action in all flights, with multiple lead changes, penalties, and early starts keeping the assembled shore side spectators on edge. Once the dust settled, it became clear the French Match Racing teams led by Mathieu Richard on Team French Spirit and Sebastian Col on K-Challenge were continuing their dominance of the event, with Richard on a nearly undefeated record of 9 wins in 10 matches sailed, and Col on 7 wins in 9 matches sailed. Other teams that excelled today included Magnus Holmberg (SWE) and his Victory Challenge team, winning 4 of their 5 matches including a successful re-sail match from Flight 9 against Paolo Cian.

Troia Portugal Match Cup

Mathew Richard from the French Match Racing Team/Team French Spirit, the number one ISAF ranked sailor in the world, continued his excellent form after winning the recent World Tour event in Switzerland with a storming day at the Troia Portugal Match Cup, winning four of his five matches on the opening day.

Richard defeated Manual Weiller from Spain, then local hero Alvaro Marinho in a close match, Kiwi Adam Minoprio, and rising Aussie star Torvar Mirsky, finalist in Match Cup Sweden, who had his wings clipped by a masterful French display in the first flight of the day. However, this seemed to only spur on the young antipodian, who went on to match Richard’s winning ways in the shifty 6-8 knot breeze, taking the next four matches. In his final race of the six man group, Mirsky was brilliant, shutting out Manual Weiller in the closing seconds. Racing started mid-afternoon after a misty, breathless morning, the wind gradually filling from the west into the mouth of the bay into which the Troia peninsular juts, south of Setubal near Lisbon. The second group managed only one flight before both the wind and the light faded, with reigning World Match Racing Tour Champion and current leader, Ian Williams from the UK, winning the battle of the Brits, taking down newcomer Nick Cherry in his very first Tour race. Frenchman Seb Col again showed his class having won the biggest event of the year in Korea, he defeated the hugely experienced Magnus Holmberg from Sweden in a spirited opening match. Meanwhile another America’s Cup veteran, Paolo Cian from Italy kicked off his challenge for the Troia Portugal Match Cup by beating Bjorn Hansen from Sweden, with a stunning sunset rounding off the day.

Troia Portugal Match Cup

At the end of the first day's racing in the Troia Portugal Match Cup, only three of the twelve skippers had unbeaten records. Gavin Brady (NZL) of the BMW Oracle Racing Team won all three of his matches in the round robin, as did Peter Gilmour (AUS) of the Pizza-La Sailing Team. Five skippers, Sebastien Col (FRA), Mathieu Richard (FRA), Bjorn Hansen (SWE), Ian Williams (GBR) and Philippe Presti (FRA), won two of their three matches and Paolo Cian (ITA) and Staffan Lindberg (FIN) each had one win while Sally Barkow (USA), Eugeny Neugodnikov (RUS) and Alvaro Marinho (POR) suffered three defeats apiece.

It was a day of mixed wind conditions; the early westerly breeze gave way to a shifting northerly at the end of the third flight, but the race officer waited until this had largely settled before resuming the racing. No flights suffered as a result of the change but there were many close matches with all the match racing gambits employed.

In four flights of racing Thursday 26 July afternoon, six of the quarter finalists were decided, but it took another five flights, well into the evening, before the other two were able to claim their places. Throughout the day the northerly wind persisted in direction, although it varied in strength.

Gavin Brady (USA), Sebastien Col (FRA) and Mathieu Richard (FRA) were the first to claim their places from Group A; Brady the only one with a perfect 5-0 score. From Group B. Peter Gilmour (AUS), Ian Williams (GBR) and Philippe Presti (FRA) were the claimants, with Gilmour the only one with a perfect score. Gilmour and his Professional Sailing Team PST had a tough match with Presti and another close one with Staffan Lindberg (FIN) with the two boats just one length apart at the finish. The highlight of the Group B round was a match between old rivals Ian Williams with his Pindar Sailing Team and Paolo Cian (ITA). Williams wanted the left end of the start line, obtained it and started in a left hand shift. Cian went right and hooked into the first wind change, a substantial right-hander, and led for three legs of the course. Williams had closed towards the final mark and then gybe-set and went left into better pressure and was able to beat Cian to the line.

Results:

Group A:

Gavin Brady, USA, 5-0

Sebastien Col, FRA, 4-1

Mathieu Richard, FRA, 3-2

Bjorn Hansen, SWE, 2-3

Eugeny Neugodnikov, RUS, 1-4

Sally Barkow, USA, 0-6

Group B:

Peter Gilmour, AUS, 5-0

Ian Williams, GBR, 4-1

Philippe Presti, FRA, 3-2

Paolo Cian, ITA, 1-4

Alvaro Marinho, POR, 1-4

Staffan Lindberg, FIN, 1-4