Annual Season Review 2011

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contents 6

Progress on and off the water – Patrick Lim

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Going forward as the Alpari World Match Racing Tour

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The story of the 2011 Tour

the 2011 season in Focus 18

Match Race France

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Match Race Germany

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Korea Match Cup

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Portimão Portugal Match Cup

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STENA Match Cup Sweden

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St. Moritz Match Race

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Argo Group Gold Cup

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Monsoon Cup

tour card Holders 50

Johnie Berntsson

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Francesco Bruni

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Peter Gilmour

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Damien Iehl

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Torvar Mirsky

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Jesper Radich

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Mathieu Richard

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Phil Robertson

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Ian Williams

2011 World Match Racing tour in numbers

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editorial contributors Richard Bundy Capitalize Ltd Photography Subzero Images Myimage.ch Chris Davies John Roberson Photography Visionhaus Design & Production Goh Wei Lee Copyright Š 2011 Pro Match Tour Ltd ISBN 978-1-927750-05-6 All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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Progress on and off the Water

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he 2011 season, which saw the World Match Racing Tour complete its 100th event since its inception in 2000, was a resounding success both on and off the water. On the water it is hard to imagine a closer fought contest or a more exciting culmination, and off the water, new partnerships and increased revenue mean that the Tour can look to the future with certainty, equipped to expand and to adopt the changes and improvements that will ensure its ongoing prosperity.

This year and next year will see additional events in the Tour calendar and the introduction of live television coverage of each event, which will significantly raise our profile. The investment that enables these and other improvements to happen is thanks to our title sponsor, Alpari, with whom we look forward to a fruitful partnership over the next five years and beyond, and to our other partners, of whom more later in this book.

The World Match Racing Tour is about professional sport as well as entertainment. With the America’s Cup opting for multihull sailing, the Tour remains as the senior monohull sailing series on the planet. The Tour events represent the very pinnacle of professional sailing and, at the end of the season, we crown the World Champion, fully endorsed by the International Sailing Federation.

The fundamentals of match racing remain unchanged: it is a one-on-one race and the first one over the line wins. This is why so many people come to watch Tour events, and we look forward to welcoming more than ever in 2012.

Patrick Lim Executive Chairman, World Match Racing Tour

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Going Forward as the Alpari World Match Racing tour A

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The stunning ISAF Match Racing World Championship trophy. Nautically inspired, it was designed and created by Garrard, the world’s oldest jewellers.

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L-R, David Stuart COO Alpari, Andrey Vedikhin CEO Alpari and Jim O’Toole CEO World Match Racing Tour unveil the Apari World Match Racing Tour partnership.

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he past year has been a hugely exciting phase of growth and development for the series, both on and off the water. On a commercial level, in the past year the Tour has welcomed its new title Partner, Alpari – one of the world’s leading foreign exchange brokers, Lotus – the Official Performance Automotive Partner, and Garrard – the Official Jewellers and Silversmith Partner.

One of the Tour’s core objectives was to attract a select number of partners who aspire to grow with the series and Alpari is exactly that company. David Stuart, Chief Operational Officer at Alpari, commented, “We are very happy to announce our partnership with the World Match Racing Tour.

The Tour and Alpari have so much in common and we’ll both be strengthening our brands by entering into this partnership.

The Tour appeals to an international audience and specifically to people who are ambitious and self-motivated. These are essential attributes of successful traders so Alpari’s services should excite them.”

With Lotus having a rich heritage in elite performance and the World Match Racing Tour being the world’s leading professional sailing series, the Tour provides the ideal platform for the iconic motorsport brand to promote its exciting new range of premium sports cars.

Lotus’ agreement with the Tour adds yet more spice to the race to claim the 2012 ISAF Match Racing World Championship.

As well as the coveted title and the largest purse in sailing of $1.75m, the World Champion will also be the proud owner of a Lotus for a year.

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Patrick Lim, Executive Chairman of the World Match Racing Tour (left), shows off the new ISAF Match Racing World Championship trophy alongside Eric Deardorff, CEO of Garrard.

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Stars from the worlds of sport and entertainment flocked to Garrard’s flagship store in Mayfair, London for the unveiling of the new trophy.

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Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Richard Jones and exotic cocktails keep all the guests entertained throughout the evening at Garrard.

Adding marquee brands like Lotus and Garrard with exciting long term deals has enabled the World Match Racing Tour to step up a gear and make strategic investment in communications for the 2012 season and for the future. The intention is to make sailing and match racing a spectatorfriendly sport wherever you are.

Executive Director James Pleasance is particularly excited about the new televisual plans for the Tour. “We will have the ability to broadcast every event live in its entirety,” he says.

“There will be TV crews numbering between 15 and 18 people at each event, and a fully integrated TV player will appear on the website, so that clips and live shows will be broadcast through the Internet, allowing people to tune in on their smart phones, androids and tablets.”

We can also expect a greater emphasis on public relations coverage and media activation, with particular attention being paid to social media, making the website generally much more interactive.

“We are raising the profile of the Tour,” says Pleasance, “which, in turn, raises the interest not only in the overall Tour, but in each individual event. This raises the investment and thus the prize money, putting the Tour on a whole new level.”

There have been some amendments to the racing rules for the Tour, which come into effect in 2012. “Match racing has evolved to the point where we currently have a great set of rules, producing some fantastic sporting action, as we saw quite clearly in the 2011 series,” says Craig Mitchell, Tour Director. “Nothing major has changed in the past few years and we are enthusiastic in our responsibility to keep developing the rules to challenge our world class athletes and create the best possible spectacle.”

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Among the slightly more controversial additions are a revision of the penalty process, limiting boat requests for redress, and an amendment of course restrictions, which it is hoped will allow the trailing boat increased chances to overtake.

The removal of proper course restrictions, which will allow a trailing boat to gain an overlap from astern and luff their opposition away from the mark, should increase opportunities for a trailing boat and may well see a change in how the leading boat will choose to defend their advantage. The added opportunity afforded to challenge the match leader is designed to encourage a tighter margin between teams.

As Craig Mitchell says: “We are the most competitive sailing

series in the world and we hope that these changes, amongst others, continue to create the closest, most intense battles out on the water.”

The 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour sees the inclusion of a new event, the Chicago Match Cup, hosted by the Chicago Match Race Center, founded in 2009. The Chicago Match Cup is the only US stop on the Tour and carries a $100,000 prize fund.

Looking further ahead, one of two new European venues expected for 2013 is the city of Lelystad, in The Netherlands, the capital of the province of Flevoland. The Netherlands is remarkable for many things, but not least for its ability to create not just new cities, but new land to put them on. Joop

2011 Tour Champion Ian Williams (centre) collects his new prized new Lotus from Ivan Kovac (left), Product Marketing at Lotus and World Match Racing Tour Sales Director, Matthew Strachan (right).

van Diest, the Event Promoter, explains: “Our town is situated in a very young province,” he says. “Officially we have only existed for 25 years, although the land was made dry 40 or 50 years ago.”

When Joop says: “Our harbour is made for this kind of event,” he means it quite literally. Amsterdam is competing for the 2028 Olympic Games and, if the bid is successful, the sailing will take place at Lelystad. “It is a long-term ambition,” says Joop, “but an important one.”

There is much that is new to celebrate and investigate for the new season. The 2011 World Match Racing Tour was acclaimed as the most exciting yet; we shall see how long that remains the case.

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the story of the 2011 tour t is the aim of touring competitions, with every competitor vying for one overall title or trophy, to keep the tension high right down to the wire. The World Match Racing Tour seems to have no trouble maintaining the tension and, once again, the final and crowning event of the season – the Monsoon Cup – started on November 22nd with nothing separating the top three teams and the excitement at boiling point. This is what makes a final a contest and not just a showcase.

Six months earlier, the Tour had kicked off in Marseilles with a victory for debutant Tour Card older Damien Iehl, beating countryman Bernard Pace in the final. There was a long way to go and to Iehl, whose luck seemed to run out after Marseilles, it may have seemed longer.

Two weeks later, the Tour arrived in Langenargen, Germany, and took to the water in the new eet of Bavaria 40S boats specially upgraded for the event. ere Francesco Bruni showed his form and won his first event, after 12 attempts, beating Peter Gilmour in the final.

The Korea Match Cup was only introduced in 2008, but it is a mark of its success that all bar one of the present Tour Card olders arrived there, together with local talent and several aces not committed full-time to the Tour, including Swede Bjorn ansen, whose Mekonomen Sailing Team saw off Ian Williams, in his first appearance of the season, in the semis and the rampant Francesco Bruni in the final.

And so to the Portimão Portugal Match Cup, which saw the Tour celebrate its 100th event since its inception in 2000 and also saw Ian Williams end a long drought, with his Team GAC Pindar giving him his first Tour victory since the Danish Open in 2008. The pace was hotting up.

The Stena Match Cup Sweden was next, starting on the July 4th. ere we saw one of the most hotly contested – and fervently spectated finals, with Ian Williams out to prove that his Portimão victory was not a one-off and local boy Bjorn ansen giving the crowds hope of a home win. A fine fightback in the last race of the finals left ansen taking penalties and Williams headed for the Swiss mountains in third place overall, behind Bruni and Gilmour, but with his tail definitely up.

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1 -1 A The 2011 series was the perfect advert for the Tour, an epic battle between teams with each trying to assert their dominance, and all under the watchful eye of the media.

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Francesco Bruni and Bjorn ansen were two of the headline grabbing skippers this season. It was ansen who got the upper hand of the Italian in a tense nal of the Korea Match Cup.

Williams certainly went off at a champion’s pace in St. Moritz, racking up an incredible 10-1 score in the qualifying sessions and gaining a bye straight through to the semis, where he was oored by qualifier Pierre-Antoine Morvan. The final, which went to a countback, gave Australian Torvar Mirsky with The Wave Muscat his first win since 2009.

Mirsky now seemed determined to put paid to the nearly man’ title that had been haunting him for some time, and swept to victory in the Argo Group Gold Cup in amilton arbour, Bermuda over Johnie Berntsson and his Berntsson Sailing Team. More potentially significant to the impending outcome of the Championship, however, were the performances of the tournament leaders. Williams was unceremoniously dumped 0-3 in the quarters by Phil Roberston’s WAKA Racing, while Bruni lost to Mirsky in the semis, but won the petit final to go into the Monsoon Cup just behind Williams.

With six points separating the top three teams – Williams, Bruni and Mirsky – the final at the Monsoon Cup was even more of a boiling cauldron of tension than usual. Ian Williams describes the moment that the World Match Racing Tour 2011 was won and lost: “There is always a moment,” says Williams. “And even at the time you don’t always know that it’s happened. The moment was our race against Bruni in the qualifying rounds, where he was holding us out past the finish line. It was a must win’ for us, because if he won we would be on the plane home. And he inexplicably broached and allowed us round to win the race.

“After that,” concludes the 2011 Champion, “nobody really got close to beating us.”

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All nine Tour Card olders lined up at the Stena Match Cup Sweden.

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Mirsky and The Wave Muscat ended a barren spell of wins by claiming the St. Moritz Match Race, his rst win since 200 .

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The Portim o Portugal Match Cup provided plenty of thrills and spills, and got Ian Williams’ Championship uest back on track.

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Williams went into the Argo Group Gold Cup in pole position but endured a tough time there, when he was beaten convincingly 3-0 at the uarter- nal stage.

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An action packed season was captured and relayed across the Tour’s multi-media platforms to a global fanbase.

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Match Race France 18

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ehl makes an immediate impact A

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he ancient city of Marseille, always a crossroads of the world, is an ideal place to kick off a World Tour and the teams gave the thousands of knowledgeable spectators who lined the Point Rouge a regatta to remember – and the creation of a new star in the match racing firmament.

The men in form coming into the regatta appeared to be Torvar Mirsky and his The Wave Muscat team, and Jesper Radich with his team, Adrian Lee Partners. Sure enough, both teams cruised through qualifying into the quarter-finals while Ian Williams and Team GAC Pindar, widely tipped to win here, crashed out after a poor showing in qualifying.

Mirsky picked Alvaro Morinho in the quarters and, now in clinical form having lost only one of four matches, defeated the Portuguese 3-0, although he confessed after the race. “It wasn’t an easy one though. Alvaro was always on our tail.”

Torvar had something to say about his semi-final opponent,

veteran Frenchman Bernard Pac which he may have regretted later. “It’s never easy to pick a semi-final opponent,” he said.

“We felt Bertrand might be a little too old and we’re trying to maximise the age difference ” Pac , who had won his semifinal 3-1 against compatriot Pierre-Antoine Morvan took it all in good part; with the scores standing at 1-1 at the end of the first semi-final day, he commented: “The racing today was tight but really good. I’m happy even though we made a few strategic mistakes as for Mirsky, he could be my son. At 50, I’m happy still to beat the younger teams.”

Radich, in the meantime, drew Francesco Bruni – a meeting that came with a lot of baggage for the Italian. “If I had the choice, I wouldn’t have faced Radich,” said Bruni. “We’ve lost three times at the quarter-final stage to him.” Radich did not disappoint and took the tie 3-0, proceeding, apparently inexorably, to the semi-finals.

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Marseille provides a stunning location and ideal weather conditions for the Tour’s match racing talent to compete in.

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A legion of spectator boats are a common sight at Match Race France.

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Bruni Racing s ueezed through to the uarter- nals but came unstuck against one of the preseason favourites, Jesper Radich.

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Close but no cigar’ for Bertrand Pac and his Aleph Sailing Team who nished in 2nd place.

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The Tour’s TV presenter annah White was a fre uent visitor onboard the boats at Match Race France and throughout the season.

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Ian Williams sizes up his opponents but it was an event to forget for the two-time Champion, eventually nishing in 10th place.

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Meanwhile, in his quarter-final, Tour Card older debutante Damien Iehl, who had made solid progress through qualifying, surprised many among the cognoscenti by opting to take on Peter Gilmour in the quarters. Although Gilmour and his ANMAR Racing team may not have been at the top of their form, he had beaten Iehl over their last nine matches. The Frenchman backed his form – and maybe home advantage – and, in an encounter full of incident, including Iehl smashing his bowsprit on Gilmour’s port quarter, he went through to the semis 3-1.

The World Match Racing Tour always creates drama and usually one can expect the unexpected. In the semifinals, Bertrand Pac taught Torvar Mirsky the dangers of underestimating mature opposition by taking the tie 3-2 and Damien Iehl maintained the invincible form he had showed all week by beating the strongly fancied Jesper Radich 3-1.

In a first-to-two point final, necessitated by the approach of a 40-knot Mistral, Iehl continued his strategy of protecting the left side of the course, resulting in some heavy pre-start jostling. As the boats came together, Pac picked up a penalty for not keeping clear. On the final beat, Pac led, but hadn’t opened up enough of a margin. e slowed his boat as much as possible to lure Iehl into a trap but Iehl was more than a match, parrying every move. It was showpiece match racing. 1-0.

In the second race, Iehl led from the start and proceeded to take the honours in typically animated fashion as he crossed the finish line. On re ection, Pac said: “I would’ve liked to win it as it’s not easy to get into this position. But, we’re very happy as we worked well as a team.” A jubilant Iehl commented: “It has been a tense week but to win the event here is perfect.”

Meanwhile Torvar Mirsky won the petit final against Jesper Radich 2-1.

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Sweet success for Damien Iehl and early justi cation for his Tour Card. It was his second Tour win after last tasting victory at Match Race Germany in 200 .

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The teams and umpires battled against ever increasing winds on the Marseille shoreline.

Eventually, the Race Committee decided to conclude the event a day early as around 0 knots of Mistral winds beckoned on the Sunday.

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Match Race Germany 22

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runi s class shines through

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he World Match Racing Tour is full of contrasts and none more so than the switch from the J80s of Marseilles to the new Bavaria 40S Match Race Edition that have been introduced to Lake Constance for the 2011 edition of Match Race Germany. “We have added more mast and more sail area,” says Eberhard Magg, the Event Organiser. “We upgraded all the fittings and made the cockpit more suitable for a racing style. We had one big day with winds of 25-30 knots, which was challenging for the crews. ou have to have drama in this event, and with these boats, when you are shorthanded, drama will come ” In a qualifying session plagued by lack of wind, Francesco Bruni, after a disappointing start to the season in Marseilles, set out his stall with five straight wins in the first two rounds. e eventually finished the qualifying session with a 9-2 scoreline, earning his place directly into the semi-finals. Damien Iehl, Tour leader after his debut win in France, did not seem in the mood to loosen his hold on the Championship, sharing second place with the ever-dangerous Jesper Radich at 8-3, followed by the youngsters of WAKA Racing, led by Phil Robertson and Iehl’s team-mate and friend, Mathieu Richard.

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Bruni was in consistent form throughout Match Race Germany, winning his semi-finals against Phil Robertson’s WAKA Racing team on count back. In the final against Gilmour, he upped his game even further and benefited from a series of great calls by his tactician Massimo Bortoletto to win 2-0.

A delighted Bruni said after his victory: “I believe our races against Peter Gilmour in the final are the best we’ve sailed. After 12 events we finally won one. My guys have been brilliant and patient with me to give them a win. We’re a bunch of friends with a great team spirit.”

In the first race, there was an immediate split as Bruni took the left side and Gilmour the right. As they came together on the approach to the first mark, Bruni had the nose on Gilmour. Down the first run Bruni gybed early whilst Gilmour stayed on port tack again creating a big split.

Gilmour found better breeze and closed things up forcing Bruni to gybe away when they met again. Bruni held his nerve, rounded mark 2 ahead and never looked back. 1-0 to Bruni.

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Eric Monnin and his Okalys Corum Sailing Team pushed hard but fell short of a uarternal berth.

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Damien Iehl put in a valiant effort to repeat his win in France but was narrowly pipped in a uarter- nal battle royale against an in-form Eugeniy Neugodnikov.

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Match Race Germany’s race village was awash with sailing fans throughout the week.

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The new fleet of Bavaria 0S boats, the teams and spectators were put through their paces in Germany much to the enjoyment of the spectators who flocked to the shores of Lake Constance throughout the event.

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In the second race, Bruni this time chose and won the righthand end of the start line. Gilmour’s tactician, Cameron Dunn, also wanted the right-hand side, but Gilmour over-rode Dunn and went left instead in another split tack start. When they came back together at the first cross, it was Bruni that held the advantage – and he was brutal in leveraging it into an unassailable lead by the finish.

“Francesco Bruni won it in style,” said Eberhard Magg later.

“What I like about Francesco is that he is very professional and also very human. Winning the event here was his first win on the Tour and after that victory he wore our event branded hat for luck for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, he was wiped out by the boom in Bermuda and he fell in the water and lost the hat. So we instantly sent him a replacement one ” With little chance of the wind picking up, the petit final was a short, first-to-one-point sprint between Robertson and the Russian, Evgeny Neugodnikov’s Team Synergy. Neugodnikov was Gilmour’s victim in their semi-final, which the Australian won 3-0.

There was absolutely no room for error but a huge early mistake

by Neugodnikov saw the Russian cross the start line early. By the time he had dipped back, it was game over. Robertson was away and held an unassailable lead.

All in all, Langenargen was a great success enjoyed by all.

Summing up the event, Magg said: “We had to move the event a little this year owing to a tight Tour calendar however the appeal of the event was plain to see with over 25,000 passionate supporters turning up to watch the racing.”

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Francesco Bruni sends a warning signal to his title competitors after defeating four-time World Champion Peter Gilmour in the nal to claim his rst Tour victory.

Bruni’s team only lost matches in the whole regatta.

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Korea Match Cup 26

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Gutsy Hansen sees off runi

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he Korea Match Cup was started in 2008 by sailor, boatbuilder and entrepreneur Dong- oung Kim; it was an idea that he had been working on since he attended the America’s Cup in New ealand in 1999. “I thought it would be a great to have an event like that in Korea,” he says. “After that I couldn’t stop dreaming about hosting a big sailing event in Korea.” It is certainly a dream that has come true; the Korea International Boat Show, which takes place at the same time and place as the Match Cup welcomed more than 120,000 visitors this year and the Korean White Tiger’ America’s Cup project, which is also a Dong- oung Kim brainchild comes, he says, as a direct result of the success of the Korea Match Cup. The Korea Match Cup 2 011 saw a turn-out of all the Tour Card olders, bar Jesper Radich, joined by former Student Match Racing World Champion Paul Campbell-James’s Dream Team, Kiwi Reuben Corbett and AON Racing, veteran Swedish ace Bjorn ansen Mekonomen Sailing Team and local talent Sung

Wook Kim with Busan Match Team. In spite of some spirited performances by the visitors to the Tour, only the experienced Bjorn ansen saw it through to the quarter-finals, where he faced Mathieu Richard. Francesco Bruni picked Johnie Berntsson as his opponent, Torvar Mirsky went against Peter Gilmour and Ian Williams showed his class for the first time this season by winning the qualifying and with it a bye into the semi-finals.

The quarter-finals presented a complete contrast to the fierce conditions of the previous two sessions, with blue skies and six to 12-knot winds, which caused problems for titleholder Mathieu Richard after he had forced Bjorn ansen into a deciding fifth race. With the low tide causing havoc on the racecourse, the final match was abandoned on four separate occasions, twice when Richard was ahead. With the light and wind fading fast it was ansen who finally emerged victorious.

Richard was left wondering what more he could have done to defend his title.

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It was far from plain sailing for Reuben Corbett’s AON Racing team in Korea, only managing one race win in the ualifying sessions.

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Twinned with the Korea International Boat Show, the Korea Match Cup is a magnet for the country’s everincreasing sailing fanbase.

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Bruni got the better of ansen in the ualifying sessions...

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Gilmour’s bowman gives his skipper the information he needs to make the right moves. The Australian match racing legend just made it through to the uarter- nals where he defeated countryman Torvar Mirsky.

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Some spectators resort to amphibious vehicles to get up close to the action

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Skippers are briefed shortly before the uarter- nals get underway.

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Paul Campbell-James’s Dream Team took the scalps of three Tour Card olders in the ualifying sessions however it wasn’t enough for him to progress.

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Bruni on the rampage again.

Going into the nal in Korea, Bruni Racing looked a good bet for a second Tour victory.

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“It’s times like these where you feel most sorry for your opponent when you win,” said ansen. “Mathieu was in front more times when the races were abandoned but we also had races cancelled where we were in front. We’re very glad to be in the semi-finals.”

Two-time Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams made a hasty exit from the semis at the hand of Bjorn ansen, who advanced through to the finals with a straight 3-0 victory.

It was the third time ansen and Williams had faced each other in the semis of the Korea Match Cup, but the first time ansen has advanced to the finals.

“Of course we are really disappointed,” Williams said. “We just didn’t really adjust to the different conditions out on the water today.”

Meanwhile, Peter Gilmour, who had seen off prot g Torvar Mirsky in the quarters, hit the water determined to show Francesco Bruni who was boss, dominating the first race in style. But Bruni answered back with three consecutive wins to end the Australian’s hopes of his first win in Korea.

Finally, Bjorn ansen was named king of the Korea Match Cup for the first time, beating Francesco Bruni in a thrilling finale to the third stage of the 2011 World Match Racing Tour. ansen held onto his nerve as the final went to sudden death, eventually defeating Bruni by three wins to two, while Williams beat Gilmour for third place.

“We love this event and knew we had a good chance to get a result here in Korea,” said Bjorn. “Francesco has been sailing really well this season and we knew we were going to have to sail really well to beat him. To beat him round the course we knew we had to win the starts and thankfully we did that three times in the final.”

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ansen’s Mekonomen Sailing Team were elated to capture the Korea Match Cup. Was this to be the start of a Championship winning campaign

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Portim達o Portugal Match Cup 30

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rit disco ers his A game A

y the time the teams arrived in Portimão for the fourth leg of the World Match Racing Tour, all the skippers, to a greater or lesser extent, were developing their own agendas. Mathieu Richard for instance, was definitely looking for another chance of going head-to-head with Bjorn ansen after the controversial Korea Match Cup quarter-final while his French Match Racing Team mate, Damien Iehl, was keen to have a go at Bruni and Gilmour, who had both leapfrogged him in the Championship rankings during his forgettable Korean campaign, which saw him come in at 10th position. In fact, only ten points separated fourth and tenth place in the rankings, and all the relevant teams arrived in Portimão to do battle.

Damien Iehl’s season was definitely going downhill and he crashed out after qualifying, losing three vital matches in the final session. The quarter-final qualifiers were ansen, Williams, Mirsky, Berntsson, Bruni, Radich, Gilmour and Richard. As top qualifier, Torvar Mirsky had picked Johnie Berntsson as an opponent, which made Berntsson’s 3-2 victory all the sweeter.

The other teams going through to the semis were Francesco Bruni, Matthew Richard and Ian Williams, who beat Radich, Gilmour and ansen respectively.

In the semi-final, overall Tour leader Bruni put on a dominant display, never really allowing Richard to get into the groove on the racecourse. is only slip-up of the morning came when, on course to what was going to be a 3-0 victory, Bruni was penalised for pumping his sails too many times on the final downwind leg. It was an uncharacteristic error from Bruni, who now seemed to be firing on all cylinders.

Facing Bruni in the final was Ian Williams, who was lying a distant tenth on the leaderboard at the start of the event but who defeated Johnie Berntsson in an exciting five-match battle that went right down to the wire. Each time Williams scored, comeback king Berntsson replied, until the deciding match when it was Williams who came out on top to secure his place in the final.

The last time Ian Williams had tasted victory on the Tour had been at the Danish Open, back in 2008, but this, the 100th Tour event, was to change all that. Williams took down Bruni with two back-to-back wins in a wet and wild final. The win shot Team GAC Pindar up the World Match Racing Tour standings from tenth to third place, which, at the halfway stage of the Tour, was a huge boost for the 2007 and 2008 World Champion.

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Wind conditions regularly hit 20 plus knots in Portugal this season, providing spectators with some dramatic match racing action.

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The Portim o Portugal Match Cup is always a popular regatta for sailors and in 2011, no fewer than eight of the nine Tour Card olders were in action there.

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With the wind rising to more than 20 knots by early afternoon, race officials opted to move the racecourse inside Portimão’s harbour walls for the final, creating a fantastic arena for the spectators watching the action from the beach. The short course, combined with the tricky weather conditions pushed the skippers’ boat handling skills to the extreme, adding an extra element for the teams to contend with.

In a bizarre twist, the first match of the final was abandoned when a luffing duel resulted in both boats running aground on the mud. Once racing finally got underway it was Williams who got the early advantage after Bruni mistimed his approach to the startline and was over as the gun fired. With Bruni heading back to the line it left Williams clear to stretch his lead, a distance Bruni couldn’t make up.

With the final decided by whichever skipper reached two points first, the pressure to respond was piled onto Bruni. Both teams went into the second match fired up and there was a big split up the first leg. In a fine display of his match racing skills Williams pulled off a textbook lee bow manoeuvre, forcing Bruni head to wind right at the first mark. The move paid off for Williams, turning his slight advantage into a major gain. Williams defended his lead to the finish line sealing victory.

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Jesper Radich drew rst blood in his team’s uarternal against Francesco Bruni however it was the Italian who prevailed, winning 3-1.

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ualifying in rst for the uarter- nals, Torvar Mirsky picked Johnie Berntsson however the Swede came back from 2-0 down to clinch it 3-2 in one of the season’s highlight matches.

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Stena Match Cup Sweden 34

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Williams takes charge B

y the time the World Match Racing Tour reached its halfway point in Marstrand, the beautiful resort on Sweden’s west coast, there were still only 28 points separating second and tenth position on the overall leaderboard.

The excitement was palpable as local hero Johnie Berntsson kicked off the scoring at STENA Match Cup Sweden with two wins on his home turf, and finished the first day sharing the lead with Portuguese wildcard Alvaro Morinho’s Seth Sailing Team at the end of the first session.

The Tour, however, is all about reversals of fortune and dramatic comebacks. By the end of the third qualifying session, Ian Williams, in the form of his life following his win in Portugal, had already qualified for the quarter-finals with an unassailable score of 9-2 and Bjorn ansen’s Mekonomen Sailing Team was also there with 9-3. Bjorn had been the first Swede to win the event in 2007 and was very eager to repeat this success. Fellow Swede Berntsson was well down the leaderboard at 4-6 and Peter Gilmour was having a nightmare, looking certain to go home, lying in 12th place and needing to win all his remaining qualifiers to stand a chance of getting to the quarters.

Gilmour was lying in second place on the overall leader board after four events, and no-one was about to write him off.

Exceptional sailing on the waters of the Marstrand Fjord not only saw him reach the quarter-finals, but there dispatch one of the most fancied skippers, fellow Australian Torvar Mirsky. With three straight wins, he booked his place in the semis and kept his title hopes very much alive. is opponent in the semis was to be Ian Williams, who cruised through 3-1 against Damien Iehl. Ominously for Gilmour, he had met Williams six times so far in the 2011 season and had yet to lodge his first win. Gilmour was improving through the event but Williams was firing on all cylinders and duly booked his berth in the final with an impressive 3-0 victory over the Australian.

The other semi-final was to be an all-Scandinavian affair between Swede Bjorn ansen and Danish skipper Jesper Radich.

Both had won their respective quarter-finals convincingly with ansen defeating Phil Robertson’s young WAKA Racing team 3-0 and Radich beating Frenchman Mathieu Richard 3-1.

Their semi-final was a tough one to call, with both teams in fine form however it was ansen who prevailed, winning 3-1, to set up a tasty final against Williams. A disappointed Radich managed to refocus quickly to win his petit-final against Gilmour 2-1 to finish third and give his season a fresh boost.

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uge crowds and passionate home support typify STENA Match Cup Sweden.

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Going into the regatta, Berntsson Sailing Team needed a good result to get their Championship uest back on track.

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In 2011, all nine Tour Card olders competed as did a host of all-female Olympic hopefuls in the women’s competition which was raced in Elliot m yachts.

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Ian Williams’ Team GAC Pindar crew arrived in Sweden focussed and intent on taking back-to-back stage victories.

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Peter Gilmour’s ANMAR Racing crew were in the thick of the action and in with a shout of winning the event until they met a resurgent Williams in the semi- nal.

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The Marstrand Fjord provides the perfect natural arena for spectators to get up-close to the racing.

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With racing poised at two wins each, the final – decided by the first team to reach three points – went to sudden death. It seemed the Nordic gods were on Williams’ side as he escaped a penalty call in the prestart and again at mark one. Despite trailing ansen for the first lap of the decider, Williams all but sealed the victory at the last mark forcing two penalties on ansen. With ansen left with no choice but to take an immediate penalty turn his dreams of a second STENA Match Cup Sweden title were fading fast. ansen could do little as Williams passed him and sailed the final leg to victory.

After his triumph on the waters of Marstrand Fjord last year, Ben Ainslie went on to win the World Championship – and things were looking good for Williams to pick up his third World Title after closing the gap at the top of the overall Tour standings. This win moved Williams within three points of second-placed Peter Gilmour and within ten points of Tour leader Francesco Bruni.

“It was an incredible final,” Williams said. “We improved throughout and in that last deciding race, we were racing smoothly which allowed us to stay close to them and we took our opportunity when it came at the top mark.

“It’s unbelievable to come through in that style – to come from behind. The team is new this year, we needed time to settle in so while we won some other match race events before the start of the Tour, we’re now improving with every race.”

And so the World Match Racing Tour departed the fjord and headed for the mountains and the sixth event of the 2011 Championship.

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The ve Scandinavian teams competing in Marstrand weren’t lacking in support but it wasn’t enough to stop Ian Williams’ charge.

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St. Moritz Match Race 38

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elation and relief for Mirsky

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ith five of the World Match Racing Tour’s eight stages completed, the competition was still wide open.

Francesco Bruni was leading the field, with fourtime Champion Peter Gilmour in second place. owever, the impetus was certainly with third-placed Ian Williams following his victories in the last two regattas. The time had come to see who was to claim the title of King of the Mountain’.

Swiss professional sailor Christian Scherrer, who sails as trimmer for Jesper Radich’s Adrian Lee Partners team – although not in this event – helped found the St. Moritz Match Race in 2004 and has since watched it grow into one of the most popular and successful stops on the Tour.

“The event has grown a lot since it started,” he says. “It’s gone from a little Grade 4 event to a world class regatta, part of the World Match Racing Tour with the world’s best sailors.

It’s great to see the development and I am very proud to have been part of the whole thing since the beginning. It’s a really

important event and it’s great to see the world’s top sailors competing on the waters of Lake St. Moritz.”

Ian Williams’ awesome form had not deserted him during the early stages of the event and, by the end of the third qualifying session, he had racked up an incredible 10-1 scoreline to take him directly into the semi-finals. Taking the more pedestrian route, via the quarter-finals, were Johnie Berntsson, taking on French wildcard Pierre-Antoine Morvan, Damien Iehl, sailing against Bjorn ansen and Mathieu Richard versus Torvar Mirsky.

Pierre-Antoine Morvan is a proven talent on the match racing circuit with the 2010 Internationaux de France amongst other titles to his name. e showed that class winning his quarter-final against Johnie Berntsson 3-0 and in doing so became the lone Frenchman to make it to the semi-finals after his compatriots Mathieu Richard and Damien Iehl of the French Match Racing Team crashed out.

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Lake St. Moritz provides the perfect setting for spectators to watch every move the teams make.

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Phil Robertson’s WAKA Racing team in full race mode.

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Ian Williams takes on Torvar Mirsky in a typically tight encounter in the ualifying sessions.

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After only edging into the uarter- nals, Pierre-Antoine Morvan put Berntsson to the sword 3-0.

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Mathieu Richard shares a joke with Francesco Bruni but soon has his game face back on when racing resumed.

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Jesper Radich hoped a solid display in Switzerland would bring some much needed consistency to his season.

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Williams was pleased to have secured a bye into the semifinals after winning qualifying however his team’s break from racing perhaps showed in his opening match against Morvan.

The Brit was not only late over the start line but also carried a penalty from the pre-start after the umpires ruled he had responded too slowly to a luff by Morvan.

Morvan’s Extreme Team Morbihan carried all the momentum and seemed unbeatable, also winning the second match convincingly. In the third match Williams managed to stick to Morvan’s stern until the second mark but by the time Morvan rounded the final mark and headed downwind to the finish he was home and dry.

The other semi-final, Mirsky versus ansen, was an exciting prospect and a difficult one to call. While Mirsky held a 75 per cent win rate against the Swede coming into the St. Moritz Match Race, the last time they faced off in the knock-out stages was at the Portimão Portugal Match Cup where ansen won 3-2, having been picked by the Australian. This time Mirsky made no mistake and carried the match 3-1.

In the end, a count back decided both the final and petit final on Lake St. Moritz. On the final day, heavy cloud cover, light rain, and continual wind shifts made racing impossible. After a series of race abandonments, the Race Committee decided to end racing with no races completed in either the final or petit final.

Mirsky’s win was his first since the Portimão Portugal Match Cup in 2009 and gave his 2011 Championship quest a timely boost. Now sitting in third place overall, Mirsky said: “We’d have liked to race the final and win the proper way but we’re happy to take the win so life is pretty good ”

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Sailors, sponsors and VIPs enjoy the hospitality in St.Moritz where it is second to none.

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Switzerland was represented by two teams in St.Moritz Eric Monnin’s Okalys Corum crew (pictured) and Jerome Clerc (the Swiss Match Racing Champion) Team CER. They both endured a torrid time though, bowing out in the ualifying sessions.

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Torvar Mirsky’s The Wave Muscat enjoys a global fanbase.

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A jubilant and relieved Mirsky celebrates his rst champagne and trophy moment on the Tour since 200 .

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Argo Group Gold Cup 42

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Mirsky in rampant form A

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eading to Bermuda, just one point separated leader Ian Williams and Francesco Bruni in the 2011 World Match Racing Tour standings. The King Edward VII Gold Cup is the oldest match racing trophy contested by one design yachts, having been presented by the King in 1907.

The Argo Group Gold Cup is also unique to the Tour in that it is based on a 24-team format, split into three groups of eight. The top two teams from each group qualify directly for the knock out stages. Third and fourth places go into the rep chage where the top two go on to join the other six in the quarter-finals. The event chose to race in this format after the organisers decided it was vital to give young aspiring sailors every opportunity to make a name for themselves on the match racing circuit by qualifying for the knock-out stages of a pedigree event like the Argo Group Gold Cup. “Bermuda gives young sailors the opportunity to take part in a world class event,” says event Chairman and former Royal

Bermuda acht Club Commodore Brian Billings. “It gives them the opportunity to compete with the world’s best and increase their rankings.”

Although there was much excitement in the qualifying sessions as young wildcards dished out the odd bloody nose to professional Tour Card olders, at the end of the day the results ran largely to form and the quarter-final spots were occupied as follows: Ian Williams versus Phil Robertson, Johnie Berntsson versus the Fin, Staffan Lindberg and his Alandia Sailing Team, Torvar Mirsky’s The Wave Muscat versus Jesper Radich and Francesco Bruni versus Mathieu Richard’s French Match Racing team.

The major upset of the quarter-finals was delivered by Phil Robertson who handed down a 3-0 drubbing of Tour leader Ian Williams, thereby keeping the Championship well and truly alive, as his nearest rivals, Francesco Bruni and Torvar Mirsky, both proceeded into the semi-finals along with Jesper Radich.

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Eric Monnin set out to improve on the fourth place he secured in Bermuda back in 2010.

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Ian Williams steers his boat downwind as his crew works tirelessly to maximise boat speed downwind.

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The Royal Bermuda acht Club provides a stunning setting for spectators to watch the racing and feel the excitement of a Tour event.

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The 2011 Argo Group Gold Cup was the perfect advert for match racing consistent wind, a stellar line up of tenacious, dedicated and passionate match racers, and all against a stunning island backdrop.

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Later, looking back over the season, Ian Williams said: “We had a bad time in Bermuda. I’d had an Extreme 40 regatta the week before and it’s hard to imagine anything more different from an 40 than an IOD. We missed the practice session and I had jet lag we just never got into our stride.” On the bright side, of course, from the point of view of the Tour this was a great result allowing the competition to go down to the wire.

As always, there was a lot riding on the outcome of the Argo Group Gold Cup. Johnie Berntsson needed to rise from his current ninth position to qualify for the Monsoon Cup – a win would put him into fifth place; if Bruni could win, he would go into the Monsoon tied with Williams. In the event, Berntsson completed a 3-1 win to face Mirsky, who defeated Robertson 3-0, in the final.

At the start of the Argo Group Gold Cup, Mirsky and Berntsson were even on head-to-head wins this season and it took a decider in the finals to separate them. A poor start from Berntsson gave the advantage to Mirsky who put in a series of classic match racing defence moves to deny Berntsson the lead. Mirsky continued to pick the shifts perfectly and built an unassailable lead to take the match and the 2011 Argo Group Gold Cup. Phil Robertson succumbed 0-2 in the petit final to cede third place to Francesco Bruni, but this setback was compensated by his becoming the first recipient of the Jordy Walker Trophy, in memory of the legendary Bermudan who brought modern match racing to the world. Phil Robertson received the trophy for becoming the most improved young sailor on the Tour.

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The uarter- nal draw is made and the business end of the event beckons with vital Championship points up for the taking.

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Mekonomen Sailing Team’s Phillip Kai Guhle trimming the headsail in the heat of action.

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Bermuda has proved to be a happy hunting ground for Johnie Berntsson, who won here in 200 .

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A sea of Optimist dinghys skillfully skippered by the world’s nest young match racing talent is a sight to behold as the RenRe Jr. Gold Cup gets underway in amilton arbour.

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A dramatic sudden-death win against Johnie Berntsson seals a second consecutive victory for Torvar Mirsky as the Tour heads towards its nale event.

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Monsoon Cup 46

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Pain for erntsson glory for Williams

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ith six points separating the top three teams going into the Monsoon Cup, the situation could hardly have been tighter. Ian Williams, just out in front, had not had a great time in the knock-out stages of the last two regattas and was understandably wary of the team that had won both those regattas, Torvar Mirsky’s The Wave Muscat.

Meanwhile Francesco Bruni, at 0.2 points ahead of Mirsky, had gone off the boil a bit since his win in Germany, but was still a man to beat.

“We’ve sailed Bruni and Mirsky a lot over the past few years,” said Williams before the event. “We know them well and, while every team have their traits – the areas they do well in or not so well in that you may look to exploit – the most important thing is that we focus on us.”

By the second day of qualifying, the leading three teams were in an interesting position. All tied on five points, Williams was in a make-or-break situation, requiring a win from his last race against Mathieu Richard, while Bruni and Mirsky had to win one out of two – but their second races were against each other.

And so, naturally, it came down to their head-to-head. In

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the match, the lead changed no less than three times. Bruni’s decision repeatedly to take the left side seemed to give Mirsky the advantage with the Australian enjoying better boat speed out on the right, the side that teams had favoured all day. On the final run though, Bruni was right on Mirsky’s tail and had enough of a speed advantage to push his nose just ahead of the Australian right on the finish line. And Mirsky’s Tour was over.

Meanwhile, when the going got tough, Ian Williams got going, forcing Mathieu Richard, whose French Match Racing Team had promised much this season but never quite delivered, out of the Monsoon Cup. The other qualifying headline concerned the Kiwi wildcard Will Tiller and Full Metal Jacket Racing. Will qualified in first place, with just three defeats, and picked Johnie Berntsson as his quarter-final opponent.

Every race in the quarter-finals was, in theory, a potential championship-changer. But, in practice, all eyes were on the clash between Ian Williams and Francesco Bruni – a first-tothree contest in which Bruni immediately went 0-2 down. After a break, Bruni managed to pull one back and the Championship fight was still alive.

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B Dato Sri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of outh and Sport in Malaysia (left), of cially opens the 2011 Monsoon Cup.

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Jesper Radich’s Adrian Lee Partners crew strain every effort as they bid to nish the season on a high note.

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Johnie Berntsson and his crew know an overall podium spot is achievable and approach every race as if it’s their last.

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The wind builds, the pressure mounts and the media circle in wait for their headline story as the Monsoon Cup nears its dramatic conclusion.

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In the quarter-finals, each team was allowed to receive advice throughout from their coach. Olympic Silver medallist Ian Barker was Williams’s chosen coach while Bruni took advice from Torvar Mirsky, ironically the very skipper he’d knocked out of World Championship contention in the qualifying stages. It paid off for Williams, who took the advice of Barker to take the right side of the course on the final windward leg despite most teams making better gains on the left all day. Williams extended an early lead to the finish to capture his third point and with it, the 2011 World Championship.

In the end, the other matches didn’t affect the Championship outcome. ad Bruni beaten Williams, he would have been World Champion as the two other matches that could have affected the overall result went his way with Johnie Berntsson beating Will Tiller and Jesper Radich beating Bjorn ansen. But he didn’t.

Williams now joins Russell Coutts, Chris Dickson, Peter Gilmour and Ed Baird as only the fifth skipper to win the World Championship at least three times. Speaking after his victory, Williams paid tribute to his Team GAC Pindar crew of Bill ardesty, Mal Parker, Gerry Mitchell and Matt Cassidy: “It feels fantastic to have won our third World Title We’ve had a really strong season – we won two regattas heading into the Monsoon Cup which is the most we’ve won in a season and we felt really strong as a team. They are fantastic and we can’t manage without any one member. “

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Every match was a potential Championship changer with Torvar Mirsky and Francesco Bruni at the very heart of it.

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Will Tiller and his Full Metal Jacket Racing team were in sublime form, ualifying for the uarter- nals in rst place.

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The World Match Racing Tour’s broadcast centre captures all the action and beams it to fans around the world.

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The Monsoon Cup is a focal event in the year for thousands of local children.

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Ian Williams and his team show their dominance to proudly hold aloft both the Monsoon Cup and the new 2011 ISAF Match Racing World Championship trophy.

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ohnie erntsson A

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This was a de ning season for Johnie Berntsson and his crew.

Awarded with his rst Tour Card, he set out to show exactly why.

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Berntsson prefers to keep his emotions in check during races so he can channel his energy into his manoeuvres and team calls.

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Berntsson endured a tough time in 2010 with an ever-changing team. e introduced a tighter team selection system in 2011 and it paid dividends.

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t 38 years old when the 2011 Tour started, Johnie Berntsson was not young for a debutant cardholder, but he brings with him a different approach to the World Match Racing Tour than that evinced by the young guns.

“All the crew except one guy have professional jobs or consultancies outside sailing,” says the Swede. “I work as a project leader and consultant manager for computer systems in health care – although now, of course, we are taking more time off for sailing.”

Because of the diversity of its members, the set-up of Johnie’s team is different. There are two crew members for each position – except helm – which allows them to exercise their outside interests. owever, that means getting the crew together to practice and decide who fits best with whom takes a some time.

“At the beginning we didn’t get the results,” he says. “But we felt we were going in the right direction and a lot of races could have gone either way, so we thought let’s carry on.’

And then we started to get the results – we started to feel confident with it.

“As a team, we have really high motivation. This is where we collect energy – we don’t put our energy into sailing, we get energy from it. It’s hard to keep energy levels high doing the same thing day after day, every week, every month – you see good sailors being really good one year, then it drops off – we don’t have this challenge in the way that the others do. Of course, you need to have skills as well, but motivation is very, very important.”

Second place in the season’s finale, the Monsoon Cup, where 1.5 times the standard event points are awarded, was the icing on the cake for Johnie and his team but it followed solid performances throughout the season.

“We were very happy with the season,” he concludes. “It was the first time we had done the whole Tour and we put up the goal of being in the top three within three years and, hopefully, going on to number one. So to get third place in one year is just great.”

We don’t put our energy into sailing, we get our energy from it. Of course, you need to have skill but motivation is very, very important. ohnie

”

erntsson

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Francessco runi A

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Francesco Bruni and his team showed their true pedigree in 2011. With a Tour Card, they came so close to being the rst Italian team to win the ISAF Match Racing World Championship.

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Francesco Bruni wore his winning Match Race Germany cap at every remaining event, believing it was a lucky omen.

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A jubilant Bruni Racing team are all smiles in Germany after a resounding victory.

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rancesco Bruni received his Tour Card in 2010 and finished in a very creditable seventh place, having found his way onto the podium in Match Race France – the first event – but never improving on that third position. At 38 years old, Francesco was hardly a novice, having competed in three Olympic Games: in Laser in 1996, 49er in 2000 and Star in 2004, and having been runner-up in the World Championships of both the Farr 40 and TP52 classes This year he started the season determined to improve on the 2010 performance and, though he failed to make the semifinals in Marseilles, he achieved the most significant boost in Match Race Germany, where he recorded his first Tour regatta win. e then proceeded to the finals of the next two events, losing out to Bjorn ansen in Korea and Ian Williams in a spectacular event at Portimão, Portugal.

Just when things were set fair for Francesco to carry all before him, he was bundled out of STENA Match Cup Sweden with no points, coming twelfth, and then only managed eighth place in Switzerland, bringing him right back into the pack.

Francesco winning the petit final in Bermuda, while Ian Williams, the Tour leader, had been bundled out of the quarters

by Phil Robertson, set up the Monsoon Cup for a grandstand finish. It was what match promoters can generally only dream of, with Mirsky, Bruni and Williams all capable of winning the Championship and very little separating the other Tour Card olders.

The qualifying match between Torvar Mirsky and Francesco Bruni was a classic; Tour Director Craig Mitchell takes up the story: “For tension and drama the round robin match between Bruni and Mirsky at the Monsoon Cup where the winner advanced to continue their World Championship dream and the loser was bounced out of the competition was second to none. eartbreak for Mirsky who was leading halfway down the last leg but got pipped at the post by a jubilant Bruni.”

And, of course, Williams took him in the quarter-final and Bruni finished second in the Championship. But no-one can feel safe with Francesco Bruni breathing down his neck.

We had a great season and performed really well overall. We can be happy with that but we can’t hide our disappointment. We were so close.

Francesco

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runi

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Peter Gilmour A

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A series of ne performances in 2011 kept Peter Gilmour in the running for a fth World Championship. e remains one of the world’s most revered and feared sailors, and sits rmly in any who’s who of sailing.

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ANMAR Racing’s match race style is consistently slick and well tuned. Coupled with a winning mindset, it’s little wonder why they are seldom picked in the knock-out stages of an event.

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Gilmour boasts an impressive trophy cabinet but is still eager to achieve more with his ANMAR Racing crew.

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e is the doyen – and, indeed, the President – of the World Match Racing Tour; the journalistic profession has run out of superlatives when writing of Peter Gilmour. e was starting helm for Kookaburra in Kevin Parry’s unsuccessful defence of the America’s Cup – and, incidentally, Western Australia Sportsman of the ear – in 1987, around the time that Torvar Mirsky was being born. e has gone on to participate in a further four America’s Cup teams, culminating in Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi Team. e competed in his first World Championship at the age of 16, has sailed and raced everything from dinghies to maxis and taken part in every race worthy of the name. e is the only person to have been ISAF Match Racing World Champion on four occasions, dating back to 1990. is knowledge of match racing is legendary and he is credited with being pivotal in the decision to introduce on-the-water umpiring during the Australian trials to select the America’s Cup defender.

Gilmour hasn’t won the Tour since 2006, which is quite a

long time for him, and it looked at the start of the season, as if he thought that five years was long enough. uarter-finalist in France, finalist in Germany, semi-finalist in Korea and quarters again in Portugal and Sweden made him one of the favourites in Bermuda he didn’t compete in St Moritz .

“Peter Gilmour had a good season right up until Bermuda,” says Jim O’Toole. “It was a big surprise when he went out in the qualifying round. e was right up there with a serious chance of winning. e just got caught out on the last day of qualification; it was a shock all round, because those boats really suit him and he was going so well.”

In fact, Gilmour, who is a three-time Gold Cup winner, had a bad couple of days, culminating in being eliminated after the loss to Johnie Berntsson on a penalty for sailing into a buoymarked keep-away’ zone.

A bad day at the office, but the season shows that the maestro can still have mastery.

The racing was tighter than ever this year, everyone had game plans and generally just sailed better. We’ll be bigger and better next year.

”

Peter Gilmour

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amien ehl A

A

Damien Iehl and his French Match Racing Team made the best possible start to their 2011 campaign on their home waters in Marseille.

A

B

A

Iehl’s team was desperate for form by the time they arrived in Bermuda. They fared no better there though, bowing out in the ualifying session.

B

Early season, Iehl’s French Match Racing Team were high on con dence with the bigger prize front of mind.

“

t

o come ninth overall in one’s debut year as a Tour Card older on the World Match Racing Tour is nothing to be ashamed of, but the start of the campaign promised so much more for the skipper of French Match Racing Team, who had won Match Race Germany in 2008 to justify his award of a Tour Card.

Damien Iehl’s Marseilles victory, his second on the World Match Racing Tour, capped a week in which he had been in majestic form, first by qualifying in second position, then defeating 2003 Tour Champion Jesper Radich 3-1 in the semifinals and, finally, beating Bernard Pac in the first all-French final on the tour since 2007.

Commenting on his win at the time, Damien said: “It has been a tense week but to win the event here is perfect. It’s a reward for all the hard work we’ve been doing over the last six years. We feel it’s our time now. We know Mathieu Richard

won Match Race France last year but didn’t win the Tour, so winning it is our objective now.”

Match racing is a matter of inches, of instant judgements and hairline decisions. Unfortunately, the rest of the season did not go Damien Iehl’s way and he failed to make it onto the podium again.

Commenting on Damien’s season, Tour Director Craig Mitchell says: “It was a tough year for Iehl as it all went downhill from a spectacular start with the win in France. I don’t think there was any one reason for this. e sailed well during qualifying at many events but got caught on the wrong side of a quarter-final pick in Germany, lost a tie break in Portugal, got knocked out in the quarter-final by the winner of Sweden. “ e just didn’t catch the break he needed to turn the year around. A lot of match racing is in the head and a losing streak can be hard to break. e’ll come back having learned a lot this year and is capable of getting onto the podium as he proved in France.”

Results suggest we heavily under performed after France but we were in amongst it, we just didn’t finish off a few of the must-win matches.

”

Damien ehl

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or ar Mirs y A

A

Torvar Mirsky started the 2011 season as one of the hot favourites, a tag he was desperate to live up to.

A

B

A

Mirsky’s calm onshore persona belies the ery competitor he turns into in the heat of a race.

B

The crew from The Wave Muscat have nurtured their talents together and showed that strong team bond when the chips were down at various times in 2011.

“

t

orvar seems to have been around for so long now, achieved so much and handles his team with such maturity that it’s hard to remember that he is still only 25 years old. Although, as he admits, “a bit of a rollercoaster”, 2011 was the year when Torvar Mirsky learned to win, converting two of the three semi-finals he reached into regatta victories. That was in stark contrast to 2010, when he made the semi-final six times and the final three times but, as he said at the time, “We never really converted to winning the regatta. We’ve just got to concentrate on keeping our composure all the way through to the end of the event.”

There was much expectation riding on the Australian in 2011 after his superb performance in the previous year but, after winning the petit final in Marseilles, he didn’t see the podium again until St Moritz.

“After the distractions at the beginning of the season,” says Tour CEO Jim O’Toole, “under which his performance suffered,

Torvar proceeded to get stronger as the season progressed with back-to-back wins at St Moritz and Bermuda, which set everything up for a wonderful finale.”

It was not to be. “Unfortunately,” continues O’Toole. “Torvar fell foul of the round robin system in qualifying. ou have to win the matches you have to win. And he didn’t.”

“I felt our team was sailing very well,” says Torvar. “But we came into the event in Malaysia with some of them a bit rusty because of other commitments, so we failed a little bit because other teams were able to put a bit more emphasis on the Monsoon Cup. It hurt us and it was a pretty cut-throat event in the style of racing and the competitiveness.”

“I love sailing and I love competing at a high level,” Torvar continues. “It finished on a bit of a sour note, because we’d had a blast all season and we thought we should have done better.

But, largely thanks to the Tour, we feel we are a firm part of the sailing world now.”

Largely thanks to the Tour, we feel we are a firm part of the sailing world now.

”

tor ar Mirsky

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esper Radich A

0A

For match racing a cionados, Jesper Radich was a good tip for the 2011 World Championship after showing considerable mettle and skill in 2010.

A

B

1A

Radich mustered an experienced crew to try and challenge for the 2011 title.

Some, like him, had World Championship winning campaigns under their belts.

1B

Jesper Radich introduces his crew to hospitality guests at Match Race Germany.

“

was frustrated not doing better after such a strong season in 2010,” says Denmark’s Jesper Radich, following his sixth place in 2011. “I took a risk putting a completely new team together and I guess it takes a little longer to get going together than you’d expect. The team I brought together in 2010 was not a team I’d spent a lot of time with, but I knew these guys individually really well, they were all from my sailing club and we’d grown up match racing together some of the guys from 2010 were not professional sailors – they were like good club sailors.

But it was still a risk to put a completely new crew together for 2011 and we definitely had some challenges during the season ” Jesper started the campaign with a fourth in Marseilles: “I felt pretty confident and good after France,” he says. “I thought we had performed well, except for the last day. We took out Bruni 3-0 in the quarters and we were very strong

against Damien in the first part of the semis. Then, on the last day, we had a little bit of light, uky wind and it wasn’t our day. We lost all our matches on the last day and you can’t do that when you’re in the semis. We lost the semis then went on to lose the petit But I still felt confident.

“Then our next good regatta didn’t come till Sweden.”

Jesper won the World Match Racing Tour in 2003, sailing with a lot of old mates from Denmark, which put him on the map. e had the next season as tactician on a maxi – as an amateur – and then had a call from Spanish America’s Cup team to say they’d like him to do a test sail. e went down there in March 2005 and didn’t leave again. e’s been professional since then.

Third in the Monsoon Cup gave him a high note on which to finish 2011. “I thought that was the highest level of racing and it’s the kind of boat that I normally have quite a hard time sailing well,” he says.

It was a risk to put a completely new crew together for 2011 and we definitely had some challenges.

I was frustrated for not doing better after such a strong season in 2010.

”

esper Radich

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Mathieu Richard A

2A

Mathieu Richard is always a picture of concentration when going head-to-head out on the water.

A

B

3A

Mathieu Richard on his way to a fth place nish at the Argo Group Gold Cup.

3B

Richard’s team will surely have another stab at the title that has so narrowly alluded them.

“

H

aving fought for the title so hard in 2010,” says Mathieu Richard, “we really didn’t expect such a bad year as this one.” And it is true, by his high standards, tenth place overall was a sad comedown from the previous year, which saw Ben Ainslie snatch the Championship away from him in Malaysia. Mathieu also led a team in the RC44 series. Did this contribute to his fall from grace “It’s one of the reasons, but it is not an excuse,” he says.

“There were other teams doing a lot outside the Tour but having good races anyway.”

Now 35, Mathieu has been sailing at the highest level for so long now it is a surprise to discover that he only became a full-time professional in 2010. “Previously, I kept my job as a PE teacher while doing the sailing,” he says. “So it is quite new to me.” aving said that, he was skipper of a crew ten years ago on the Tour de France, and he agrees that he has always found

the management side of running a team very interesting. “ ou soon learn it’s not all about sailing,” he says.

Although second place to tenth looks like a sharp descent, Mathieu is by no means in despair.

“This year was very close,” he says. “Going into the Monsoon Cup, Williams, Mirsky and Bruni were a little bit ahead, but from fourth to tenth it was very, very close. So we knew that if we did well in the Monsoon Cup we could at least come fifth or even might jump onto the podium. Everything was open until the end; the results were very bad, that’s obvious, but I don’t think that the results re ect exactly what happened in the season.

As so often in match racing – for everyone – many times we were so close – maybe on the wrong side of the decision. In 2010, when it was very close and a bit of luck could make the difference, I think we had that little bit of luck. It’s part of sport, but it was tough this year.”

We reached the quarter-finals in every event leading up to the Monsoon Cup but we lost at the next stage in tight matches. It’s pretty much the opposite of last year.

”

Mathieu Richard

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caption here

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Phil Ro ertson A

A

Phil Robertson’s WAKA Racing team were a popular Tour Card choice amongst sailing fans in 2011. Despite strong nishes in Germany and Bermuda, he endured a slight baptism of re though at the hands of the world’s best match racers.

A

B

A

Robertson shows a steely determination when in race mode and, despite mixed fortunes this season, he showed on many occasions just how tough an opponent he is.

B

Robertson’s WAKA Racing team learnt plenty about competing on the world’s premier professional sailing series in 2011 and will be a team to watch out for in 2012.

“

P

hil fronts WAKA Racing, a tightknit team of eager young Kiwis who joined the Tour for the first time this year and emerged in a very creditable eighth position.

“The step up to World Tour level made it different for us in 2011,” says Phil. “It was a bigger step than we expected and we certainly learned a lot. It was a good process because some of our weaknesses were highlighted to ourselves, so it was good – and we’ve got a lot of stuff to work on.”

At 22, the youngest skipper on the Tour, Phil has made sailing his life since the age of ten, when he started racing competitively. e rapidly progressed through the New ealand yachting scene, racing in all New ealand’s dinghy classes at a very high level, achieving great results throughout. At 16 he joined the Royal New ealand acht Squadron’s outh Training Programme, which specialises in keelboat match racing and met the members of WAKA Racing he did not already know.

“We’re all from the same club,” he says. “James Williamson , Garth Ellingham and I have been sailing together since we were about 12. It’s really good to have a core bunch of guys and you all know each other, so a fifth person can just slot in easily.”

World Match Racing Tour CEO Jim O’Toole is full of praise for the young Kiwi and his team.

“They did extremely well,” he says. “They were doing the hard yards with their first year on Tour but they learned quickly.

They finished with a couple of good regattas which brought them up from a dodgy mid-season.”

Phil and his team were very active on a broad sailing front.

“We did a lot of professional sailing around Europe and the UK last year,” he says. “Towards the end of the year we joined up with the Chinese America’s Cup team and spent a couple of months with them on the AC45. We had a ball and loved that kind of sailing – it’s all like a dream becoming reality.”

We did a lot of professional sailing last year [when we also] joined up with the Chinese America’s Cup team.

It’s all like a dream becoming reality.

”

Phil Robertson

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an

illiams A

A

With Ben Ainslie concentrating his efforts on the Olympics, it was left to Ian Williams to fly the flag for Britain this season on the Tour.

A

B

A

This season, Ian Williams rediscovered the poise and determination that led him to back-to-back victories in 200 200 .

B

A strong team bond, cemented by the return of tactician Bill ardesty, proved too much for Team GAC Pindar’s arch rivals.

“

an Williams became ISAF Match Racing World Champion at the Monsoon Cup in 2011. This was the third time he had won the title – he won previously in 2007 and 2008 – and showed him as the pre-eminent match racer he has always promised to be.

“We’ve had a very successful season,” says Ian, and proceeds to analyse it in typical fashion. “If you look at the year, we made the semi-finals in five of the seven events and won three. And the other two regattas we entered as part of our preparation for the Tour, we made the semis in both and we won both. And they were big events – the Congressional Cup and the Open de Espa a – only one level down from the World Match Racing Tour. If you take the year as a whole, we entered nine regattas, made seven semi-finals and won five, which is a remarkable return.”

Not surprisingly, Ian is a great supporter of match racing and of supplied boat’ racing. “It gives teams a reasonable chance

of doing well on a low budget,” he says. “This is why the World Match Racing Tour is so robust – because teams on a restricted budget can still win.” aving said that, Ian is grateful to GAC Pindar for his sponsorship. “It allowed me to plan properly,” he says. “The start of the season is always the year before in the planning. The programme we put together is absolutely key to success.

“The thing about match racing,” Ian says. “Is that you always have to improve over the course of a regatta, because you are sailing a boat that is unfamiliar to you. This is where the World Match Racing Tour differs from other sailing competitions, where you sail the same boat all year from event to event and hope you start the regatta as good as you are going to be. Whereas with the World Match Racing Tour you don’t; you start the regatta knowing that if you are not better by the end, you’re not going to win. There’s no way you are good enough to win the regatta at the start of it.”

You have to improve over the course of a regatta.

There’s no way you are good enough to win it at the start. an Williams

”

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S AS

P RF RMA C

0

France

9

Germany

12

Korea

12

7

4

Portugal

10

Sweden

10

9

5

ohnie erntsson nationality Swedish Date of irth 11 August, 1972 team Berntsson Sailing Team

0

9

St Moritz

2

Bermuda

2

Malaysia

7

3

Event Standing

Johnie Berntsson’s sailing team came together in 1997 and have been progressing up the match racing ladder ever since. In October 2008, Berntsson enjoyed his second career victory on the Tour when his team captured the King Edward VII Gold Cup. e endured a tough start to the 2011 season when he debuted as a Tour Card older but pulled his act together for an incredible run of form, finishing second in the final two events – the Argo Group Gold Cup and the Monsoon Cup. It was a bitter sweet finish to the season for the Berntsson sailing Team who would have loved to record another Tour victory however it catapulted them up the overall standings to third.

In early 2012, the Swedish Sailing Federation crowned Berntsson and his crew “Swedish Sailors of the ear.” is plan is to win the World Championship within three years of competing as a Tour Card older and if he brings some consistency to his season, he stands every chance of realising that goal in 2012. core crewmembers Daniel Wallberg Johan Barne Mainsail Trimmer Oscar Angervall Nils Bjerk s eadsail Trimmer Niklas Carlzon Magnus Lundberg Pitman Bjorn Lundgren Anders Dahlsj Bowman

World Match Racing tour Results 2011: 3rd 2010: 13th 2009: 13th 2008: 10th 2006 07: 34th 2005 05: 11th

Leaderboard Standing

S AS

RA

Berntson

Gilmour Overall

46

40

ualifying Rounds

51

49

14 55

Finals

Robertson

54

33

51 47

57

33 uarter Finals 29

53 53

Petit Finals Semi Finals

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24/9/12 11:09:46 PM

A

A

R S

S AS SS

P

A

Ian Williams

3 7

11

Torvar Mirsky

2

Phil Robertson

2

Jesper Radich

Damien Iehl

5

4 3

8

4

Bjorn ansen Wins

2

Jesper Radich

2

5 4

Losses

5

2

Peter Gilmour

3

Bjorn ansen

3

ualifying Rounds Wins

uarter Finals

SA

S AS S AG S

P

6 5

0

Phil Robertson

0

0

Jesper Radich

0

0

Mathieu Richard

0

Damien Iehl

4

2 0

Francesco Bruni

3

3

Peter Gilmour 0

ualifying Rounds Losses

R

Torvar Mirsky

3

3

CK

Ian Williams

4

4

Francesco Bruni

A K

3

3

Mathieu Richard

RA ualifying Rounds

A

5

Damien Iehl

4

3

P

Ian Williams

5

Peter Gilmour

5

S AS

Phil Robertson

1

6

GR

2

7

Francesco Bruni

R

Torvar Mirsky

3

2

A F

0

8

Mathieu Richard

1

A

Bjorn Hansen

2 0

Knock Out Stages Wins

Knock Out Stages Losses

SS

Semi Finals

Petit Finals

Finals

2 37

43

9

10

6

6

8

3

0

Point Wins

Point Losses

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S AS

6

France

1

Korea

1

2

Portugal

1

Sweden

1

3

nationality Italian Date of irth 11 April, 1973 team Bruni Racing Team

8

St Moritz

2

Bermuda

2

Malaysia

2

Event Standing

Francesco Bruni has a distinguished sailing background with two America’s Cup campaigns as part of the Luna Rossa team and three Olympic campaigns 1996, 2000 and 2004 . e has also achieved success in the Farr 40 and TP52 classes, finishing runner-up in their world championships.

In 2010, Bruni channelled his focus onto the World Match Racing Tour as part of a strategy to build a top ight match racing team. is team got off to a yer with a third place at Match Race France however he struggled for consistency and form in the final knock out stages. e eventually finished in seventh place overall but that was enough to give Bruni the belief that he could make a bigger impression on the series.

Armed with a Tour Card for 2011, he was one of the key players in a dramatic season and remained in the hunt for the World Championship until the penultimate day of the season at the Monsoon Cup. core crewmembers Massimo Bortoletto Mainsail Trimmer Pierluigi De Felice eadsail Trimmer Pietro Mantovani Pitman Matteo Auguadro Bowman

World Match Racing tour Results 2011: 2nd 2010: 7th 2009: 12th

Leaderboard Standing

S AS

RA

Bruni

William

73

57

68 60

100

Finals

47

Petit Finals

MIrksy ualifying Rounds

Overall

65

2

2

8

runi

6

Germany

12

Francesco

P RF RMA C

44

59

65 50

100

uarter Finals 67

56

67 57

67

67

Semi Finals

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A

A

R S

S AS SS

2

Ian Williams

2

Torvar Mirsky

P

2

5

3

Damien Iehl

6

7 9

Peter Gilmour

5

Bjorn Hansen

5

Wins

Torvar Mirsky

4

Johnie Berntsson

4

7

A K

0

0

2

SA

0

4 2

4

Damien Iehl

2

0

Peter Gilmour

5 2

ualifying Rounds Losses

Torvar Mirsky

5

Mathieu Richard

6

2

ualifying Rounds Wins

P

Jesper Radich

3

4

S AS S AG S

Phil Robertson

4

Peter Gilmour

R

Johnie Berntsson

3

1

CK

Ian Williams

1

4

Bjorn ansen

uarter Finals

A

1

Damien Iehl

RA ualifying Rounds

P

5

Mathieu Richard

2

Loss

S AS

Ian Williams

6

2

GR

Jesper Radich

5

3

R

Phil Robertson

3

8

Mathieu Richard

11

3

8

Jesper Radich

6

A F

1

4

Phil Robertson

9

A

10

Johnie Berntsson

6

A

1

Bjorn ansen

Knock Out Stages Wins

3 Knock Out Stages Losses

SS

Semi Finals

Petit Finals

Finals

0 54

37

9

9

7

5

9

4

2

Point Wins

Point Losses

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S AS

7

P RF RMA C

France

2

Germany

4

7 4

Peter Gilmour nationality Australian Date of irth 25 January, 1960 team ANMAR Racing

7

3

Korea

2

Portugal

2

Sweden

2

0

St Moritz

4

0

Bermuda

4

4

Malaysia

5

Event Standing

Australian Peter Gilmour is one of the most respected and feared competitors on the World Match Racing Tour. e is a four-time ISAF Match Racing World Champion and has been involved in various America’s Cup campaigns, most recently with Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi Team, winners of the 32nd America’s Cup. Gilmour started sailing at the age of seven and competed in his first World Championship at the age of 16. e has sailed in everything from dinghies to offshore yachts, having competed in both the Sydney- obart and Fastnet races but it’s been on the World Tour where he has achieved unrivalled success. is ANMAR Racing team endured a torrid time by their standards in 2010, a win in Portugal the only real highlight. Gilmour rallied his team though in 2011 and was consistently amongst the competition in the knock out stages of the events which gave him an outside chance of capturing another title at the finale in Malaysia. core crewmembers Cameron Dunn Simon Shaw Mainsail Trimmer Thierry Douillard eadsail Trimmer aji asuhiro Pitman Kazuhiko Sofuku Bowman

World Match Racing tour Results 2011: 5th 2006 07: 5th 2010: 8th 2005 06: Champion 2009: 4th 2004 05: Champion 2008: 8th 2003 04: Champion

Leaderboard Standing

S AS

RA

Berntson

Gilmour Overall

ualifying Rounds

46

51

49

54

Finals Petit Finals

14

33 40

47

55

uarter Finals

57

Semi Finals

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24/9/12 11:11:22 PM

A

A

R S

S AS SS

P

A

Ian Williams

1

9

Torvar Mirsky

6

5 6

1

3

6

A F

R

GR

S AS

1

Ian Williams

1

Torvar Mirsky

P

A

3

Johnie Berntsson

Phil Robertson

5

3

Phil Robertson

3

Jesper Radich

5

Mathieu Richard

9

0

Mathieu Richard

5

5

Francesco Bruni

5

Bjorn ansen Wins

3

4

7

Damien Iehl

Francesco Bruni

1

5

Losses

ualifying Rounds Wins

uarter Finals

3

2

SA

37

10

9

Mathieu Richard

4

1

Francesco Bruni

3

Bjorn ansen

5 0 Knock Out Stages Losses

SS

Semi Finals

12

2

4

Knock Out Stages Wins

Petit Finals

1 38

3

Jesper Radich

Damien Iehl

0

ualifying Rounds Losses

1

1

1

Bjorn ansen

RA ualifying Rounds

1

3

P

5

Phil Robertson

3

0

S AS S AG S

Johnie Berntsson

2

9

R

Torvar Mirsky

5

2

Jesper Radich

CK

Ian Williams

0

5

5

6

A K

4

Johnie Berntsson

Damien Iehl

4

A

6

Finals

2

6 0

Point Wins

Point Losses

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S AS

1

5

P RF RMA C

France

1

Germany

1

Korea

10

Portugal

9

amien ehl nationality French Date of irth 30 June, 1975 team French Match Racing Team

3

4

6

Sweden

6

St Moritz

6

11

Bermuda

6

11

Malaysia

7

9

Event Standing

Damien Iehl has an excellent match racing pedigree having won the student Match Racing World Championship in 1997 before going on to compete in the America’s Cup for the first time in 2002 with the French project “Le Defi” and in 2007 with China Team.

The 2011 season marked his debut as a Tour Card older however he brought plenty of experience having regularly competed in the series since 2008. e announced his arrival as a Card older in the best possible style by winning the opening event, his home regatta Match Race France. is French Match Racing Team struggled to emulate that form for the rest of the season but will surely return for another chance to take the overall title. core crewmembers Fred Guilmin Mainsail Trimmer Devan Le Bihan eadsail Trimmer Erwan Vanier Pitman Francois Verdier Bowman

World Match Racing tour Results 2011: 9th Overall 2010: 15th Overall 2009: 8th Overall 2008: 12th Overall

Leaderboard Standing

S AS

RA

Richard

Iehl Overall

ualifying Rounds

53

54

53 38

100

Finals

Petit Finals

56

uarter Finals 39 100

75

25

Semi Finals

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24/9/12 11:12:11 PM

A

A

R S

S AS SS

P

A

Ian Williams

4 2

Torvar Mirsky

2

Johnie Berntsson Phil Robertson

4

6

3

4

5

GR

S AS

Torvar Mirsky

4

2

Johnie Berntsson

4

3

Jesper Radich

Mathieu Richard

4

3

Mathieu Richard

Wins

2

5

6 Losses

uarter Finals

2

6

3

Bjorn ansen

3

SA

49

10

Semi Finals

6

S AS S AG S

P

3

Torvar Mirsky

0

0

Johnie Berntsson

0

0

Phil Robertson

0

Jesper Radich

1

0

Mathieu Richard

0

0

Francesco Bruni

0

Peter Gilmour

0

1

Bjorn ansen

3

Knock Out Stages Wins

Knock Out Stages Losses

SS

1 42

R

0

3

ualifying Rounds Losses

CK

Ian Williams

3

4

Peter Gilmour

RA ualifying Rounds

5

3

ualifying Rounds Wins

A K 1

Francesco Bruni

3

4

A

2

Phil Robertson

6

P

4

Jesper Radich

Bjorn ansen

5

R

Ian Williams

4

2

Peter Gilmour

6

A F

3

7

Francesco Bruni

2

A

Petit Finals

Finals

0

0

0

2

3

Point Wins

Point Losses

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S AS

France

3

7

Korea

6

nationality Australian Date of irth 24 May, 1986 team The Wave Muscat

3

Germany

0

or ar Mirs y

P RF RMA C

4

5

Portugal

5

5

Sweden

5

1

St Moritz

3

1

Bermuda

3

Malaysia

9

4

Event Standing

Torvar Mirsky tried match racing after enjoying a successful youth dinghy background and has never looked back. e has been a model of consistency over the years with a series of podium finishes. e has been widely tipped to win the Tour but had to settle for runner-up in 2009 and third place overall in 2010.

2011 was Mirsky’s year to justify his high position in the ISAF Match Racing World Rankings and to realise his full potential. Capturing only his second Tour victory in St. Moritz his only previous victory was the Portugal Match Cup in 2009 was the fillip he needed as he then went on to win the Argo Group Gold Cup in the very next event.

65 Those wins put him amongst the main Championship contenders of Williams and Bruni going into the Monsoon Cup where just a few critical matches would determine his season’s fate in a thrilling climax to 73 the 2011 Tour.

S AS

Bruni

William

100

core crewmembers Kyle Langford Mainsail Trimmer Kinley Fowler eadsail Trimmer Tudur Owen Pitman Graeme Spence Bowman

World Match Racing tour Results 2011: 4th 2010: 3rd 2009: 2nd 2008: 5th 2006–’07: 21st

Leaderboard Standing

RA

MIrksy Overall

57

68 60 47

44

59

65 50

100

ualifying Rounds

Finals

56

Petit Finals

67

67 57

67

uarter Finals

67

Semi Finals

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A

A

2

8

R S

S AS SS

P

Ian Williams

A

4

7

Phil Robertson

A F

2

Johnie Berntsson

6

A

3

R

GR

S AS

P

A

Ian Williams

A K 0

4

3

Johnie Berntsson

3

3

Phil Robertson

3

CK

R

S AS S AG S

Ian Williams

0

Johnie Berntsson

5

Phil Robertson

3

4

0

Jesper Radich

5

1

Jesper Radich

2

4

Jesper Radich

1

Mathieu Richard

2

4

Mathieu Richard

1

4

Damien Iehl

2

4

Damien Iehl

2

0

Damien Iehl

0

4

Francesco Bruni

2

4

Francesco Bruni

2

0

Francesco Bruni

0

9

7

6

Peter Gilmour

8

Bjorn Hansen Wins

6 2

5

Peter Gilmour

1

5

Bjorn ansen

1

ualifying Rounds Wins

Losses

RA ualifying Rounds

25

50

uarter Finals

9

SA

1

3

4

Point Wins

2

5

Peter Gilmour

1

Bjorn ansen

Knock Out Stages Wins

Knock Out Stages Losses

SS

Semi Finals

12

Mathieu Richard

3

ualifying Rounds Losses

P

Petit Finals

8

1

Finals

2

2

4

Point Losses

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S AS

4

6 0

4

Germany

4

5

Sweden

10

6

8

Bermuda

8

Event Standing

World Match Racing tour Results 2011: 6th 2010: 6th 2008: 17th 2006– 07: 10th 2003–’04: 6th 2002–’03: Champion 2001–’02: 7th

Radich Overall

53

ualifying Rounds

56

56

61

Finals

38

39 100

75

core crewmembers Christian Scherrer eadsail Trimmer Rasmus Kostner Mainsail Trimmer Dave Swete Pitman Nick Blackman Bowman

RA

Richard

54

6 Leaderboard Standing

S AS

Iehl

4

St Moritz

Malaysia

3

Jesper Radich is a Danish match racer who will forever have his name etched in the history books of the sport. After joining the Tour full-time in 2001-2002, he went on to win the series just a year later as the youngest skipper to ever take the overall title.

Like so many Scandinavians, Radich started sailing with his family and moved into competitive sailing as a child in the Optimist dinghy, a popular trainer for youth sailors around the world.

Following his victory in 2003, Radich chose to focus on other sailing interests while still participating in several Tour events each year as a wildcard. In 2010, his focus shifted back to the Tour when he made the 53 podium in all four events that he competed in, his worst finish being third at the Monsoon Cup. e held a Tour Card for the 2011 season in the hope of continuing last season’s form and ultimately, to repeat his title success seven years ago.

100

7

Portugal 3

nationality Danish Date of irth 15 August, 1975 team Adrian Lee Partners

France

Korea

6

esper Radich

P RF RMA C

25 Petit Finals

63

50

uarter Finals 27

Semi Finals

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A

A

R S

S AS SS

2

Ian Williams

2

Torvar Mirsky

3

Johnie Berntsson

3

Phil Robertson

P

4

8

9

6

5

6

Francesco Bruni

6

Peter Gilmour

9

Bjorn ansen Wins

A F

Losses

P

A

46

4

1

Torvar Mirsky

2

0

2

Phil Robertson

3

2

Mathieu Richard

3

Damien Iehl

3

Francesco Brunia

3

5

Peter Gilmour

5

Bjorn ansen

1

ualifying Rounds Losses

SA

2 5

Johnie Berntsson

0

Phil Robertson

3

2

Damien Iehl

3

4

Francesco Bruni

3

4

Peter Gilmour

4

Bjorn ansen

1

2

P

Mathieu Richard

3

0

1 4

Knock Out Stages Wins

Knock Out Stages Losses

SS

Semi Finals

11

S AS S AG S

Torvar Mirsky

ualifying Rounds Wins

11

R

1

Petit Finals

Finals

0

0

3 29

CK

Ian Williams

Johnie Berntsson

uarter Finals

A K 1

RA ualifying Rounds

S AS

4

4

6

GR

Ian Williams

3

1

R

1

3

2

Damien Iehl

9

A

6

Mathieu Richard

5

A

8

3

5 0

Point Wins

Point Losses

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S AS

P RF RMA C

0

France

Germany

7 5

8

Portugal

6

7

Sweden

7

St Moritz

Mathieu Richard

5

8

Bermuda

10

Malaysia

9

Leaderboard Standing

S AS

RA

Richard

Iehl Overall

53

7

10

Event Standing

Mathieu Richard has been a key competitor on the Tour for a number of years, finishing second in 2007 and 2010, while he also took third place in 2008. e has sailed with the same team since 2000 and relishes the challenge match racing provides.

Richard suffered heartbreak in 2010 when having led the Tour from the opening event of the year at Match Race France, he was beaten into second at the Tour’s finale, the Monsoon Cup by a rampant Ben Ainslie. is attempts to win that elusive title never materialised in 2011, a season in which Richard never really found his highest gear when he needed it in the knock out stages of a regatta.

Speaking about the World Match Racing Tour, Richard said: “The series is fantastic because the venues are varied and all the events are professionally run and well organised. But what I love in the Tour is the sporting side. ou can’t get to a higher level – every race is against a tough team and that’s exciting for everyone competing.”

10

Korea

3

nationality French Date of irth 5 June, 1976 team French Match Racing Team

0

54

Finals

ualifying Rounds

53

56

38 100

56 39

100 75

Radich

uarter Finals 63

World Match Racing tour Results 2011: 10th 2006-’07: 2nd 2010: 2nd 2005-’06: 9th 2009: 5th 2004-’05: 10th 2008: 3rd 2003-’04: 16th

50

25 27

Petit Finals core crewmembers Greg Evrard Mainsail Trimmer Thierry Briend eadsail Trimmer Olivier erledant Pitman annick Simon Bowman

61

Semi Finals

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A

A

R S

S AS SS

P

Ian Williams

3

4

Johnie Berntsson

7

5

1

Damien Iehl

4

1

Peter Gilmour

9

Bjorn ansen

4 Wins

1

5

4

uarter Finals

42

14

0

Phil Robertson

0

2

ualifying Rounds Losses

SA

Damien Iehl

3

0

6

Francesco Bruni

3

Peter Gilmour 1

3

Bjorn ansen

3

Jesper Radich

4

2

Bjorn Hansen

Knock Out Stages Wins

Knock Out Stages Losses

SS

Semi Finals

9

Johnie Berntsson

0

0

P

0

2

3

5

S AS S AG S

Torvar Mirsky

2

Francesco Bruni

R

Ian Williams

0

2

CK

2

4

1 33

A K 1

1

Phil Robertson

RA ualifying Rounds

A

Torvar Mirsky

ualifying Rounds Wins

Losses

P

4

Peter Gilmour 3

5

S AS

Damien Iehl

11

3

GR

Ian Williams

4

3

R

Jesper Radich

3

5

Francesco Bruni

3

A F

Johnie Berntsson

4

Jesper Radich

5

0

7

Phil Robertson

1

A

2

Torvar Mirsky

2

A

Petit Finals

Finals

0

0

2

0

3

Point Wins

Point Losses

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S AS

P RF RMA C

9

France

9

Germany

3 9

Korea

0 8

9

Phil Ro ertson

4

nationality Kiwi Date of irth 13 May, 1987 team Waka Racing

7

Portugal

9

Sweden

9

St Moritz

10

Bermuda

10

Malaysia

6

8

Event Standing

Sailing has been in Phil Robertson’s blood since the age of 10 when he started racing competitively. Racing in dinghy classes for several years satisfied his appetite for competition however Robertson wanted to develop himself as a team sailor which he did at the age of 16 when he joined the prestigious Royal New ealand acht Squadron outh training Programme.

Robertson now fronts WAKA Racing, a tight team of top young sailors who made their debut in 2011 as Tour Card olders. An eighth place finish overall was less than they had hoped for however the team learnt a lot from the experience and maintain their single ambition to be New ealand’s best keel boat sailing team. With a Tour Card secured for the 2012 season, 46 they stand a very real chance of making a significant impression on the Tour.

14 core crewmembers Garth Ellingham Mainsail Trimmer James Williamson eadsail Trimmer Sam Bell Pitman Adam Martin Bowman

40 World Match Racing tour Results 2011: 8th 2010: 21st 2009: 15th

Leaderboard Standing

S AS

Berntson

Gilmour

RA

Robertson Overall

51

49

5

ualifying Rounds

54

51

53

Finals 33

47

55 57

Petit Finals

33

53 29

uarter Finals

Semi Finals

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A

A

4

R S

S AS SS

P

Ian Williams

4

Mathieu Richard

4

Damien Iehl

2

3

4

Bjorn ansen Wins

3

6

Jesper Radich

2

Bjorn ansen

35

40

7

8

SA

P

0

Torvar Mirsky

0

Johnie Berntsson

3

0 1

0

Mathieu Richard

0

0

Damien Iehl

0

2

Francesco Bruni

2

Peter Gilmour

3

Bjorn ansen

3

2

0

ualifying Rounds Losses

RA uarter Finals

3

S AS S AG S

Jesper Radich

4

5

R

0

3

Francesco Bruni

CK

Ian Williams

1

Peter Gilmour

A K

3

3

ualifying Rounds Wins

Loss

ualifying Rounds

4

2

4

5

A

Damien Iehl

1

9

Peter Gilmour

5

P

Johnie Berntsson

2

4

Francesco Bruni

3

S AS

Mathieu Richard

4

1

GR

Torvar Mirsky

4 3

R

Ian Williams

3

2

Jesper Radich

A F

1

6

Johnie Berntsson

6

A

4

Torvar Mirsky

3

A

Knock Out Stages Wins

4

Knock Out Stages Losses

SS

Semi Finals

Petit Finals

2

1

Finals

0

2

5

0

Point Wins

Point Losses

83 WMRT P68-85.indd 83

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S AS

P RF RMA C

10

France

0

Germany

3

illiams

Williams’ story is a remarkable one and goes against the grain of his fellow Card olders. While he started sailing at a young age, he actually pursued a career in Law first, qualifying as a solicitor in 2003. It wasn’t until he took a six-month sabbatical and won two Grade 1 events that he took up sailing full-time. is early sailing career saw him dominate domestic match racing; he claimed the World and UK outh Match Racing Championships; he was crowned Senior National Champion in 1997 at the age of only 19; he added the Grade 2 British Open Championship to his tally; and, then added a second senior UK Match Racing Championship to his trophy cabinet.

The 2011 title was Williams’ third ISAF Match Racing World Championship. e was the first ever British sailor to win the world title and will be looking to match Peter Gilmour’s record four titles in 2012. core crewmembers Gerard Mitchell Mainsail Trimmer Mal Parker eadsail Trimmer Bill ardesty Pitman Matt Cassidy Bowman

World Match Racing tour Results 2011: Champion 2010: 5th 2009: 6th 2008: Champion 2006 07: Champion 2004 05: 22nd

10

1

Portugal

3

1

Sweden

3

7

nationality British Date of irth 26 April, 1977 team Team GAC Pindar

13

Korea

3

an

10

1

St Moritz

1

Bermuda

1

Malaysia

1

Event Standing

Leaderboard Standing

S AS

RA

Bruni

William Overall

ualifying Rounds

65

Finals

73

60 100

Petit Finals

57

68

uarter Finals 44 100

47

59 50 56

Semi Finals

84 WMRT P68-85.indd 84

24/9/12 11:16:16 PM

A

A

4

R S

S AS SS

P

Torvar Mirsky

11

3

Phil Robertson

6

2

Mathieu Richard

4

7

3

Damien Iehl

10

4

Francesco Bruni

9

Peter Gilmour

9

Bjorn ansen Wins

A F

5

4

Jesper Radich

A

4

2

Johnie Berntsson

4

A

2

Loss

Torvar Mirsky

0

Johnie Berntsson

0

4

Jesper Radich

1

4

Mathieu Richard

4

Damien Iehl

2

51

6

2

0

Torvar Mirsky

0

3

R

S AS S AG S

Phil Robertson

3

Jesper Radich

1

Mathieu Richard

1

Damien Iehl

1

1

5

Francesco Bruni

Peter Gilmour

1

5

Peter Gilmour

4

7

ualifying Rounds Losses

SA

9

0

3

1

Bjorn ansen

P

Johnie Berntsson

Francesco Bruni

0

Bjorn ansen

6

Knock Out Stages Wins

Knock Out Stages Losses

SS

Semi Finals

9

CK

2

Petit Finals

0 24

A K

0

3

ualifying Rounds Wins

uarter Finals

A

6

1

RA ualifying Rounds

P

Phil Robertson

4 10

S AS

GR

4

5

1

R

8

Finals

3 8

3

Point Wins

Point Losses

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