[Source: World Match Racing Tour] As the battle of Britain continued this morning in the quarter final rounds it was Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin that secured his spot in the semi finals. With Ian Williams winning the third match and the scores tied it came to the final match to decide who would advance to the semi final. The match wasn’t decided until the finish line where Ainslie had an outstanding penalty to complete. It was a very close finish.

The other quarter final match saw reigning Match Race Germany champion Damien Iehl (FRA) French Team defeat Francesco Bruni (ITA) 3-1.

The semi finals pitted a fascinating mix of talents against each other, with four time world match racing champion Peter Gilmour (AUS) Yanmar Racing facing three time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin. Where as in the other semi final pairing it was a case of ‘de ja vous’ Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Team found him self in familiar territory as it was to be a repeat of last years all French affair when he chose fellow country man Damien Iehl (FRA) French Team as his opponent.

Highlights from the fourth day of Match Race Germany 2009. Langenargen, 31 May 2009. Video copyright 1080 Media

Ben Ainslie took the first two races in his semi final match, even after clearly losing the start in the first race against Peter Gilmour, only for Gilmour to comeback and tie the score going in to the final fifth match. The racing was tight and Gilmour and his Yanmar Racing crew never gave up they just kept coming back. “The stakes are high and we wanted to win,” Gilmour stated after the racing finished.

The final race was a good reflection of the pair’s whole semi final with multiple lead changes and whenever either team was behind, they seemed to have the tenacious ability to get right back into the race. The two teams were overlapped at both the first windward mark and then overlapped again as they rounded at the final bottom mark, leaving the match wide open until the final windward leg, where Gilmour split to the right side of the course with Ainslie headed to the left. The wind gradually shifted to the right and when they converged Ainslie had a tidy lead which he was able to hang to until the finish.

When asked to reflect on today’s racing Peter Gilmour said “Ben and his crew sailed really well. I think the end result comes down to us messing up a couple of starts. In their first couple of races they sailed really confidently however we were able to pull a couple back and it came down the last race. In the final race they were able to get ahead and stay ahead as simple as that.”

Ben Ainslie beat Peter Gilmour in the semifinals. Langenargen, 31 May 2009. Video copyright Richard Walsh / Match Race Germany

“It’s been a long 10 hours out on the water today. We had some intense racing with Ian Williams this morning and some further full on racing with Peter Gilmour this afternoon.” Reflecting upon why his semi final win came down to the last match Ainslie put it down to two things “We sailed really well in our first two races however this momentum was disrupted when there was a short break for a corporate fleet race. This gave Peter the opportunity to regroup and take the next couple of races. The second issue was exhaustion. In the final match we won the start and Iain Percy did a fantastic job at calling tactics and we just held the lead the whole way round.”

The second semi final, the tasty all French match up of Richard versus Iehl, was also a five match nail biter with neither team willing to lie down and concede defeat. When asked about how he felt about choosing Damien Iehl, Richard said “To be the one to choose is not an advantage. I would not like to race Peter Gilmour but I do not see much of a difference between Damien and Ben.” After four feisty encounters the score was two wins a piece with the two teams swapping wins and the semi final looking to go into a fifth match decider. However the umpires handed a ½ point deduction to Richard’s team as he was adjudged to have fouled Iehl in collision which resulted in damaged to the boats. This meant Richard would have to win two more races to reach the final, as it was first to three points wins, which undoubtedly put a little more pressure onto his team. Although the fifth match was a tense affair, Iehl was able to put Richard away and secure his place in tomorrows final against Ainslie.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Congressional Cup] Two illustrious sailors—Terry Hutchinson and Ben Ainslie—are the first to say the Long Beach Yacht Club’s 45th Congressional Cup is a lot closer than it looks on the scoreboard that shows them with 6-0 and 5-1 records after the first day of racing Tuesday.

But the Annapolis veteran, who won here in 1992 and called tactics for winners Ken Read in 2003 and Dean Barker in 2006, said he isn’t pondering the choice between $30,000 or the keys to a new Acura awarded to anyone who goes undefeated all week.

“There are a lot of good sailors here,” said Hutchinson, who was recently honored as America’s Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. “You could easily go for oh and six tomorrow.”

And it wasn’t a perfect day for Hutchinson’s crew, which like all the others is lodged at LBYC members’ homes.

“The day started out,” he said, “with those five words no host likes to hear: ‘Do you have a plunger?’ “

It did get better. Hutchinson dealt Ainslie, the triple Olympic gold medalist and ISAF World Sailor of the Year, his only loss, by five boat lengths.

Ainslie said, “The thing to do is roll with the punches and keep it going.”

Some had more punches to roll with than others. France’s Sébastien Col, Mathieu Richard and Philippe Presti, currently ranked Nos. 1, 3 and 6 in the world, share sixth place with only two wins each. Richard won the traditional Crimson Blazer here two years ago.

The depth of the field is a factor. Hutchinson’s tactician, Cameron Appleton of New Zealand, said their toughest race was against the U.S.’s Brian Angel, who stands 1-5. Ainslie said Sweden’s Johnie Berntsson—3-3 but second here the last two years—gave them their worst moments, next to their loss to Hutchinson.

New Zealand’s Adam Minoprio, a winner in the World Match Racing Tour opener at Marseille earlier this month, shares third placed with Italy’s Francesco Bruni, a late entry, at 4-2.

With 18 rounds to run through Friday, leading into Saturday’s championship sailoffs for the final four, principal race officer Mike Van Dyke made the most of steady southwest breezes building from 6 to 14 knots through the afternoon on the half-mile windward-leeward course inside the Long Beach breakwater.

Bruni, who wasn’t invited until two weeks ago when a spot opened up, said at the evening’s press conference, “We’re very happy with the sun, the wind . . . and the pizza [delivered to the teams] after sailing.”

Hutchinson was happy, too, after winning only two of his six starts and breaking even in two others.

“We clearly lost our last start to Angel,” he said. “I expect we’re going to have some hiccups on the way.”

But his best move saved the race against Angel, who led the final race going into the first windward mark.

Tactician Cameron Appleton of New Zealand said, “That was our hardest race of the day. He was first off the line and controlled the race. But at the top mark he hoisted his chute a little too soon and we came in between him and the buoy. Then we luffed him head to wind and he had to drop [the spinnaker], and we bore off, raised our chute and sailed away.”

Berntsson pulled off another slick comeback to beat Col by four seconds. First, he cut Col’s lead to less than a boat length with a quicker spinnaker hoist and jib drop at the last mark, and when Col tried to luff him upwind near the finish he was able to break the overlap and bear away to the line to win by half a boat length.

Standings:Round Robin
1 Terry Hutchinson 6.00
2 Ben Ainslie 5.00
3 Franchesco Bruni 4.00
4 Adam Minoprio 4.00
5 Johnie Berntsson 3.00
6 Philippe Presti 2.00
7 Mathieu Richard 2.00
8 Sebastien Col 2.00
9 Staffan Lindberg 1.00
10 Brian Angel 1.00

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] TEAMORIGIN the British challenger for the 33rd America’s Cup skippered by triple Olympic Gold medallist Ben Ainslie will compete on the 2009 World Match Racing Tour having secured the final Tour Card.

Ben Ainslie (UK), helmsman, will lead a TEAMORIGIN crew, that also includes double Olympic Gold medallist, Iain Percy (UK), Matt Cornwell (UK) and Christian Kamp (DEN), at up to 9 match racing events around the world, starting with Match Race Germany on 27 May and culminating with the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia in December. “Since TEAMORIGIN was formed there has been limited opportunity for us to sail as a team. The Tour will allow us to compete at a high level of match racing competition whilst we develop our core sailing team. We look forward to competing on the Tour this year and having a shot at the World Championship. The Tour will aid in our preparations for the next Cup as and when it happens” said Ainslie.

For Ben and Iain, better known for their phenomenal Olympic success, the World Match Racing Tour, as well as a natural stepping stone on their path to the Americas Cup, presents a new challenge for the pair and the chance to follow the progress of these talented sailors throughout the 2009 Tour is a very exciting prospect.
“With the addition of TEAMORIGIN to the teams competing on the Tour this year we are shaping up for a highly competitive season. The WMRT’s commercial platform and television coverage will enable the team to continue racing and continue to build the team profile, as well as contributing towards the solid base they need to build a winning Americas Cup team.” said Tour Director Craig Mitchell.

Current World Match Racing Tour Leaderboard (top eight teams after stage one of ten):
1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/Black Match Racing, 25
2. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team/ French Team Spirit, 20
3. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team, 15
4. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team, 12
5. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 10
6. Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge, 8
7. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza, 6
8. Ian Williams (GBR) Bahrain Team Pindar, 4 points

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: AUDI Etchells World Championship] John Bertrand and his crew of Ben Ainslie and Andrew Palfrey (AUS) have lived up to their ‘race favourites’ tag, taking the Day 1 lead of the Audi Etchells World Championship following two light and shifty races being sailed on Port Phillip today.

Hosted by Royal Brighton Yacht Club in Victoria, racing on the two lap windward/leeward course was delayed until winds finally filled in, finally getting underway shortly before 3.30pm after a general recall, which was repeated in Race 2.

Sailing on his home turf, Bertrand, and his crew placed third in Race 1 and 11th in Race 2, enough to give them a one point lead over Brisbane’s Jason Muir/Matthew Chew/Paul Wyatt (AUS) with a further four points to a second Melbourne crew, Damien King/Simon Cunnington/James Ware/Andrew Butler (AUS).

Describing their day, four time British Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie said: “We got off the line well in Race 2, but got stuck on the wrong side of the course and couldn’t tack. We made gains coming on port at the top mark for the first time and we went right after that, which brought us back up the fleet.

“John and Andrew did a great job of keeping the boat going quickly. We had to really concentrate and once you made a mistake, you just had to stay calm and turn it around.”

Following his third gold medal win in Beijing, Ainslie has been racing America’s Cup style at the Louis Vuitton Series in New Zealand and is now undergoing his first competition in the Etchells. “It’s classic big fleet racing and to get good results is so important. This is a bit of break from Olympic sailing for me and it’s good tactical racing.”

Sydney skipper David Clark, crewed by Andrew Smith and Sean Leonard (AUS) cleanly won Race 1 from Chris Busch/Chad Hough/David Hughes (USA), series favourites John Bertrand/Ben Ainslie/Andrew Palfrey (AUS) after a four-way match race that also involved gun sports boat sailor Chris Williams/Daniel Eddy/Shaun Moran (AUS) who eventually finished fifth after being overrun by 2001 and 2002 Worlds winner, Stuart Childerley and crew from Great Britain.

Race 2 was more testing with winds moving around the dial from 190-210 degrees, forcing race officials to move the windward mark twice. The pressure was up and down, competitors experiencing anything from 5 to 10 knots with gusts up to 12 at times on a relatively flat sea.

Those who did well in Race 1 found themselves in all sorts of trouble in Race 2, including David Clark who dropped right out of the top 10. It was particularly difficult at the leeward mark the first time when the breeze died out momentarily as the bulk of the fleet came to round.

Chaos and cursing ensued, the testosterone flowed freely. The 2004 world champion, Peter McNeill and his crew (AUS) got caught in the melee as they rounded and could not get clear air or boat space to escape. Many others suffered the same fate.

Those who benefitted included the top three placegetters, Noel ‘Nitro’ Drennan, an Australian representing the USA after qualifying there, a Queensland crew skippered by David Rose and a local crew skippered by Damien King.

Race Officials set a two lap windward/leeward course for both races, the windward mark in the vicinity of Sandringham, the boats returning under spinnaker with the city as a back-drop – magic.

Principal Race Officer Ross Wilson agreed it was hard day’s racing. “The crew that doesn’t break, who controls their emotions, will be the ones to win.”

Wilson said the on-water race management team had set a goal of 90 minutes for Race 2 and the bulk of the fleet finished just seconds outside that time.

A fleet of 85 Etchells One-Designs lined up on Port Phillip off the host venue, Royal Brighton Yacht Club. It was a spectacular sight on a beautiful sunny autumn day and was enjoyed by those ashore and the large spectator fleet courtesy of a public holiday.

Race 3 is set to be sailed on Tuesday starting from 2.00pm, weather permitting. Light winds are expected once again.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Ben Ainslie, the three-time Olympic gold medalist and Team Origin helmsman, was in Auckland during the last weekend, racing in the NZ Match Racing Championships, where he finished second, after being beaten in the finals by his form teammate Dean Barker.

The differences between match and fleet racing were the first issue touched in the interview but then moved to the Louis Vuitton Pacific series, the match race event that will take place in Auckland next February. According to Ainslie, Team Origin has assembled a “great sailing team” that looks forward to racing. For him and the rest of the team it’s great to “get back on the water where we should be racing rather than sitting around in law courts”.

Team Origin has a “good mixture” of nationalities -including New Zealanders, Australians and French- but it is still a predominantly British crew with Iain Percy, twice gold Olympic medalist, and Andrew Simpson among others.

As it was expected, Peter Montgomery asked Ainslie to give his take on the current situation in the America’s Cup. For Ainslie it is a “massively frustrating” situation, especially for sailors of his generation that are deprived from the possibility to do any America’s Cup racing.

According to Ainslie, up to recently one “could understand BMW Oracle’s arguments the Protocol wasn’t fair”. Still he questions the motives the American team now has, since in his view “the current offer for a resolution is in some ways better than the 32nd Protocol”.

He sees it as “12 independent teams” coming together, talking and developing a new boat class while “there is one team that doesn’t want to be part of that, stalling the whole thing. That’s BMW Oracle. You do have to start questioning what the agenda is, if there is another agenda hidden”. He has a “tremendous” amount of respect for Russell Coutts and considers him a true legend of the America’s Cup but states that “with BMW Oracle you’re never sure who’s running the show”.

For Ainslie, both Alinghi and BMW Oracle “have a responsibility to the sport” and both teams “look bad” with the legal procedure going on for so long. As a result, the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series will be a way to fill the gap and provide an opportunity to race.

You can listen to the entire 8-minute interview using our standard MP3 player. [Note: If you have problems with the audio file, you can download it here]

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

The following competitors have been confirmed for the upcoming NZ Match Racing Championships:

Dean Barker
Josh Junior
Laurie Jury
Adam Minoprio
Ben Ainslie
Jessica Smyth
Rueben Corbett
Jonathan Rankine
Jan Dawson
Adrian Short
Rod Davis
Phil Robertson

The NZ Match Racing Championships are running in Auckland 26 – 30 November 2008.

The event is managed by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Quick Facts about the NZ Match Racing Championships:

• Open to men and women

• Top sailors in NZ attend; many Emirates Team NZ members have competed over the years

• ISAF Grade 3 event

• The event has run for 22 years

• Previous winners include Ken Davern, Brad Butterworth, Chris Dixon, Rod Davies and Dean Barker

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

The following competitors have been confirmed for the upcoming NZ Match Racing Championships:

Dean Barker
Josh Junior
Laurie Jury
Adam Minoprio
Ben Ainslie
Jessica Smyth
Rueben Corbett
Jonathan Rankine
Jan Dawson
Adrian Short
Rod Davis
Phil Robertson

The NZ Match Racing Championships are running in Auckland 26 – 30 November 2008.

The event is managed by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Quick Facts about the NZ Match Racing Championships:

• Open to men and women

• Top sailors in NZ attend; many Emirates Team NZ members have competed over the years

• ISAF Grade 3 event

• The event has run for 22 years

• Previous winners include Ken Davern, Brad Butterworth, Chris Dixon, Rod Davies and Dean Barker

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: ISAF] Ben AINSLIE of Great Britain joined the list of sailing greats today as he raced to victory the Finn Medal Race at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center to win his third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

Ben AINSLIE (GBR) led today’s Finn Medal Race from start to finish in big seas and a strong 15 knot breeze. AINSLIE’s Olympic tally of one silver and three gold medals put him alongside Valentin MANKIN and Jochen SCHUEMANN. Only Danish sailing legend Paul ELVSTRÖM has won more Olympic gold medals, with the four he won between 1948 and 1960.

Ben Ainslie of Great Britain, sails to the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in big seas on Fushan Bay. Qingdao, 18 August 2008. Photo copyright Paul Gilham/Getty Images

In big seas and a strong 15 knot breeze AINSLIE led at the top mark and controlled the race from there, extending on the upwind legs to take victory and the Olympic gold medal in style.

American Zach RAILEY finished sixth in the Medal Race, good enough to ensure he held on to the Olympic silver medal. Guillaume FLORENT of France won the battle for the bronze medal, finishing fourth in the Medal Race, crucially three places ahead of his bronze medal rival Daniel BIRGMARK of Sweden.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back