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YANMAR Racing Team looks ahead to Match Race Germany
Racing for the first time ever at Match Race France in Marseille, Australian
Peter Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing team crew have struggled in the
qualifying rounds in this first event of the ISAF 2010 World Match Racing
Tour.
After the first two days of racing they had taken just two wins in eight
matches, not what Match Racing fans would have expected from the four times
Match Racing World Champion.
Also at risk were Gian Luca Perris (MON) 2-5 and Bertrand Pace (FRA). Aleph
Sailing Team were 1-5. as just eight of the 12 crews would make the quarter
finals.
Flight 12; Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing team were first up against Monaco's
Perris who had started his campaign in blistering fashion, beating the
reigning world champion Adam Minoprio and the British superstar, Ben Ainslie
and his TeamOrigin on the first day of this Marseille event.
It was a tight start but Gilmour led Perris around the windward mark and
from then on was unchallenged and won comfortably. So, YANMAR Racing now had
a 3-6 record. An absolute minimum of four wins would be needed to force a
tie break.
Overall, Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) and Perris were having a bad day and
were now definitely going home; the two to join them would come from
Bertrand Pace, Francesco Bruni (ITA) and Gilmour.
So for YANMAR Racing, a win was needed urgently against the 2009 World
Champion Adam Minoprio. Gilmour had the edge at the windward mark; He gybed
first and Minoprio followed him onto starboard.
Gilmour was ahead at the leeward mark, but Minoprio was overlapped. Gilmour
was forced to tack away, and Minoprio managed to go left, the favoured side,
he rounded the top mark for the second time comfortably in front and went on
to win. Ouch!
Only three wins, with one more race to sail, however there was still hope
for YANMAR Racing, another win could see them in the tie break.
The do or die match was Gilmour versus Philippe Presti (FRA). Gilmour led
Presti at the top mark, but only just. Simultaneous gybes for Gilmour and
Presti, then a huge luff from Gilmour. Presti almost rolled him... but not
quite.
From the bottom mark Gilmour went left, which had paid off so far all day,
but not this time. Presti gained out on the right and rounded the final mark
a long way ahead of Gilmour. The Frenchman cruised to victory.
So Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing team are sent home early, a crushing start
to the Tour for the four-time world champion.
Peter Gilmour commented ashore, "Coming into this event, we knew it would be
tough for us, we have a much better record in bigger boats. However, to miss
out on the Quarter finals in Marseille is disappointing; we are however,
able to take some real positives away from the result."
"All the teams, except for Ben Ainslie have sailed extensively in these
boats. This is our first time in the J80. They are really specific to small
boat techniques and style. It is particularly impressive to see Mirsky and
Minoprio sailing and it reminds me back to my days as a 24 year old in the
Soling!
'We were improving in both speed and technique as the days went on. However,
in my view we need another two or three weeks of work to be up to pace with
the best."
'In 2010 YANMAR Racing will be sailing more events on the Tour than ever
before and we will be back in full force at Match Race Germany, during May."
There is no doubt that this early exit will mean the YANMAR Racing team will
be working extra hard to ensure that their great record is maintained at
Match Race Germany, as crew man Yasuhiro Yaji explained, "Many of our races
in this series were very close, we just needed to be better in some
technical areas."
"However, there is always a way back. We had a couple of bad regattas last
year in Bermuda and St Moritz, but we recovered. Missing the cut here will
make us work harder."
"We are looking forward to sailing in the Bavaria 36 Match in Germany, it
will suit our style. We have won there three times and have made the podium
regularly."
Quarter Finalists
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Ben Ainslie (GBR) TeamOrigin
Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing
Philippe Presti (FRA)
Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra
Sebastien Col (FRA) ALL4ONE
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