Marstrand, Sweden: It was the Australian duo of Peter Gilmour and Keith Swinton who dominated the headlines on day two of Qualifying at Stena Match Cup Sweden – but for very different reasons.
After eight flights of racing it was young skipper Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing who emerged as one of the form sailors with three straight wins in tricky conditions boosting him up to the business end of the standings. But it was disappointment for Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing who wound up at the bottom of the table after failing to bag any wins in what was a frustrating day for the four-time World Champion match racer.
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat, the third Australian competing on the waters of Marstrand Fjord, overcame yesterday’s defeat by local skipper Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team to add three wins to his tally, suffering only at the hands of Portimao Portugal Match Cup winner Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar, the day’s other stand-out skipper.
Buoyed by a win over fellow Antipodean Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing in day one of Qualifying yesterday, Swinton came out firing this morning with a dominant display against Match Race France winner Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team, winning the start and commanding the left side of the course. There was no catching Swinton who opened his scorecard for the day with a big win over his French rival.
The starts were key to Swinton’s success, bossing opponents Rasmus Viltoft (DEN) Team Viltoft and Alvaro Marinho (POR) Seth Sailing Team around the box in the pre-start sequence to gain the upper hand in both races. Victories against both teams shot Swinton to the head of the leaderboard after eight flights, with 13 more to sail.
“We had a great day on the water today,” said Swinton, who spends his time off the Tour coaching women’s match racing in nearby Gothenburg. “We did a reasonable job in the starts, sailed well and tried to stay relaxed. It seemed to pay off for us. We’ve got a great mix on the boat – two Australians and three Swedes – and we mesh really well together. We’re having a good time too which is really important. We’re now just going to try to win as many races as we can. It’s a tough field and we have a lot more races to go so we will just see how it goes.”
Swinton chats to WMRT about his success on the racecourse today in this video.
It couldn’t have been a more different story for Peter Gilmour, who after eight flights had failed to score a win from four matches. Gilmour, currently lying second in the overall World Match Racing Tour standings behind Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni, suffered successive defeats to Mirsky, Marinho, Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team and Mattias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team.
With racing still continuing, don’t miss The Today Show with Hannah White for a wrap-up of the days’ action at www.wmrt.com from 2030 local time (GMT+2). Tune in tomorrow for The Morning Show for a preview of the third Qualifying Session with live streaming on the WMRT website from 1400 to 1600.
Results after the second Qualifying Session Flight 8:
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing 4-1
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 4-1
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team 3-1
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing 3-1
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat 3-2
Alvaro Marinho (POR) Seth Sailing Team 3-2
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 2-2
Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners 2-2
Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 2-2
Phil Robertson (NZL) Waka Racing 2-3
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 2-3
Rasmus Viltoft (DEN) Team Viltoft 1-4
Mattias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team 1-4
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 0-4
2011 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings (After Stage 4):
1 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing – 81pts
2 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing – 58pts
3 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar – 46pts
4 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 45pts
5 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat – 45pts
6 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 43pts
7 Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners – 40pts
8 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team – 35pts
9 Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing – 31pts
10 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team – 30pts
