MATCHRACE.CHMatch Race Teams

Ben Ainslie wins Allianz Cup

2006-10-31T07:06:00.000-08:00

Photo (c) Allianz Cup/Bob Grieser photo

Ben Ainslie of Emirates Team New Zealand became the fifth first-time winner on the World Tour this season when he defeated Ed Baird of Alinghi in the final of the Allianz Cup Presented by Oracle. Ainslie won the five-race series 3-1, winning three straight after dropping the first.
Facing a 2-1 deficit, Baird got a late hook on Ainslie in the pre-start of Flight 4, but then let Ainslie off the hook. Ainslie tacked to port and Baird tried to follow but lost his boatspeed and nearly got stuck in irons. That allowed Ainslie to separate towards the race committee boat, tack to starboard and take a one and a half boatlength lead onto the racecourse. Ainslie covered relentlessly throughout the match for the series win.
Despite the loss, Baird moved into second place on the world championship leaderboard. His second place finish added 20 points to his scoreline and gives him 40 points total, 7 behind leader Ian Williams who placed 4th at the Allianz Cup. Paolo Cian and Jesper Bank are tied for third with 35 points. Ainslie slots in as 9th on the leaderboard with 25 points.

Состав Российской делегации на Ежегодную конференцию ИСАФ

2006-10-29T11:34:00.000-08:00

НОВОСТИ ИЗ ЖИЗНИ КОМАНДЫ ПО ПАРУСНОМУ
СПОРТУ "ПОВЕЛИТЕЛЬ ПАРУСА"(ЕКАТЕРИНБУРГ,РОССИЯ)

Согласно Регламенту ИСАФ
(Международная федерация
парусного спорта), Российская команда по
матч-рейсу "Повелитель паруса"/"The Lord of the
sail" включена в состав официальной
Российской делегации ВФПС (Всероссийская
федерация парусного спорта) для участия в
Ежегодной конференции ИСАФ с 2 по 12 ноября
в Хельсинки, Финляндия.
Евгений Неугодников, мастер спорта
международного класса, шкипер команды
Повелитель паруса, примет участие в
Ежегодной Конференции ИСАФ в качестве
наблюдателя, представителем Евгения
Неугодникова будет менеджер команды - Анна Твердова.
Сам - Евгений Неугодников, будет в это же
самое время выступать в соревнованиях
2-го грейда в Берлине на традиционной регате
"15th Berlin Match Race 2006", которая пройдет с 2 по 5
ноября на озере Ванси в Германии.
Цель поездки: Официальное
представление команды. Проведение предварительных
переговоров об участии шкипера команды
Повелитель паруса/"The Lord of the sail" Евгения
Неугодникова в соревнованиях серии World
Match Tour (Swedish Match Tour), для формирования плана
соревнований на 2007 год.

С уважением,
менеджер команды
по парусному спорту
"Повелитель паруса"
Анна Твердова,
www.lordofsail.com
e-mail: Lordofsail6@yandex.ru
neugodnikov-sail@mail.ru
+79028766483

The quarter final of our life…so fare

2006-10-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

A special day was waiting for us on Friday October 13, as we had to compete against James Spithill in the quarter finals. We never faced him but of course we were aware that we had a best of five series against one of the worlds very best match race sailors.
The tension was high but bad weather with either no wind or strong thunderstorms made the racing impossible Friday, all races were postponed to Saturday.
Saturday morning, light but quite stable winds from west, if we could have chosen the conditions if would have been like this. At the warm-up every one of us was very concentrated but also quite relaxed.
The first start went to our favor as we could start windward to James Spithill which returned a little too early to the start. We tried to stay close to him upwind and allowed some separation downwind, where we had small gains. Despite that, the match remained close, the distance between us remained stable and we could win this first race.The tension on board increased as we felt that we may be able to decide the series for us.
Followed two very bad timings from my side where we approached the line far too late, we had just no chance for getting back in the game.
In the fourth match our timing was again quite late but we were windward with a lot of separation. At this moment we tried our last chance by trying to cross in front of him sailing along the starting line, taking the risk to be pushed over the line. We succeed and crossed the line less than a meter from the pin end mark exactly at 0 seconds with our opponent behind us. He was a little faster than us upwind but we could again make small gains downwind, so we got the chance to go in a last and decisive fifth match.
In this match our timing was perfect, we were behind trying to push him over the line.
10 seconds before the start we could force James Spithill into a gybe as the only chance not to be over early and we crossed the line again exactly at 0 seconds. We had a comfortable lead of 3 to 4 boat length. He was playing the wind pressures a little better than we did and could reduce to 1-2 boat length, the race was close.
On the downwind we tried again not to make the game too close and allowed some separation.
The tension increased and every one of us feigned to be calm but in fact we were eaten away from the inside.
Nevertheless every decision was taken with calm and was well considered. We knew that the smallest weakness would immediately be exploited by our opponent.

It was only when the blue flag was displayed at the finishing vessel that Simon Brügger, Fabien Froesch, Alain Marchand, Marc Monnin and me could express our emotions, certain now to have done the race of our live, so fare…

Eric Monnin

Team Waldvogel and UBS Alinghi Swiss Tour

2006-09-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

Team Waldvogel from Zürich Yacht Club

We started with enthusiasms our second matchrace at Geneva UBS Alinghi Tour.
On the first day we are in the 2nd position right behind alinghi with 2/3 points We had a good feeling to continue the racing.
Second day there was a little bit of rain in the morning . The wind was came up at 10.00 and we won our next point.
In the following flight against Jordi from alinghi the wind got stronger wind, we tried to catch him in pre-start from the yellow side by passing the startboat. We gybed a bit early and the circling sterted. Despite the wind he lead in for the start and we got in to fishtailing .. loosing the point!

Next race new hope but…
We had another 2 Matches - to bad we lost them. The girls from our club won the last against us. So they get their third point as we, in the right moment to get in the final round which was the ticket for the semis. Good for them - not so good for us but we are gentleman and happy to see them there!
Goooo Girls…….it’s good to see you there....

For us we finished 5th no semis but it’s a good start, next time we will be in the semis….

Georg Waldvogel

OPEN ISAF World Match Race Rankings

2006-07-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

Peter GILMOUR (AUS) continues his unbroken run in the top spot this year, with victory at the ISAF Grade 1 Locman Cup - Elba Island the latest success for his PST team. That win rounded off a completely dominant display in the 2005-2006 World Match Racing Tour, where the Australian skipper ended up with almost double the points of his nearest challenger Ian WILLIAMS (GBR). Victory in the World Tour also meant GILMOUR lifted his fourth ISAF Match Racing World Championship Trophy.

Chris DICKSON (NZL) claimed victory in the other major event in the latest Rankings’ period, beating GILMOUR in the semi-final on his way to lifting the ISAF Grade 1 Portugal Match Cup. That win sees the BMW ORACLE Racing skipper move up five places to eleventh, and he is the only skipper in the top 20 only counting seven of a possible eight events. The other major change in the top 20 sees Martin ANGSELL (SWE) as a new entry at 19, moving up from 26 after winning the ISAF Grade 4 GSYS Match 2.

Aussie One Two
Back at the top, Luna Rossa’s James SPITHILL (AUS) maintains his second place, whilst Frenchman Sébastien COL (FRA) moves up to occupy the World number three spot. Consequently Italy’s Paolo CIAN (ITA) falls to fourth as part of the rolling Ranking calculation, whilst WILLIAMS remains fifth. Russia’s Eugeniy NEUGODNIKOV moves up two places to seven after winning Russia a spot at the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final after victory at the ISAF Grade 2 Regional Final for Europe 1 in Finland.

The other Nations Cup action in this Rankings’ period saw Portuguese 470 star Álvaro MARINHO (POR) win the ISAF Grade 2 Regional Final for Europe 2 in Slovenia. This boosts him up from 205 to Portugal’s highest ranked sailor at 109.

After a strong performance that saw him reach the semi-finals in Portugal, Jes GRAM-HANSEN (DEN) is the highest of four new entries into the top 50, going from 67 to 41 and still counting just seven events. Just outside the top 50, Germany’s Sven-Erik HORSCH scored victory on his home waters at the ISAF Grade 3 Alster Match Race Act 3 to climb from 89 to 57.

PST - Christian Scherrer about Elba

2006-07-19T03:08:00.000-07:00

If somebody says, that we have a very shifty breeze in St. Moritz he has for sure not sailed in Porto Azzurro yet !
We had a long, tricky and not always easy race week here at the Elba Cup with the PST crew. That’s why we’re really happy that we beat our opponent Ian Williams today in the final 2:1 and secured our win of the Elba Cup. Now we have just a day’s break for travelling and then we’re straight in to the Portugal Match Cup in Cascais.

Sebastian Cole new skipper for AREVA

2006-07-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

The French America's Cup team reports that Thierry Peponnet will no longer be skipper and helmsman.
The team spent Monday and Tuesday in debrief meetings to take stock of the team's situation and to prepare for the future in the most effective way.
After analyzing the elements raised in these meetings, and the results of the 2006 Acts, the management of Areva Challenge made the decision to reorganize the afterguard.
A new coach will come on board to take over the preparation of the team and the development of the afterguard. Marc Bouët, coach up through the end of Act 12, returns to his position at the French Federation of Sailing (FFV).
In agreement with the management of the team, Thierry Peponnet, up until now, the skipper and helmsman, will continue his collaboration with the team by placing at the disposal of the team, his experience and competency. This role will be more defined in the weeks to come.
Sebastien Col now becomes the skipper of Areva Challenge and will take on this position when FRA 60 returns to training in Valencia in September.
At his side, Tanguy Cariou and Nicolas Charbonnier will work with the tactics and strategy in a configuration that will be further detailed this summer. Lastly, Jean-François Cuzon remains at the post of navigator.
Over the course of the next few weeks and months, the team will consider the possibility of reinforcing the afterguard with new team members.

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Hard day for Alinghi

2006-06-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

Photo © Ivo Rovira

The breeze was up, but the warning from the weather team was for shifty and unpredictable conditions, for the battle at the top of the leaderboard. The Alinghi Vs ETNZ match, postponed from yesterday, was rolled over to today and got underway on time on the North course.

It was all on in the pre-start; Alinghi had starboard advantage coming into the start box, dominated for the first half, only to be hunted up above the line a few seconds before the start. Alinghi dived back and had a split tack start, heading right 1 second behind ETNZ. The New Zealand challenge took the first cross and led decisively up to the windward mark to round 1 minute 5 seconds ahead of the Swiss Defender. Downwind, Alinghi, playing the light and shifty conditions down the left clawed ETNZ back, to round the left hand mark 45 seconds behind. In increasingly tricky conditions, the two engaged in a tacking duel up the 2nd windward leg, the delta was 1 minute 17 seconds at the mark and as the breeze picked up again into the finish, Alinghi crossed the line 1 minute and 12 seconds behind.

Next on Alinghi’s dance card was Luna Rossa Challenge, also on the North course. With storm clouds on the horizon, Alinghi entered the start box with starboard advantage. They were hit with a penalty and started on the right, Luna Rossa led across by 1 second. A left hand shift benefited Luna Rossa, who drew away to lead Alinghi around the 1st topmark by 26 seconds. Alinghi hauled them back working the shifts to round 9 seconds behind at the gate. Up the second beat, Alinghi worked hard to close the gap, reeling the Italians in to round just 4 seconds astern but finished 1 minute 13 seconds having completed the penalty turn.

We hear syndicate head and runner/strategist, Ernesto Bertarelli’s, take on a hard day’s racing:

“ It was a very tricky day, a lot of wind shifts, big wind shifts, 25 degrees, so more than we have seen so far here in Valencia so if next year it’s like this it’s going to be really interesting. So, a very tough day actually.

We were racing against two very good teams, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge, so the racing was very close and they just did slightly better than us. The regatta is not finished though and we’re clearly looking forward to doing better on Friday and Saturday.

Sometimes it is good to loose, not too often though!”

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Cecarelli on the new +39 boat ITA 85

2006-06-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Giovanni Ceccarelli - head of design, +39 Challenge

Source:www.americascup.com

Soaking up 58 000 hours of research, involving 11 people for 24 months, ITA 85 is not only the pride and joy of the Italian +39 Challenge, but the product of a long and detailed research programme. Chief designer Giovanni Ceccarelli describes the new boat, which was christened at the team base in Port America’s Cup on Saturday night, as highly innovative.

What makes ITA 85 stand out?
"We tested 110 hull shapes and 210 keel and appendage configurations. It was important for us to validate the every aspect and not just rely on the ideas from the minds of the design team.

"We wanted an innovative hull. We started by reading the America's Cup Class rule and saw that there was not enough space on the structural side to develop a significant advantage so we went down the route of the shape of the canoe body and the appendages. This is where our research focussed.”

How much of a risk is there when it comes to the structural issues?
“You have to be very careful when you work with the structure. As these boats have developed, they have become more slender which means that you have to be very careful with the structure of the hull. In this area we have taken some risk but overall we've been conservative.”

How much freedom is there in the rule to be creative?
“The rule fixes the weight, the sail area and the length among other factors but there are plenty of other areas to experiment with. When it comes to sails for example the research is more to do with sail shape.”

How difficult will it be to compare performances with ITA 59, the oldest boat in the fleet?
“Our campaign at the moment is a one boat campaign. I don't know if it will become a two boat campaign. It's not easy to make comparisons with such an old boat but I am working with Luca Devoti to find ways that we can develop the new boat further. In America's Cup the boat's potential performance has to be validated in the water while the development must also continue. On the one hand you need time but you also need money to develop the boat. This may be the limit of our chances in the future.”

Can such an old boat provide any more information to help the development of ITA 85?
“The boat was still a good buy. Remember this was the boat that Alinghi started their campaign with. They invested a lot of time in experimenting with this boat. We modified the appendages and have done a lot of work with the sail plan. We know a lot about this boat.”

Is there any possibility of a second boat?
“Money is not my responsibility, but technically we could produce another hull as we have carbon fibre female moulds. I will also continue to develop the research on a second canoe body. September is our time limit for a second boat. If we have the money we may build a second hull, if we don't we will build a third mast or another keel. But whatever happens, there is already enough in the budget for 12 more appendages and another mast. We can do at least two masts, at least two bulbs, three rudders and three bulbs, for this boat.

When will you start sailing the new boat?
"We will sail the boat from September, but the project will continue until the very last race, which we hope will be a long way off.”

New Team from Germany

2006-06-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the team site, some of them are well known, some will be famous in the future

.....so lets help the new teams.

A few days ago we got an email from Trung skipper of a new match race team in Germany from the Alster location of the European championship this year.

Welcome on MATCHRACE.CH "Team ASV", as you already have a webpage now you just need to go racing and climbing the ranking list.

Good luck

Dear sailors,

I am Trung from Germany, skipper of the "ASV Matchrace Team Hamburg" (short form: "Team ASV").
We started matchracing this year and have lots of fun. With our homepage we want to introduce ourselves to the scene.

Regards

Trung Huynh
ASV Matchrace Team Hamburg

New ranking is out

2006-06-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

Source: www.sailing.org

Even before the victory at the ISAF Grade 1 Match Race Germany, Peter GILMOUR (AUS) had already ensured that he would take his third consecutive World Match Racing Tour Championship and along with it claim the title of ISAF Match Racing World Champion for the fourth time. Such has been the Australian’s dominance on the Tour this year he has wrapped things up before the final event has even begun.

GILMOUR’s dominance on the Tour standings has been mirrored by his monopoly of the top spot in the ISAF World Match Race Rankings, which he has now held for five consecutive Rankings’ releases since the end of the last year. Just behind GILMOUR is fellow Australian and 2005 ISAF Match Racing World Champion James SPITHILL (AUS) of Luna Rossa, whilst Italy’s Paolo CIAN (ITA) moves up two places to third after a second place finish at the ISAF Grade 1 Roberto Trombini Challenge Trophy.

Chopping And Changing
Meanwhile Russell COUTTS’ (NZL) break from the match racing circuit has him falling back from 4 to 8, and a similar story sees Alinghi helm Ed BAIRD (USA) drop from 3 to 6. As well as CIAN, Sébastien COL (FRA) and Ian WILLIAMS (GBR) are the main beneficiaries, moving to fourth and fifth in the Rankings respectively. Björn HANSEN (SWE) is the sole new entry into the top ten, with victory at the ISAF Grade 2 F I M Match Cup in Finland and third at the Roberto Trombini Challenge seeing him move up one place to 10.

Another Swedish sailor on the rise is Johnie BERNTSSON (SWE), whose terrific boat speed brought him a groundbreaking win at the ISAF Grade 1 ACI Adris Match Race Cup in Croatia. That win helps BERNTSSON climb up seven places to a 2006 best of 13.

Kiwis Impress
Meanwhile Roberto Trombini winner Chris DICKSON (NZL) bursts into the top 20, going from 26 to 16 after a thoroughly impressive debut display in Ravenna. One place ahead of him is fellow Kiwi Simon MINOPRIO (NZL), who rises from 21 to 15 after winning the ISAF Grade 2 Match Race Lugano in Switzerland, to give New Zealand four skippers in the top 20.
Outside the top 20, the USA’s Brian ANGEL climbs to a career best 40 after he took victory at the ISAF Grade 2 Nations Cup Regional Final for North America. Maxim TARANOV (RUS) is another high climber, moving up from 72 to 43 after losing out to Eugeniy NEUGODNIKOV (RUS) in the final of the ISAF Grade 2 Sails of White Nights in St. Petersburg.

The Big Movers
Further down the Rankings, Yasutaka FUNAZAWA (JPN) moves from 131 to 87 after winning the ISAF Grade 4 Minami-Ise Match on his home waters to help give Japan three skippers in the top 100. Elsewhere Jesper FELDT (DEN) makes massive gains to move from 711 to 197 after an excellent win at the ISAF Grade 2 Blurimini Match Race in Italy. Guillermo BAQUERIZAS (ARG) also makes up big ground to move from 479 to become Argentina’s top placed match racer at 179 thanks to victory at the ISAF Grade 5 Campeonato Otono Match Race.

2006-06-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

At the close of Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 11, BMW ORACLE Racing still occupies the top position on the Challenger Ranking with 103 pts.

Sharing this position on the same points is Emirates Team New Zealand, with Luna Rossa Challenge next on 100 points.

The Louis Vuitton Challenger Rankings are important because when the Acts conclude with fleet racing Act 13 next year, the 11 challenging teams will take bonus points into the actual Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robins, based on their ranking.

With the competition as tight as it is, a single point might make a significant difference to the outcome of the Louis Vuitton Cup, so these pre-regatta scores are important to the teams.

Since the Acts began, the Swiss Defender, Alinghi has been the form team, winning seven of them. BMW ORACLE Racing has won two (Act 1 and Act 10) and Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge have won one each.

In terms of the 2006 America’s Cup Class seasonal championship, the current leader is Luna Rossa Challenge on 22 points. The Italian team has been consistent at No. 2 in both 2006 Acts.

BMW ORACLE Racing and Alinghi both have an Act victory and a 4th place finish to their names, giving them 21 points each, but the tie breaks in favour of the Swiss team, so they are currently placed 2nd and BMW ORACLE Racing 3rd.

Emirates Team New Zealand has two 3rd place finishes for a score of 20 points and 4th place.

Team New Zealand dominates opening Medcup TP 52 regatta sailed in Punta Ala

2006-06-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Two Emirates Team New Zealand crews were first and second in the opening Medcup TP 52 regatta sailed in Punta Ala, Italy.

Warpath, with Dean Barker on the helm, won the regatta in a very competitive 19-boat fleet.

Sailing with Barker were tactician Terry Hutchinson, navigator Kevin Hall, trimmers Grant Loretz and Don Cowie. Jeremy Lomas was on the bow and Matthew Mason in the pit.

Second yacht was Mutua Madrilena, with six Emirates Team New Zealand yachtsmen in the crew. Owner Peter de Ridder was at the helm with tactician Ray Davies, strategist Tom Dodson and grinder Jono MacBeth. Stu Bettany was on the bow, Joe Allen in the pit and Tony Rae on the main.

Warpath was designed by one of Emirates Team New Zealand’s principal designers Marcelino Botin‘s design office, Botin Carkeek, and was built in Auckland at Cookson Yachts.

Mutua Madrilena, launched as Mean Machine, was also built in New Zealand.

Emirates Team New Zealand will supply core crew for the two yachts for five more regattas this year.

Grant Dalton says: “After Act 12 finishes in early July we have a full testing programme planned for Valencia. The TP 52 regatta schedule fits well with it. It will help us to keep the crew match fit.

“The results from the first regatta were excellent. First and second in a class fleet of 19 yachts was a great achievement.”

The next regatta starts on July 4, only a day after the end of Act 12.

Warpath’s record for the regatta was: 1, 7, 4, 2, 3, 1, 9 for 27 points.
Mutua Madrilena: 15, 1, 1, 1, 1, 11, 3 for 33 points.

Team New Zealand dominates opening Medcup TP 52 regatta sailed in Punta Ala

2006-06-06T10:22:00.000-07:00