Apprentice takes out the Master - Match Cup sweden
In a hard fought battle, Mirsky Racing Team defeated Peter Gilmour's PST in a very long day on the water at Match Cup Sweden. Read MRT's report of the day below.
'Peter Gilmour leads Torvar Mirsky in match 2 of their quarter final at Match Cup Sweden 2008. Image ? Dan Ljungsrik'
World Match Racing Tour ©
Mirsky Racing Team:
After seven long hours on the water, the four semi finalists emerged at last, producing two Swedes, a Frenchman and an Australian.
Three of the four Quarterfinals race offs went to the last race, with only Mathieu Richard and his French Sailing Team displaying true dominance over last year's Match Cup Sweden winner, Bjorn Hansen in a 3-0 upset.
The two morning's races were in tricky conditions as the shifty land breeze struggled to settle in. Apart from Mathieu Richard and Bjorn Hansen's series, all of the Quarterfinals were equal on 1-1 by lunchtime.
We all made way for the Celebrity Race which was hosting the captivating Swedish Princess. After watching the racing and eating our lunch, it was time to hit the water again to finish off what we had all started.
The first team to confirm their spot in the semi finals was Mathieu Richard's French Sailing Team, beating Bjorn Hansen's Alandia Sailing Team. By this stage, we were down 2-1 to our mentor Peter Gilmour, so the pressure was on us to perform in the next two races.
We stepped up our performance and fended off defeat, which was helped by Gilmour luffing us into oncoming traffic and earning himself a penalty. After this race, we had several controversial protest hearings as Gilmour tried to change out of his boat for the last race.
With these long delays, lasting over two hours, we had plenty of time to soak up the sights of the 35,000 spectators basking in the sun. By the time we got to race again, Matthias Rahm and Magnus Holmburg had earned themselves two of the remaining spots in the Semi Finals, defeating Jes Gram-Hansen and Sebastian Col respectively.
Gilmour was refused the use of another boat for our last race, so we kicked off back where we had started. After an intense prestart, we managed to break out to the right side of the course, and were rewarded with a huge right hand shift in close to the rocks which brought us up to a four boatlength lead. We maintained this lead throughout the race, closely covering Gilmour right until the finishing line to bring us home into the Semi Finals.
At last it was time for the apprentice to take out the master, although it was no easy task! We are now eagerly awaiting the semi finals on Sunday, although we do not know who we are racing, we are feeling confident and want to take this one all the way!
www.mirskyracingteam.com/
by Kinley Fowler - Mirsky Racing Team 
Turners Beach, TAS
