6:51 AM Fri 5 Dec 2008 GMT
Race day three in the 2008 Monsoon Cup. Flight reports and results below.
Racing was abandoned at 5.00pm with Flight 17 to be sailed tomorrow morning.
A tense night for most skippers; this last flight wil determine the quarterfinalists at this year's Monsoon Cup.
FLIGHT 12
Wiliams v Col
Ian Williams and Sebastien Col go into this match with an equal number of wins from the previous days racing. They are both on the cusp of quarte final qualification so every match result today will be vital.
The match is off in a soft breeze. Williams is just slightly ahead of Col as they trade tacks on their way to the top mark. Rounding the mark for the first time Williams leads by four boat lengths. Keeping to the right hand side of the course Wiliams used the current to take his boat smoothly to the bottom mark opening up his lead on Col. The breeze continued to be shifty with the race committee shortening the course. Clearly the current was also having a substantial was having effect on boat speed and direction. Tack for tack on the second work Col could not get ahead of Williams. Gradually the breeze lightened off more the decision to tack and loose speed would have been on the minds of each team. A sweet little puff off the left hand shore and Williams opened up his lead again. Round the top mark for the second time and Williams took the breeze and current with him to lead by more than five boat lengths.
Result - Williams d Col
Minoprio v Nurul Ain
Minoprio's starting style will challenge Nurul Ain's Perak Sailing Team. Nurul Ain's results to date do not fairly reflect the latent talent and sheer determination of Nurul and her team members. She claims to be somewhat daunted by the skill level of her opponents. However, this is one team who are prepared to continue putting in their very best in every match they contest.
Result - Minoprio d Nurul Ain
Holmberg v Richard
Third on the World Match Racing Tour leader board, but with only two match wins so far, Mathieu Richard is on the back foot and fighting for survival in the Monsoon Cup. Magnus Holmberg has had a better event with four wins, but with the awarding of a penalty against him for Level C damage to Williams' boat in the re-sail match yesterday, he goes into this match with three wins on the score board.
The race committee moved the start line back towards the regatta venue to catch the building sea breeze. This then moved the start line back into the current which has been a huge challenge for all match starts.
It was a split tack at the start and Richard tacked back onto port to cover Holmberg. Both sailed to the right hand side before starting tacking duel on the way to the top mark. Holmberg carries a penalty going into the top mark. At the top mark for the first time Richard leads within less than a boat length.
Downwind and they are right on each matching gybes. Richard led around the bottom mark leading by more than three boat lengths. On the work for the second time and sailing the right hand side of the course, Richard dominates. Holmberg sailed into a light spot loosing valuable distance on Richard. Holmberg then closed the gap with a wind shift and quick tack, just enough to challenge Richard on the downwind leg. Richard went around the top mark for the second time still in control of the match. Holmberg still had a penalty to complete. A little puff and Richard pulled away to win the match.
Result - Richard d Holmberg
Ainslie v Gilmour
Can Dato' Peter Gilmour and his Yanmar Racing Team slip into the top eight with a solid round of match performances today ? He faces ISAF Sailor of the Year Ben Ainslie, a relative newcomer to the match racing circuit, who has had four wins in this event to date.
Result - Gilmour d Ainslie
FLIGHT 13
Richard v Minoprio
Result - Richard d Minoprio
Holmberg v Nurul Ain
Result - Holmberg d Nurul Ain
Cian v Ainslie
Ainslie was almost early on the start, but a quick bear-away and he recovered from what could have been a bad start. After the start they crossed and Ainslie was ahead of Cian. Ainslie lead around the top mark, but Cian was right on top of him. They sailed downwind on different tacks; an interesting decision by Ainslie not to cover Cian on this leg. The day continued to shift challenging both the teams and the race committee. Back on the breeze the teams anxiously looked for the correct top mark. Ainslie led around the (correct) top mark with a massive lead on Cian as the clouds rolled in and the breeze built.
Result - Ainslie d Cian
Gilmour v Swinton
Result - Gilmour d Swinton
FLIGHT 14
And the rain came - a monsoonal downpour to clear away any cobwebs. Refreshing and challenging for the competitors. This may be time when the tables will turn for Col, Richard, Holmberg and Berntsson who are all facing the chance of missing out on quarter final qualification.
The rain eased and so did the wind.
Ainslie v Holmberg
This is a make or break match for Holmberg. Holmberg lead out of the start and at the first cross on the windward leg Holmberg was two boat lengths ahead of Ainslie. Holmberg opened up the lead by the first time round the bottom mark as he took the left hand side of the course leaving Ainslie to sail to leeward. Another great run downwind and Holmberg took out the match winning by about four boat lengths from Ainslie. At the end of this match Ainslie and Holmberg are equal with five wins.
Result - Holmberg d Ainslie
Nurul Ain v Cian
Result - Cian d Nurul Ain
Berntsson v Swinton
A terrible start for Berntsson as Swinton dominated the match at the start and never let go.
Result - Swinton d Berntsson
Mirsky v Gilmour
For the second time in this event Gilmour hit the start boat during the pre-state sequence against Mirsky. Luckily for Gilmour the match was postponed.
The match started in very light conditions on a very short-leg course. Gilmour started on the pin end on port. Mirsky also started on port to leeward. Gilmour was awarded a penalty on the first work for what appeared to be a noticeably slow tack. Gilmour had to dip Mirsky as they tacked for tack up the work and Gilmour tried to neutralise his penalty. Around the top mark, Mirsky had the lead. Up the work for the second time the Mirsky Racing Team's crew was perfect as they were constantly challenged by Gilmour. Gilmour picked up a big distance on Mirsky at the start of the second downwind leg. Spilling dirty air into Mirsky's spinnaker Gilmour picked up a massive amount of distance to be back on the Mirsky stern and back into contention. On the final work Gilmour needed another half a boat length to take the lead from Mirsky. He still had his earlier penalty to contend with. Mirsky still held the lead around the top mark. Gilmour was right on Mirsky's stern. Gilmour had good speed on the run, but just not enough to take out Mirsky.
PG 'I don't think the penalty was the decisive factor. We thought the left was best, but Mirsky favoured the right, and he won,' Gilmour said.
Result - Mirsky d Gilmour
FLIGHT 15
Still some great matches to come this afternoon with Col, Richard and Holmberg all fighting for the final berths in the quarter final group. Cian, Mirsky and Minoprio are all safely through to the quarter finals.
The start boat has been moved out away from the regatta venue and into the river stream. This will make for some very interesting pre-start incidents and penalties as the breeze continues to remain light.
Swinton v Nurul Ain
Swinton d Nurul Ain
Col v Gilmour
This was a must win match for Col if he was to get through to the quarter finals. With 30 secs to go, Col was on the lead and approached the line on time. Gilmour tacked immediately he was across the start line to clear the committee boat and started looking for better air out on the right. In a current of about four knots, very light conditions and overcast skies, Gilmore and Col covered each until Gilmour made a break after Col sailed into a patch of very light conditions. However the fluky breeze died on Gilmour but increased for Col. Col continued to pull away from his rival and extended his lead in the light conditions. Col just squeezed around the mark, his spinnaker very slow to fill.
Gilmour managed to find some pressure. Col however knew how important this match was, found breeze of his own and around the top mark for the last time Col extended his lead, despite Gilmour finally finding better breeze half way down the leg. Col crossed well ahead of Gilmour to stay in the fight for the Monsoon Cup.
Result Col d Gilmour
Williams v Mirsky
Mirsky d Williams
FLIGHT 16
Cian v Col
Result - Cain d Col
Richard v Williams
Richard was fighting desperately to make the quarterfinals of the Monsoon Cup as this match began. Coming into this event, Richard had every chance of taking the overall title. All hinged on this afternoon's match results.
Very close pre-start tactics from both skippers, each one fighting to stay in contention. Williams remained calm and had an outstanding start, leaving Richard behind and being forced to tack to clear the committee boat. Williams had the momentum up the first leg but as they headed to the windward mark, the breeze on Williams side of the course slowly died, forcing him to tack out to the left. This allowed Richard to get back into the match. Williams then tacked again as did Richard. Richard found the breeze and closed the gap back to 27 metres.
As they went round the top mark both skippers had good spinnaker hoists, but Williams suffered from dirty air from Sebastien Col, who was sailing in another match.
The conditions were difficult, still light and variable, as the skippers headed to the bottom mark. As Williams gibed around the mark it was obvious that Richard had closed the gap. Richard headed to the left hand side where the pressure was building, leaving Williams in faltering breeze.
Richard gained the lead, finding the good pressure and lifting up, increasing his lead over Williams. Richard crossed ahead of Williams reaching the top mark first.
Williams was not about to give up. Williams showed why he is the current World Tour champion, sailing his boat superbly and made huge gains on Richard. As they went round their marks, there was nothing much between them. Richard fought back, found better pressure and hung on to take a very good 'come from behind' win.
For Williams, all now hangs in the balance. He must win his next match against Johnnie berntsson to gain his quarterfinal berth and a chance to retain the Monsoon Cup and World Match Race titles.
Result - Richard d Williams
Minoprio v Berntsson
Result - Berntsson d Minoprio
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www.monsooncup.com.my
Check out the live vision on www.sail.tv.
Asia's ESPN Star Sport telecast each night at 10.30pm highlights from the day's racing. Other broadcasters showing race day reports and highlights are: (check your local guide for times.):
Eurosport - Europe
Sky New Zealand - NZ
Showtime Arabia - Middle East (Dubai)
Setanta - UK/Ireland
SuperSports Network TV - Germany
Eurosport Asia - Pacific
American 1 Sports TV - USA
Eurosport.com - International and China
Sports Max Caribe
Eurovision - Switzerland/U.K
BT Vision - UK
Viasat VOD - Europe
Al Jazeera - International
Moto TV - Egypt
Euro News - Europe
by Tracey Johnstone/Al Constable Sail-World.com
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