MRT Match Cup Sweden Wrap Up
'Torvar Mirsky ? Dan Ljungsrik'
World Match Racing Tour ©
After a perfect week in Marstrand, Matthias Rahm has been crowned champion of Match Cup Sweden, defeating us 3-0.
We were chosen by Mathieu Richard in the semi finals, as he had won the Round Robin stage with 9 wins and 2 losses. So we had our work cut out for us from the start, while the 'Swedish Derby' of Magnus Holmburg and Matthias Rahm ran alongside our race.
We jumped ahead of Richard, winning the first two races of the series convinvingly. We could have taken Richard down 3-0, but we had a marginal umpire call go against us at the second top mark and were forced to concede.
Richard's team managed to take a second race after completing a penalty turn on the finishing line, and winning by half a boatlength. Although the momentum was now in favour of the French Sailing Team, we still felt comfortable in our ability, and by lunchtime, our team and Matthias Rahm's were in the Finals, both winning 3-2.
Making it into the Semi-finals was the furthest we had come at a World Tour event, so we felt like the pressure had lifted. However it wasn't as simple as that, as the importance of the coming races became evident as the cheers form the crowds grew louder and louder during our tune up.
We lost the first race to Rahm, but there were no negative feelings as we swapped boats. The entire race consisted of tacks and gybes so close that we felt all we needed was one small break and we would be away.
In the second race, we got that break with a small windshift that put us in the lead for the top mark. We got given a penalty for holding Rahm out past the bottom mark layline, but managed to secure a three boatlength lead into the mark. The tension was high as we debated where to do our turn, but we decided that the safest option would be on the finishing line. Rahm managed to get the better of a bullet of pressure on the downwind, and managed to sneak into the finishing line by mere centimetres to take out his second win.
The third race played out almost exactly the same as the first, with each team going tack for tack and gybe for gybe. Rahm's team were not going to let us pass after beating us off the line, and as we both came towards the finishing line, with Rahm one boatlength in front, the home crowd roared their appreciation of the local hero.
We gave everything we had in the finals, but the Swedish team's hunger for the prize outweighed ours. Although it is never ideal to lose in a Final, we are ecstatic with our performance in Sweden. It is a milestone for our team, and we are looking forward to racing again in the next Tour stages.
A special thanks to Line7, Harken and the Royal Perth Yacht Club for their support.
Final Results:
1st Matthias Rahm
2nd Torvar Mirsky
3rd Magnus Holmburg
4th Matthiu Richard
5th Peter Gilmour
6th Bjorn Hansen
7th Sebastian Col
8th Jes Gram Hansen
9th Ian Williams
10th Damien Iehl
11th Paolo Cian
12th Ben Ainslie
www.mirskyracingteam.com/
by Kinley Fowler - Mirsky Racing Team 
Perth, WA
