Mirsky Racing Team into semi-finals at Troia Portugal Match Cup

9:03 PM Sat 20 Jun 2009 GMT

'Mirsky Racing Team - Troia Portugal Match Cup 2009' Wander Roberto &copy

Mirsky Racing Team went into the day at the Troia Portugal Match Cup knowing they were one win away from a guaranteed top four placing and a semi-final berth.

Facing the French Match Racing Team (Phillip Presti) in the moderate Portuguese sea breeze, MRT dominated the prestart and rounded the first top mark with a five boat length lead.

MRT displayed strong crew work to defend and even extend their lead to sail to victory over the French veteran.

'Although on paper, our last two regattas results have not been so great, we did learn a lot and we are now putting those lessons into practice. We are sailing quite well and are happy with our progress and really look forward to the semis' said MRT helmsman Torvar Mirsky after their morning quarterfinal victory.

The victory early in the day allowed Mirsky Racing Team to sit back and watch the other quarterfinals battle it out a much sought after semi-final place.

Once the quarter-finals were completed MRT were paired up to race the other French Match Racing Team skipper Mathieu Richard in the semi-finals.

The breeze shut down and the competitors were not able to start the semi's.

The semi-final races will be held tomorrow morning followed immediately by the finals to decide the 2009 Troia Match Cup champion.

Results:

Semifinalists

Mirsky Racing Team (Torvar Mirsky) vs French Match Racing Team (Matheui Richard)
ETNZ/BlackMatch (Adam Minoprio) vs Bahrain Team Pindar (Ian Williams)

5th - 8th Sail off held tomorrow:
Yanmar Racing (Peter Gilmour) AUS
K-Challenge (Seb Col) FRA
French Match Racing Team (Phillip Presti) FRA
Team Onboard (Bjorn Hansen) SWE
9th Waka Racing (Phil Robertson) NZL
10th Seth Sailing (Alvaro Marinho) POR
11th Team Proximo (Ian Ainslie) RSA
12th Andrew Arbuzov RUS

Further information can be found at www.mirskyracingteam.netand www.worldmatchracingtour.com

Mirsky Racing Team would like to thank Royal Perth Yacht Club, Harken and Line7 for their ongoing support.

by Kyle Langford