Mirsky Racing Team's Match Cup Sweden - Day One
'Torvar Mirsky shows Ben Ainslie a clean pair of heels on day 1 of Match Cup Sweden 2008. Photo Dan Ljungsvik'
World Match Racing Tour ©
Mirsky Racing Team is competing at Match Cup Sweden. Here is their Day One report.
We began the day with a rusty start losing to Jes Gram Hansen, but as the day progressed we began to feel our winning form. The scores are tight and the forecast is good, making tomorrow a day to look forward to.
The first attention signal was sounded at 1430 this afternoon to kick off the racing for the first day. The wind was varying in strength from 12 to 18 knots from straight up the bay in a similar direction to the training day. Our first match was a tough one against Mascalzonie Latino skipper Jes Gram Hansen. We lost the start with a penalty and followed him around the race track despite a close tacking dual which almost brought us back into the game.
In our second race we managed to pull together and beat Match Race Germany winner Damien Iehl convincingly after giving him a penalty in the prestart and extending our lead around the course.
Our third race was against all round sailing guru and somewhat of an idol, Ben Ainslie. He managed to force us past the layline at the start, making us concede to follow him off the line. The entire upwind was a battle for the starboard advantage, and Ainslie's team was not willing to give it up.
However, at the top mark he let it slip crossing over to the port layline. We managed to get our nose in between his boat and the mark. With this advantage, we rounded the top mark in front - a lead which we fought closely for right to the finishing line.
With a good day behind us, we are looking forward to tomorrow's five races. The scores are tight, but there is a long way to go yet. Hopefully we can continue to build on our form and make it through to the next stage.
A special thanks to Line7, Harken and the Royal Perth Yacht Club for their support.
Results:
1. Mattias Rahm (SWE), Stena Bulk Racing Team 3 - 0
2. Bjorn Hansen (SWE), Alandia Sailing Team 2 - 1
3. Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Mirsky Racing Team 2 - 1
4. Sebastian Col (FRA), French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge 2 - 1
5. Peter Gilmour (AUS), PST Team 2 - 1
6. Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Victory Challenge 2 - 1
7. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN), Trifork Racing Team 2 - 1
8. Ben Ainslie (GBR), Team Origin 1 - 0
9. Paolo Cian (ITA), Team Shosholoza 0 - 3
10. Damien Iehl (FRA), French Match Racing Team 0 - 3
Not yet raced:
Ian Williams (GBR), Team Pindar
Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team
www.mirskyracingteam.com/
www.mirskyracingteam.com/
by Kinley Fowler - Mirsky Racing Team 
Curl Curl, NSW
