Swinton and Black Swan Racing into Monsoon Cup

10:30 AM Sat 29 Nov 2008 GMT

'2008 Monsoon Cup Asian qualifiers. Final, Keith Swinton vs Natsuki Motoyoshi' Gareth Cooke - Sub Zero Images &copy Click Here to view large photo

Keith Swinton and his Black Swan Racing team have secured the final wildcard entry into next month's Monsoon Cup, with a convincing victory over Japan's Natsuki Motoyoshi in the Final of the Asian Match Racing Championships.

This morning, the Malaysian monsoon unleashed on competitors in Kuala Terengganu providing a solid 15-20 knot breeze from the north-east. The breezes kept both the competitors and umpires busy with four penalties issued in the Final alone.

Chief Umpire Shane Borrell commented that Japanese competitor Hiroshi Miura suffered from an unfortunate, 'match racing accident' today in his match against Marty Kaye. Miura made a split-second error in the fresh conditions and collided with Kaye, creating a hole in the hull of his Foundation 36 boat. Miura was found to be at fault because he failed to give Kaye room to keep clear. Kaye went on to win the match and claim third place overall, relegating Miura to fourth.

Swinton and his team revelled in the windier conditions, but showed their versatility conceding only one match throughout the duration of the regatta. Keith put his victory down to, 'a lot of experience having done a lot of regattas throughout the year, and good teamwork. The guys on my team helped me make good decisions.'

2008 Monsoon Cup Asian qualifiers. Final, Keith Swinton vs Natsuki Motoyoshi - Gareth Cooke - SubZero Images &copy Click Here to view large photo

Looking forward to the Monsoon Cup, Keith said that, 'having a close final helped develop his strategy leading into the Monsoon Cup.' Keith's international match racing experience this year will prepare him well for the challenging competition ahead.

Action at the 2008 Monsoon Cup will commence on the 3rd of December with 12 international teams descending on Terengganu for the fourth edition of the prestigious event.

FINAL RESULTS

1st Keith Swinton - Black Swan Racing
2nd Natsuki Motoyoshi - Orbit
3rd Marty Kaye - Team Hong Kong
4th Hiroshi Miura - Extreme
5th Razman Mat Ali - KFC - MYA
6th Mohamad Razali Bin Mansor - Navy 1
7th Byeong Ki Park - Geoge
8th Morten Jakobsen - Ji Zip Zaam