2015 Royal Southern Match Cup – Williams fights for pole position

by Phil Riley on 14 Jun 2015 2015 Royal Southern Match Cup – Multiple world champion Ian Williams had to work hard to secure pole position going into today's finale.

The five-time World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) Champion emerged from a demanding round robin stage unbeaten, and will now face fellow Briton Mark Lees in the semi-final of the grade two match racing regatta - the first ever WMRT event in the UK.

Though ranked number one in the world, Williams admitted the competition had kept him and his crew honest over three days of very mixed Solent conditions, which culminated on Saturday in a gear breaking combination of wind and sea state.

'It was right at the top end of racing conditions with quite a steep chop for the J80s, so Saturday was all about managing the set-up of the boat and getting the boat to go fast upwind,' said Williams.

'We didn't do a great job of that in the first race and ended up having a very close one with Matt Jerwood. (AUS) We led quite comfortably off the line but he got past us up the second beat, though we managed to sneak past ahead of him at the top mark and he actually got a penalty there as well. It was a great race.'

The testing conditions resulted in numerous minor breakages which required the expert and rapid attention of the on-the-water repair team of Dick Long and Paul Watkins, before Race Officer Simon Hands called it a day at the completion of the round robin.

'We were happy they ended the racing when they did - it's a natural time to end it and the end of a round robin,' said Williams. 'It was sensible to do that and have everything fixed and ready to go the next day. It's all about the final day in match racing.'

Conditions had also been breezy on the opening day of the Match Cup on Thursday, with progress through the opening races delayed following a head injury to Jerwood which required hospital treatment. In typical Solent fashion, this was followed by an almost windless Friday which saw only two flights sailed in glassy conditions.

Intriguing contests ahead
Nevertheless, the completed round robin throws up some intriguing contests in the knock-out section today (Sunday).

The two top-ranked British match-racers - Williams and Lees (ranked 23 in the world) - meet in one semi-final, while a fully recovered Jerwood (ranked 32), the current Australian match racing champion, takes on Connor Miller (76), the British Universities Match Race Champion.

Though not in direct competition, either Lees or Miller will win a place at the Warren Jones Invitational in Perth based on their Match Cup results as the best placed British sailor under 24.

After struggling on Thursday, current WMRT leader Joachim Aschenbrenner (9) has had to settle for an all-Danish sail-off for fifth and sixth place with Christian Tang (48).

'Before we came here we didn't think we would be in fifth place after the round robin stage, but we had four wins and only one loss on the first day so we changed our expectations,' said Christian, who ended up tied on five points with Miller and Lees.

'We are the last boat in the tie so that's not so good - if we'd won one more race we'd have been number three,' he added.

More used to sailing from Aarhus, Denmark's second city, the Match Cup marks Christian and his crew's first ever visit to the Solent.

'The conditions over the three days so far have been in the extremes, but we have enjoyed it,' he said. 'It's been fantastic and we have had such a warm welcome from everybody - it's a beautiful place to sail.'

The Royal Southern's Annabel Vose, GBR (82) just missed out on a sail-off spot, finishing seventh ahead of Lucasz Wozinski POL (86), Philip Bendon IRL (30), and Matthew Reid GBR (366).

The former Splasher said: 'It was really fun last year to see the start of it and it's great that it's a World Match Racing Tour event this year - it's been really good to get match racing at this level back in the UK.'

In organising the Match Cup 2015, The Royal Southern Yacht Club is grateful for the generous support of Village Pre-Schools, Ullman Sails, Raymarine, Icom, the RYA and Allspars.