WMRT Match Cup Sweden – Quarter finals opens with a big win for Steele

by meltwaterpress.com on 8 Jul 2016 Pre-series favorite Taylor Canfield was a tough match for local skipper Hans Wallen (SWE) who is now eliminated from the World Cup final in match racing in Marstrand. Chris Steele's (NZL) crew has reached the semi-finals after a convincing victory against Ian Williams.

The quarter-finals opened with a bang when Chris Steele beat the reigning World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) in three straight races. The British looked to move towards a reduction in the third race but Steele, who impressed with clever tactics and cool handling of the M32, managed to overtake at the last rounding.

'We were behind but managed to keep the momentum and then we took the chance to challenge when we got close enough,' says 23-year-old Chris Steele.

'Now we've shown that anything can happen, and it feels great before the semi-finals. Many thought that it would end 3-0 in the other direction, but we did not feel defeated before the game began. The pressure was on Williams.'

With Steele's Law 36 Below Racing is a Swedish sailor, 40-year-old Fredrik Aurell from Gothenburg. He won the Match Cup Sweden with Mattias Rahm Bjorn Hansen in 2008 and 2015.

'It feels great to reach the semifinals,' says Fredrik Aurell. 'Many see us as underdogs, but we've known us long that we can go far in this competition. We have a really good atmosphere on board, and feel very strong and fast.'

'It's a great feeling to have the chance to win the World Cup yellow, and I hope we have the audience with us. I have sailed Match Cup Sweden with many different teams and won twice.'

Skipper, Hans Wallen said for his crew, it stopped in the quarterfinals against the favorite Taylor Canfield from the US Virgin Islands. Canfield had an upper hand in all the matches, got more speed out of the boat, and won 3-0.

'It feels a bit empty, but we met a really good opponent,' said Wallen. 'Canfield is ranked number one in the world and has won the last two races of the World Cup series. We tried with the weapons we had, but they were simply faster.'

The last quarter-finals were sailed during the afternoon, and the semi-finals began. The finals will be sailed tomorrow, Saturday.

Results - Quarterfinals Day 5 - Match Cup Sweden 2016:

Taylor Canfield, US One (USV) beat Hans Wallen Wallen Racing (SWE) 3-0
Chris Steele, 36 Below Racing (NZL) beat Ian Williams, Team GAC Pindar (GBR) 3-0
Phil Robertson, Phil Robertson Racing (NZL) beat Yann Guichard, Spindrift Racing (FRA)
Matt Jerwood, Redline Racing (AUS) beat Iker Martinez, Team Espana (ESP)