Hansen wins Petit Final at Monsoon Cup 2005

by Rob Kothe on 4 Dec 2005 It was Finland versus Sweden on the waters of Duyong Basin, Terengganu this morning. Finn Stephan Lindberg and Sweden Bjorn Hansen were fighting for third place in the Petit Final of the inaugural 2005 Monsoon Cup.

There is a lot of sporting rivalry between the two Scandinavian countries; it shows particularly in Ice Hockey where the international battles have been titanic. These two skippers are fierce Monsoon Cup rivals on the water, but good friend’s dockside.

They have been sailing together as match racing crew since the mid 1990’s. Back then, Lindberg crewed for Hansen for a season in 1997 and then they reversed the roles. Both sailed well to reach the semi-finals but were soundly beaten; Hansen by Coutts 0-3 and Lindberg by Gilmour 0-3.

This morning bright sunshine and a breeze of 10-11 knots greeted the crews. The battle for the match racing pride commenced as the two crews entered the starting box.

Hansen started fast, after he had driven Lindberg deep in the box and he jumped to an early lead. By the top mark, Hansen was four boat lengths ahead. Hoisting his spinnaker Lindberg brought a puff of wind with him and he closed up to within two boat lengths. However Hansen covered carefully and prevented his rival getting back into the race.

In the second flight, the pre-start became a fierce engagement. Lindberg protested, but the umpires did not uphold it and Hansen led across the line.

Lindberg was first to the right, but he did not have room to cross. The two boats tacked all the way up the first leg, with Hansen covering every move. He led around the top mark, extended down the run and up the second beat.

The Monsoon breeze was building and there were no easy options for the trailing crew. With excellent crew work from the Swedish team, fast hoists and clean drops and mistake free sailing, time ran out for Lindberg.

Hansen took the second race gun and the Monsoon Cup third place.

This is the best Swedish Match Tour result for the 38 year old Swedish sailor, who started match-racing as a helmsman in 1997 after four years as a trimmer for Finnish match racer Henrik Lundberg. The team has seen their ranking improve ever since, rising to 6th place in 2001 from 103rd in 1997.


Swedish Match Tour Results
2003-’04
9th — Swedish Match Cup ’04

2002-’03
8th — Danish Open ’02
9th — Bermuda Gold Cup ’02
9th — Trofeo Challenge Roberto Trombini ’02

2001-’02
9th — ACI Cronet Cup ’02
11th — Swedish Match Cup ’02

2000-’01
4th — Swedish Match Cup ’01

2000
11th — Sun Microsystems Australia Cup ’00
11th — Steinlager Line 7 Cup ’00

America’s Cup Affiliation
Swedish America’s Cup Challenge ’92 – Sailmaker

Match Race Regattas 2003
1st — Cottonfield Cup
1st — Hostmatchen
2nd — Ice Breaker Cup
4th — Marseilles Match Race

Accomplishments
1st — 11-Metre One-Design World Championship 1995
1st — Cap Gemini Ernest & Young Match Race 2000
3rd — Match Racing World Championship ’02
4th — Archipelago Raid 2001, ’02, ’03 (largest and most extreme orienteering sailing competition)
Skipper Volvo Ocean 60 SAP Northern Lights ’03
Tactician 60-foot trimaran Gore-Tex, OOPS Cup ’04


www.monsooncup.com.my
www.swedishmatchtour.com