SPARRING PARTNERS DUEL

by Isabelle Musy on 29 Sep 2000 Schuemann and Heiner, who train together, will face each other in today's Soling Match Racing Semi-final. The other semi-final will be Scandinavian when Bank will face Johannessen


Triple gold medallist, German Jochen Schuemann will meet his sparring partner, Dutch Roy Heiner, in today's Soling Match Racing semi-final that will take place on Course A off the Opera House.

Schuemann who came first in the quarterfinal will race against Heiner who came fourth after yesterday's sail-off against Kiwi Rod Davis.

Second was Barcelona gold medallist Jesper Bank. The Danish Match-Racing master will meet another Scandinavian, Norway's Hermann Johannessen who finished third in the quarterfinal.

If Jesper Bank has an edge over Johannessen, the match between Schuemann and Heiner should be most competitive and close.

The two skippers know each other extremely well. Not only do they train together but they've sailed together in a final many times on the Soling Match Racing circuit this year.


" Schuemann is my training partner and therefore we know each other very well. It will be very close racing. The results I'm sure will 3 to 2 but the question is "who will get the better score?", comments Heiner.

"He's a fantastic guy to race against. You don't need umpires when you sail against him, the boat will always overleap by half a meter all around the race course", adds Heiner.

The winners of each semi-final will meet tomorrow in the final.