YANMAR Racing into second placed on World Match Racing Tour

by Yanmar Racing Media on 13 Jun 2011 The final day of Korea Match Cup 2011, Stage 3 of the 2011 World Match Racing Tour, although unrewarding for YANMAR Racing, confirmed a lift in the World Rankings.

In the Semi Finals Australia's Peter Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing team of Cameron Dunn, Yasuhiro Yaji, Thierry Douillard and Martin Berntsson raced against Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing.

Gilmour, the four times World Match Racing Champion explained how the day unfolded for YANMAR Racing..

‘We went out this morning in very, very light conditions, probably two to three knots.

‘Francesco Bruni won the first two races. We then won the third, racing in slightly stronger wind conditions. The fourth race he sailed on the inside of us and Bruni just led us round the top mark and down to the bottom mark. He gradually sailed away. So we lost 3-1.

‘Then we sailed against Ian Williams in the Petit Final. I made a bit of a mistake in the first match. We collided with a committee boat and then in the second match it was just a little bit quicker and cleaner run and Ian Williams went on to win that 2 – 0 … quite comfortably.

‘Overall today wasn’t an easy day for us. It was just extremely light conditions, whereas it has been a little bit fresher throughout the week - not our happiest sailing conditions.

‘The good news is YANMAR Racing have moved up into second place in the Tour Rankings now.

‘I expect that consistency is what's probably going to be all about this year’s World Tour and some of the early runners, such as Damien Iehl and Mathieu Richard, are struggling with that kind of consistency. If we can keep this up going into Portugal and beyond it should be good for us.

‘I am heading to Japan first thing in the morning to see the YANMAR factory and meet many of the people there. Thierry, Yaji and myself will then be doing a seminar at the end of the week to help Japanese Match Racing sailors on behalf of YANMAR Racing. I am looking forward to a busy week in Japan.

‘Then it’s onto Portugal.’

Korea Match Cup 2011

Results: Final
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team beat Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing 3-2

Petit Final
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar beat Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 2-0

Final Positions at the 2011 Korea Match Cup:
1 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team
2 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing
3 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar
4 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
5 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
6 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat
7 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team
8 Paul Campbell-James (UK) Dream Team
9 Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing
10 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team
11 Sung Wook Kim (KOR) Busan Match Team
12 Reuben Corbett (NZL) AON Racing Team

2011 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings (after 3 stages):
1 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing – 59pts
2 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing – 48pts
3 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team - 41pts
4 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat – 31pts
5 Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners – 28pts
6 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team – 27pts
7 Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing – 27pts
8 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 24pts
9 Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team – 22pts
10 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar - 21pts

For more news and information on YANMAR Racing, please visit http://www.yanmar.co.jp/en/racing/

To discover more about the World Match Racing Tour see http://www.wmrt.com

And to discover more about YANMAR Marine go to http://www.yanmarmarine.com/