GKSS Spring Cup - Alandia Sailing Team win Stena Match Cup entry

by Stena Match Cup Sweden on 30 May 2013 At the final of the GKSS Spring Cup, Staffan Lindberg (FIN) and his Alandia Sailing Team claimed victory and with it, won an entry to Stena Match Cup Sweden after beating Danish skipper Joachim Aschenbrenner.

The Swedish skipper Henrik Eyermann and his crew were sensationally the only Swedes to advance from the Round Robin of the event, which gave them the Swedish qualifying ticket to Marstrand.

This weekend, the GKSS Spring Cup was sailed in perfect conditions at the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club with sun and 25 knots of wind. The regatta serves as a qualifying event for Stena Match Cup Sweden, the third stage of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, and several top ranked teams came to battle for an entry ticket to Marstrand. After the line-up of ten teams had boiled down during the Round Robin and Winner's Round three Danish teams and Staffan

Lindberg (FIN) were left in the semi-finals.

The Finnish skipper lost his first match against Nicolai Sehested but came back to outmanoeuvre his opponent in two straight matches and secure a spot in the final. There he was put against Joachim Aschenbrenner and his Danish team, the winners of the Winner's Round. Lindberg got off to a good start in the first match in the final, was in control from start to finish in gusty winds, and continued with another victory in the second match - Alandia Sailing Team had won the Spring Cup and the ticket to Marstrand was theirs.

'Heading into this event, we knew that the competition was tough and that we had to perform our best to win and the whole crew has sailed perfectly; we have worked well as a team with good speed and maneuvering. It feels great heading for Marstrand and we can go there as underdogs which fits us fine,' says Staffan Lindberg, the Skipper of Alandia Sailing Team.

The Swedish skipper Henrik Eyermann and his team was the big surprise of the weekend as they grabbed the Swedish qualifying spot. Eyermann, ranked world number 156 in the ISAF Open Match Race Ranking, was the only Swedish skipper to advance from the Round Robin, which meant his team had secured an entry to Stena Match Cup Sweden as the best Swedes in the GKSS Spring Cup.

'It's a dream to get to compete at Marstrand and this is a complete surprise even for us. We are really happy and excited about qualifying, things have worked well in the team and we have just kept going,' says Henrik Eyermann.

The 51 year old Eyermann has never competed in a World Tour event before but he has a strong record as a sailor, with a fourth place in the 1984 Olympics in the Star Class together with Kent Carlsson. Now he and his crew will be one of the twelve teams competing in the Open Class of Stena Match Cup Sweden 2013.

Open Clas Stena Match Cup Sweden 2013:

Ian Williams (GBR)
Björn Hansen (SWE)
Phil Robertson (NZL)
Keith Swinton (AUS)
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA)
Johnie Berntsson (SWE)
Taylor Canfied (USA)
Adam Minoprio (NZL)
Staffan Lindberg (FIN)
Henrik Eyermann (SWE)
Wild Card 1 - Mathieu Richard (FRA)
Wild Card 2 – To be Stena Match Cup website