Black Swan Racing wins Trapani International Match Race 2009

by Black Swan Racing on 3 Nov 2009
Keith Swinton's Team, Black Swan Racing has won the Trapani International Match Race 2009. Here is their final report from the event.

Sunday was a real test of patience. We came to Trapani prepared to sail the three man Comet 21 but following some teething problems we went back to sailing the reliable Zip 25's. Today for the finals we were back into the Comet 21 yachts with all problems fixed. Added to this we were sailing in the tricky Trapani Harbour - the ball game could not have been more different to earlier in the regatta.

We choose Jacopo Pasini from Italy as our opponent in the semi-final. Leaving Linberg (Finland) and Orel (Slovenia) to fight it out in the other semi. Our first race against Pasini didn't start well as we were penalised after a close port and starboard between the two boats. Unfazed we fought back neutralising the penalty and gaining one against Pasini just before the starting horn. We went on to gain the lead and sail the shifts well to take the win. Race 2 was a similar story with Pasini being penalised just before the start with a red flag penalty forcing him into taking his penalty immediately handing us the lead and putting us 2-0 in the best of five series. The final race didn't feature any penalties but we trailed off the start line and around the first and second marks. On the second up wind we picked up a nice shift and just managed to gain the lead from here we held Pasini off to book our spot in the final. Lindberg defeated Orel in the other semi making for a Swinton V Lindberg Final.

We came into the finals knowing Lindberg would be a tough opponent especially in his favoured light and shifty conditions. This proved to be right as they took the first two races in the finals despite us leading off the start line on both occasions. Just before our entry into the third race, a must win match for us our jib halyard snapped leaving us without a jib. In a tough situation we managed to quickly re-rig the jib whilst trying to stay trouble free in the pre-start. Despite being restricted for most of the pre-start we managed to get a great start and sail away for a confidence boosting win. With time quickly running out we went into the final race knowing a win would level the series and with no more time for racing we would win on count back. We managed to get a solid start but it was still tight with Lindberg by the top mark. We did a great job of defending on the downwind and continued to build our lead to win the race and take out the 2009 Trapani International Match Race.

Final Results

1. Keith Swinton (AUS, Black Swan Racing)
2. Steffan Lindberg (FIN, Alandia Sailing Team)
3. Jure Orel (SLO, Bora Sailing Team)
4. Jacopo Pasini (ITA, JP Match)
5. Eric Monnin (SUI, Team Monnin)
6. G L Perris (MON, Team Dangerous but Fun)
7. M Perris (MON, Team Dangerous but Fun)
8. Rasmus Viltoft (DEN)
9. Simone Ferrarese (ITA, Ferrarese Racing)
10. Nick Cherry (GBR, Cherry Racing)

Black Swan Racing would like to thank our following supporters.

South of Perth Yacht Club
Brian Kerman from Kerman Contracting
Brad Abbott from Abbotts PTY LTD Chartered Accountants
Musto Australia and Scott Olney from Musto Western Australia/Liquid Leisure Agencies
Philip Ericson from Trendmark Sweden Agent for Musto
The Ron Tough Yachting Foundation

www.blackswanracing.blogspot.com