World Champ Williams shown the exit

by Rurrum, Pulau Duyong on 5 Dec 2009 The curtains came down early on two times World Champion Ian Williams as he surrendered his crown after failing to make the grade for the Monsoon Cup 2009 quarter-finals.

Williams’ Team Pindar ended the three-day round-robin races with poor results - four wins against seven losses, in what he termed as his worst outing thus far on the World Match Racing Tour.

“Honestly, I had never expected to end the Monsoon Cup this way. But you must understand that no teams here have a clear advantage. In a championship like this all teams are strong,” said Williams.

In contrast, there was joy all round for the other British Team Origin with skipper Ben Ainslie (GBR) as they completed their fixtures with eight wins out of 11 races to top the table.

Ainslie leads seven other teams Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing/ALL4ONE, Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing, Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing, Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing and Damien lehl (FRA) French Match Racing and Adam Minoprio (NZL) Black Match Racing into the quarter-finals.

And in the quarter-final races which will be decided on a race-to-three (best of five), only the four races in the first flight was completed before failing light with Ainslie taking a 1-0 lead over lehl, Col taking a 1-0 lead over Robertson, Minoprio leading Richard 1-0 and Gilmour holding fort against Mirsky.

Later, the team skippers summed up their round-robin campaigns at a press conference and praised their effort in advancing to the last eight.

Ainslie said he had a good stint finishing top with eight wins against three defeats. “We may have topped the round-robin but we had some close calls too in the races,” he said.

Iehl said: “We had a good finish to register six for and five against and though trailing Anslie 0-1 we are confident of pushing our way through.”

Col, who leads Robertson 1-0 in the quarter-final said his team had an incredible round yesterday (Thursday) by winning all their five races.”I believe we’ll make it through to the semis,” he said.

For Minoprio, the round-robin was a bit of a struggle. He said: “We are happy to squeeze through and even happier that we are one up against Richard in the quarter-final.”

But it was seasoned campaigner Gilmour who had to use all his experience to make the cut. “We knew that we had to come out and win our races today and this we did.” But after having lost to Mirsky in the round-robin race, Gilmour takes a 1-0 lead over Mirsky in the quarter-final.

And Mirsky joked: “He (Gilmour) looks to be holding the keys to this ace circuit and has local knowledge of the course to give his team the advantage.”

Quarter Final Results
(After 1 Flight)
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin vs Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 1-0
Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/ALL4ONE vs Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 1-0
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing vs Mathieu Richard (FRA)
French Match Racing Team 1-0
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing vs Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 1-0
Day 3 Round Robin Results
1st Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin 8-3
2nd Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/ALL4ONE 7-4
3rd Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 7-4
4th Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 7-4
5th Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 7-4
6th Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 6-5
7th Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 6-5
8th Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing 5-6
9th Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge 5-6
10th Francesco Bruni (ITA) Team Azzura 4-7
11th Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar 4-7
12th Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (MAS) Taring Pelangi Team 0-11
WMRT 2009 Tour Standings (after 8 of 9 events)

Tour Standings - (After 8 of 9 events)
1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 100 Points
2. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 88 Points
3. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar 75 Points
4. Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team Racing 74 Points
5. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR 71 Points
6. Ben Ainslie, (GBR) Team Origin 65 Points
7. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 48 Points
8. Sebastien Col, (FRA) French Match Racing Team 41 Points

About the World Match Racing Tour:
• The World Match Racing Tour is the leading professional sailing series featuring 9 World
Championship events across the globe
• The World Tour is sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with “Special
Event” status
• The World Tour awards over US$1.5million in prize money
• Points are awarded at each event culminating in the crowning of the ‘ISAF Match Racing
World Champion’
• Events utilize the same “match race” format used in the America’s Cup with racing taking
place in identically supplied racing yachts which places a focuses on team work and skill.
Racing takes place close to the shore for the general public to follow the races as virtual on-
the -water stadiums.
• Media and television highlights coverage reaches over 600 million households in excess of
90 countries around the world

About The Monsoon Cup
The Monsoon Cup 2005 celebrated its debut as the 50th official event of the Swedish Match Tour (now known as the World Match Racing Tour), and serves as the Malaysian leg for the international sailing event. This professional sailing series was formed in 2000 to unite the world's best match-race regattas under one banner.
The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) comprises nine events in nine specially selected locations around the world. As the leading professional sailing series in the world, the Tour events are recognized as must-attend regattas on the match-race circuit.
The Monsoon Cup 2009 will be held at Pulau Duyong, Terengganu, from the 1st to 6th December 2009. Website : www.monsooncup.com.my

For information on the World Match Racing Tour:

Yvonne Reid
Tel: +44 (0) 1590 679613
Mob: +44 (0) 7809 149268
E-mail: yreid@f10marketing.com
Website: www.worldmatchracingtour.com

For more information on the Monsoon Cup :
RURRUM Communications Sdn Bhd
Name : Audrey Lakai
Mobile : 012 309 4377
Email: audrey.lakai@rurrum.com