Match Racing - ‘Sometimes you are the hammer and sometimes the nail’

by YANMAR Racing Media on 10 Jul 2010 YANMAR Racing’s Peter Gilmour came to the Stena Match Cup Sweden, an event the Australian America's Cup skipper had won seven times, off the back of a win at the Portugal Match Cup

However contrary to expectations Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing crew : mainsheet-tactician Cameron Dunn, trimmer Thierry Douillard, pitman Yasuhiro Yaji and bowman Kazuhiko Sofuku had an ordinary start in Marstrand and they had won just one match out of four coming into the final day of the Round Robins.

Cameron Dunn tells the story ‘We needed to win all three races to advance to the Quarter finals. It was do or die.

‘Our first race was against fellow Western Australia Keith Swinton and his Black Swan Team. We beat them off the start line, had control of them early and sailed to a solid win.

‘Our next match was against Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge. Magnus received a penalty on the pre-start. We had control of him at the top of the course and luffed him past the mark, he did his penalty and that gave us a little bit of a lead and we went on to win.

‘Then we had the young New Zealander Ruben Corbett and his Black Sheep Racing team between us and the quarter finals. We were sailing well. We liked the conditions they were the same conditions that we raced the final day here last year when we won 6:0 and won the event.

‘We actually got a penalty on Ruben in the pre-start, but he led us at the start.

‘We rounded the top mark right behind him – he still had a penalty to do, so we were still in good shape at this stage. We were on his heels as we rounded the bottom mark.

‘But then disaster! We got mixed in with another match that had just started and were badly disadvantaged, with two boats between us and Corbett. He sailed away and was able to do his penalty on the last run and won.

‘We are all disappointed. But that is yacht racing.

Lance Armstrong used to say after he lost a cycle race ‘'sometimes you are the hammer and sometimes you’re the nail' and today we were the nail.’

Peter Gilmour smiled at the last comment ‘‘it was a bit unfortunate that we got caught up with the pack because everything was running on schedule, up until then.

‘When we came around that second mark, the second pair starting got to the right of us and that made it extremely difficult.

‘But I think it was our own doing to be in that position, we needed to win some races early. We were leading Williams and made a silly mistake and we got an unnecessary penalty against Mirsky.

‘If any was going to take our place I was pleased that it was Magnus Holmberg, one of the other Hall of Fame members here in Marstrand, who advanced to the quarters, even at our expense.

‘In the past I have been the one that has knocked him out of this event many times, so I was actually quite delighted to see him go through and have his chance at the quarter finals.

‘I am really quite philosophical about it. With a record of seven event wins here, we have had our share of good fortune.

‘Last year is a good example. We were 100 metres from the finish with a penalty down and we managed to get the penalty off and win the race. It is a typical example of how things can turn around very quickly.

'However there is plenty more sailing in the 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour yet. But today it was our turn to be nailed.'

http://www.wmrt.com/world-tour/sweden.html

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