Monsoon Cup- Ben Ainslie wins the 2010 World Match Racing Championship

by Richard Gladwell on 5 Dec 2010
Triple Olympic Gold medallist, Ben Ainslie, and TeamOrigin have won the 2010 World Match Racing Championship after winning their semi-final over wild card Bjorn Hansen (DEN) off Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. today.

Ainslie will go on to face Torvar Mirsky (AUS) in the final of the Monsoon Cup.

Both semi-finals were won in two straight races by Ainslie and Mirsky over Bjorn Hansen and Jesper Radich respectively.

Ben Ainslie and his TeamOrigin crew - Iain Percy, Christian Kamp, Matthew Cornwell and Mike Mottl dominated their pre-start again which has been a hallmark of their regatta.

In Race 1 of the SemiFinals, which was not sailed in the heavy rain which has marked this regatta, WMRT reports that Ainslie and Hansen battled prestart, with a collision and then a penalty given against Hansen. Ainslie lead from the start, Hansen closed up the first leg but Ainslie and crew held on to win.

Ainslie won the second start, Hansen completely botched up his timing and was at least three lengths behind Ainslie from the gun. Up the first beat Ainslie was higher and faster, 100 metres ahead and went on to win.

World Championship title hopes evaporated for Mathieu Richard. He was beaten in the sail-off for 5-8 by Francesco Bruni (Team Azzurra).

This was the closest yet that Mathieu Richard (FRA) has come to taking the World title since being on the WRMT for over six years.

After the announcement of the Protocol for the 34th America's Cup, TeamOrigin, of which Ben Ainslie was skipper, announced that it was pulling back from an entry in the event and would be selling its assets, however in the past week there have been reports from UK, that the team may reform in a different guise, and Ainslie's win in the World Match Racing Championship may aid that renaissance.

However Ben Ainslie also has a focus on the Finn class in the 2012 Olympic games in London, and on the basis of his 2010 season has some work ahead of him to win the British nomination, let alone a fourth Gold medla in the singlehanded class.

Tactician, Iain Percy also a Gold medalist in the Star class in the 2008 Olympics, will have his eyes on the same event in 2012, ahead of the dropping of the two man keelboat from the 2016 Olympic Regatta.