Match Race Germany at Langenargen - Day 1

The fleet lies in wait to get racing on the first day of Match Race Germany © Andrew Carter / AWMRT

Robertson and Morvan seize control

Phil Robertson and new Tour Card Holder Pierre-Antoine Morvan made the most of a difficult first day’s racing at Match Race Germany in Langenargen, posting three wins from three.

Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team joins the Tour in 2012 with an ISAF World Match Race Ranking of 3rd and a previous 2nd place finish at the St. Moritz Match Race in 2011. He is also being accompanied by experienced coach Bertrand Pacé, who said prior to today’s sailing:

“We’ve just started working together so we are still settling into this relationship. We’ll judge how well it is working after the first couple of events and decide whether it’s something we want to pursue for the full season.

“Pierre is a great skipper and match racer, that’s for sure. However, experience is very important as is confidence which is what we are focusing on most.”

Morvan showed few nerves coming into his first event as Tour Card Holder, even before heading out onto the water, saying: “The plan is to learn this year, podium next year, and win in two years.” He backed up that self-confidence by taking victory in all three of his early flights.

Jan-Eike Andresen (GER) MRV Match Race Team is here flying the flag for the host nation but has left himself with an upward climb to reach the quarter-finals after losing three from three. A tough opening session against three Tour Card Holders, including 4-time World Champion and 3-time Match Race Germany winner Peter Gilmour, did not hand him the kindest of days. Andresen can consider himself unlucky in his first race, losing by a margin of only four metres to Robertson.

A second match against Frenchman Pierre-Antoine Morvan also ended unsuccessfully for Andresen after leading for the majority of the race, relinquishing the lead late on in the light air. Reflecting on his day, the German said:
“It was a bit like David v Goliath today as we faced some strong opposition, but we felt we performed well and were a bit unlucky, especially in the first match against Phil [Robertson].
“We are taking confidence from today and looking forward to converting defeats into wins tomorrow.”

The second Qualifying Session starts on Friday 25 May at 0900 local time (CDT). For live updates and Twitter feeds visit www.wmrt.com/live.html. Video coverage of the action will be shown on Saturday 26th – Monday 28th from 1400 – 1600 local time (CDT) and race by race updates can be followed at new.livestream.com/WorldMRT/germany.

LiveTwitter feed at www.twitter.com/wmrt_liverace

Results after the First Qualifying Session:

Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) - Vannes Agglo Sailing Team 3-0
Phil Robertson (NZ) – WAKA Racing 3-0
Peter Gilmour (AUS) – YANMAR Racing 2-1
Eric Monnin (SUI) – Team Okalys-Corum 1-2
Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN) – Team Trifork 0-0
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) – Mekonomen Sailing 0-0
Karol Jablonski (POL) – Jablonski Sailing Team 0-0
Laurie Jury (NZ) - Kiwi Match 0-0
Staffan Lindberg (FIN) – Alandia Sailing Team 0-0
Keith Swinton (AUS) – Black Swan Racing 0-0
Jan Eike Andresen (GER) – MRV Match Race Team 0-3
Simone Ferrarese (ITA) – Ferrarese Racing Team 0-3

A Slow Day but YANMAR Racing are Fast Enough (from YANMAR Racing)

The action came slowly and then in fits and starts as the promised breeze failed to deliver on day one of racing for Match Race Germany, the first event on the 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour. But while the action was slow, YANMAR Racing were plenty quick enough to take two wins from their first three races and hold third place on the overnight leaderboard.

YANMAR Racing’s tactician, Fred Guilmin, reflected on a difficult day. ‘It was typical for this lake, we had a maximum wind of perhaps five or six knots, it started out grey, then got sunny and very hot, and then finally a big thunderstorm – fortunately we were off the water by then. But it’s the same for everyone, and we have to deal with it.’

Guilmin has only joined YANMAR Racing this season, and added, ‘I am the new part in the team, it’s been a long time since I sailed with Peter (Peter Gilmour, Skipper (AUS)) and YANMAR Racing, I think the last time was in 2007 in Portugal. So we have to set up the communication on board, and how we handle the crucial information. We worked at it and I think we could see the improvement by the third race.’

YANMAR Racing won the start but then narrowly lost the first match to Pierre-Antoine Morvan. The Frenchman, a compatriot of Guilmin, found better breeze on the right-hand side of the course and took a lead on the opening leg. Guilmin added, ‘We were not far behind, perhaps only a quarter or a half boat-length at the finish.’

Racing was then held up while the wind rotated to blow from the opposite direction, and the course had to be reset. The postponement allowed YANMAR Racing to regroup and they took a win in their next two matches. The first came after pinning out Simone Ferrarese for the full four minutes of the pre-start sequence. After that it was a relatively straight-forward win for Guilmin, Gilmour and their team.

There were more delays before the third flight could be sailed, and the next one against Jan-Eike Andresen just came down to speed. Guilmin said, ‘There was a long drag-race off the line and we were just faster. We extended the lead for the rest of the match. I don’t think those guys have as much experience in big boats and it makes the difference.’

YANMAR Racing will now sit out the next five flights before they rejoin the action tomorrow – the break in their schedule came at just the right moment. Thunderstorms forced the race committee to keep the fleet ashore again into the late afternoon, and while other teams were made to wait on standby, Gilmour, Guilmin, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Thierry Douillard and Yasuhiro Yaji went to relax back at the team hotel.

Racing was eventually abandoned at 18:00 local time, leaving YANMAR Racing in third behind Phil Robertson and Pierre-Antoine Morvan, who shared the lead with three wins from three races.

Match Race Germany, the first event on this year’s Tour is held on Lake Constance, at Langenargen in Germany, and runs from the 23rd to 28th May.