DIVERSE AND TALENTED FIELD READY FOR MATCH CUP SWEDEN
Tuesday, 03 July 2007
Next week’s Match Cup Sweden, held over 2-8 July in Marstrand, will feature the first-ever meeting of sixteen teams of Louis Vuitton Semi-finalists, World Tour veterans, top-ranked female skippers, and promising young talent all in one event. This is the eighth stage on the 2006-07 World Tour schedule, but one of the most popular for on-site spectator interest, drawing close to 100,000 fans to what has been routinely regarded as one of the top sporting events in Sweden.

Among the field will be World Tour No. 1-ranked Mathieu Richard (FRA) of Saba Sailing, who is on a roll with a runner-up result in the Tour’s first 2007 event at Match Race Germany following his victory at the Congressional Cup in California. He is ranked No. 2 in the ISAF rankings, closely following top-ranked Ian Williams (GBR) of Team Pindar, who is ranked No. 3 on the World Tour. The outcome of these two battling in Marstrand will determine who will be on top in both ranking lists.

Match Cup Sweden will also feature the first return to the playing field for some veterans of Valencia, including Victory Challenge skipper and Match Cup Sweden regular Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Gavin Brady (NZL) of Oracle/BMW Racing, and Jesper Radich (DEN) of Desafio Español. Other America’s Cup team members racing in Marstrand include Sebastion Col (FRA) of Areva Challenge, who is also ranked 5th on the World Tour, and Mattias Rahm (SWE), Holmberg’s teammate on the Victory Challenge.

While Marstrand has always drawn top Men’s and Women’s match race talent, it had been in separate events for separate prizes. This year there will be no such distinction in gender, as Women’s ISAF No. 1-ranked Claire Leroy (FRA), No. 8-ranked Jenny Axhede (SWE) and No. 14-ranked Malin Millbourn (SWE) will be battling the men and themselves in the elimination series. “We are extremely excited to give the guys a match, says Axhede. “To get to challenge the men gives the race a new dimension, she says.

There is some impressive up and coming talent in the field as well, with numerous skippers still in their 20’s but highly-ranked in the ISAF standings. These include ISAF No. 5-ranked Eugeniy Neugodnikov (RUS) of the Lord of the Sail Team, coming to Marstrand for the first time after a respectable 4th place finish at Match Race Germany. Bjorn Hansen (SWE), who is ISAF No. 9-ranked and ranked 13th on the World Tour, just turned 30, but has been extremely active, with 27 match race events sailed thusfar in the past two years. Also young and active are Simon Minoprio (NZL), who is new to Marstrand and attending only his second World Tour event, and Johnnie Berntsson (SWE), 14th in the ISAF rankings, looking to notch up another World Tour victory following his success at the ACI Adris Cup in 2006.

The youngest in the field is a last-minute stand-in for the current Tour champion. 21-year old Torvar Mirsky (AUS) has been tapped by his coach and mentor Peter Gilmour (AUS) to replace him while he was called to duty by Team Alinghi to try and help them defend the America’s Cup. “Torvar is one of the most talented young Australian sailors today, grown up in the legacy after America’s cup in Perth. I am proud to coach him, he is a very accomplished young man, the way he handles himself and the boat on water and the crew. He has many qualities that makes him a great future promise in world class Match racing”, says Gilmour. The reigning champion at this event from his victory in 2005, Gilmour is ranked 9th on the World Tour and may, depending on the outcome of the America’s Cup matches in Valencia, join the action in Marstrand as an expert commentator for the crowds.

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