| FRENCH LEAVE |
| Friday, 27 July 2007 |
Seb Col heading to the semi fianls at Troia Portugal Match Cup - Photo TPMC07/JF
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Spectacular Views at the Troia Portugal Match Cup - Photo TPMC07/JF
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Paolo Cian at the Troia Portugal Match Cup - Photo TPMC07/JF
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TROIA, Portugal — Two of the three French skippers who started the day in the quarter finals have been eliminated as the final four are decided. Philippe Presti and the Tour leader, Mathieu Richard, were defeated along with Paolo Cian (ITA) and Alvaro Marinho (POR) in a long day of racing that finished after sunset.
Gavin Brady (USA) made short work of the Portuguese skipper, Marinho, but the other matches were not quite so one-sided. Paolo Cian took the first race from Peter Gilmour (AUS) and made him fight hard for the three victories that took him to the semi-final.
Ian Williams (GBR), the top ranked skipper on the ISAF lists, lost his first race to Richard but then took the next three in a row. The five-setter that kept the spectators wide-awake was that between Sebastien Col (FRA) and Presti. The back-up helmsman of the Luna Rossa team took the first two races relatively easily, but Col snapped back from almost gone to win three straight and a place in the semi final.
There were two flights in the morning westerly breeze, when Brady went two-up against Marinho, and Williams and Richard posted one win apiece, but then the wind died away for an hour before the regular northerly filled in and increased in strength throughout the daylight hours. The stronger breeze brought more excitement and with it the flurry of protest flags that can be expected at this level of match racing – they kept the umpires busy.
Brady despatched Marinho without much trouble but the third match was much closer that the previous ones. A failure to cover on the first beat almost lost Williams the initial advantage he had at the start, but he held on and maintained an inside overlap at the gate and then put a blanket cover on his closest rival in the ISAF rankings to win their third match.
In the next flight Williams forced Richard over the start line early and maintained the advantage to win the race and the match by 3-1.
With the Brady 3-0 victory, the Col and Presti match started immediately after the Williams v Richard race. Col was in all sorts of trouble close to the pin end mark and there were three flags, two against him and one against Presti – the result a penalty hanging over Col. It made little difference as Presti won comfortably. Presti won the next to go 2-0 in the match, but Col won the next – 2-1.
Cian led at the weather mark in the first match against Gilmour and held off repeated challenges to win with the boats overlapped. The next race was a classic with Gilmour needing all his accumulated skills to prevail. Gilmour suffered a penalty in the close tacking at the windward mark and nevertheless led by eight seconds. Then Cian put on the pressure and closed to five seconds behind as they started the run for home.
Gilmour dragged his opponent off to the right and a down speed series of gybes began like a dance of death, as the leader attempted to shake off the penalty. Then the final gybe, after spinnakers had been doused, took the two towards the pin end of the finishing line. Luffing and shouting began in earnest and Cian was penalised with a red flag that meant that he had to take it immediately. Gilmour gybed and crossed the line to win. 1-1.
Col overtook Presti downwind on the first run and maintained his lead to level the match. Their fifth race saw Presti penalised early in the pre-start, gain the lead but go to the “wrong” gate mark, lose the lead and subsequently the race. Col won the match 3-2.
Gilmour’s next victory was much easier after Cian went right on the run and into a “soft” patch of wind, but the next was considerably closer. Gilmour took Cian out to the right of the starting line and held him there, as the committee boat end was favoured. By the time he decided that they should start, with Cian trailing by two boat’s length, Gilmour was 35 seconds late at the start.
Gilmour “faced” Cian each time they met on the first beat and kept him behind as the sun set behind the hills. There was no way that the evergreen skipper intended Cian to pass him and he finished four boat’s length clear to win the match 3-1.
Gilmour meets Col in the semi final tomorrow and in the other match, Brady faces the top-ranking Williams.
Results:
Quarter finals:
Gavin Brady (USA) beat Alvaro Marinho (POR) 3-0
Ian Williams (GBR) beat Mathieu Richard (FRA) 3-1
Peter Gilmour (AUS) beat Paolo Cian (ITA) 3-1
Sebastien Col (FRA) beat Philippe Presti (FRA) 3-2
Links
Results in Detail
Photos from Troia Portugal Match Cup
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