| WILLIAMS AND MONNIN SWEEP INTO SEMIS |
| Saturday, 18 August 2007 |
Ian Williams and his Team Pindar, and local Swiss favourite Eric Monnin, have swept their way into the Semi Finals at the St. Moritz Match Race on Saturday afternoon.
After a two hour postponement to allow the Southerly wind to build, Race Officer Christian Scherrer elected to make the Group A and B Quarter Final series’ a ‘first to two’ event, meaning the first team to acquire two points would advance.
In each case, the Quarter Final was a sweep. Williams, the leader on the World Match Racing Tour, was very strong on the start line, putting a penalty on his Swiss opponent Matthias Renker in the first race at the start and going on to win the match.
In the second contest, he again won the start, crossing the line with better speed. Then, on the second lap of the course, one of Renker’s crewman missed the trapeze hook on a tack and fell overboard into the cold waters of Lake St. Moritz. By the time he was hauled back on board, Williams had extended his lead and the race was all but over.
In the other match-up, Eric Monnin rode a nice windshift into a commanding lead in the first race. In the second match, Alinghi helmsman Peter Evans held the lead for much of the race. But he gave away nearly all of his advantage on the second run, appearing to gybe very late for the bottom mark. On the final upwind leg, Monnin capitalised on a shift to the left to grab the lead and his second consecutive win.
Next up are the remaining matches in Quarter Finals C and D. As these match-ups had already started, the Race Committee is leaving them at ‘first to three’ contests. Both Paolo Cian (2-1) and Mark Mendelblatt (2-0) have the lead here.
Quarter Final Pairings and Results
(First to two points advances to Semi Finals)
A
Ian Williams beat Matthias Renker
Ian Williams beat Matthias Renker
B
Eric Monnin beat Jochen Schuemann (Peter Evans)
Eric Monnin beat Jochen Schuemann (Peter Evans)
(First to three points advances to Semi Finals)
C
Match 1 - Mark Mendelblatt beat Sébastien Col
Match 2 - Mark Mendelblatt beat Sébastien Col
D
Match 1 - Paolo Cian beat Mathieu Richard
Match 2 - Mathieu Richard beat Paolo Cian
Match 3 - Paolo Cian beat Mathieu Richard
|
|
Email this page to a friend
|
