| WILLIAMS IS PERFECT INTO THE FINAL |
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (18 August 2007) — World Match Racing Tour leader Ian Williams is putting in an impressive, and efficient, performance at the St. Moritz Match Race. Williams (GBR) is a perfect 9-0 and has sailed the minimum number of races necessary in qualifying for the Final. He’ll meet two-time St. Moritz champion Mark Mendelblatt (USA) for the ‘King of the Mountain’ title on Sunday.
It was a busy day on Lake St. Moritz with the Race Committee anxious to take advantage of the good wind and sunny skies. The sun brought the spectators out in force and the grandstand, along with a good portion of the shoreline, was crowded with interested match racing fans.
In one of the Semi Finals, Williams was able to get the better of Swiss crowd favourite Eric Monnin on the start line, and in both matches he preserved that early advantage around the race course.
“We had really good starts and good speed,” said Willliams, explaining the success of Team Pindar today. “That was the key to those races, but Eric really put pressure on us downwind. We needed to keep batting him back. But it’s great for us to be in the Final.”
In the other Semi Final, Mark Mendelblatt also earned his wins over defending St. Moritz champion Paolo Cian (ITA) in the pre-starts. In the first match, he was able to luff up and just squeeze in at the pin end of the starting line. As a bonus, this manoeuvre forced Cian over the starting line early. By the time the Italian had re-started, Mendelblatt was in control.
In the second match, a pre-start penalty to Cian just before the gun fired put the American in control and he held on to sweep the Semi Final 2-0. Following the race, Mendelblatt said he’s excited about the challenge of meeting Williams for the title.
“We love sailing here. It seems to suit us pretty well,” he said. “But Ian is number one in the world and he’s always a tough race. I’m expecting nothing less than a really hard battle from him. I don’t think he’s going to be easy to beat at all.”
Earlier, Mendelblatt had to recover from a rare ‘black flag’ penalty to emerge from his Quarter Final against Sébastien Col (FRA). Mendelblatt was penalised three times in the pre-start and thus disqualified from that race. He recovered quickly however to win the next match and advance to the Semi Final.
Col would beat Swiss sailor Matthias Renker in the battle for seventh place. In the sail-off for fifth and sixth, Mathieu Richard (FRA) beat Peter Evans (NZL) who was subbing on the Alinghi team for the injured Jochen Schuemann.
Semi Final Pairings and Results
(First to two points advances to the Final)
A
Match 1 - Ian Williams beat Eric Monnin
Match 2 - Ian Williams beat Eric Monnin
B
Match 1 – Mark Mendelblatt beat Paolo Cian
Match 2 – Mark Mendelblatt beat Paolo Cian
Sail off for 5th through 8th
Mathieu Richard beats Sébastien Col
Jochen Schuemann (Peter Evans) beat Matthias Renker
Mathieu Richard (5th) beats Jochen Schuemann (Peter Evans) (6th)
Sébastien Col (7th) beats Matthias Renker (8th)
Quarter Final Pairings and Results
(First to two points advances to Semi Finals)
A
Match 1 - Ian Williams beat Matthias Renker
Match 2 - Ian Williams beat Matthias Renker
B
Match 1 - Eric Monnin beat Jochen Schuemann (Peter Evans)
Match 2 - 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
Match 3 - Sébastien Col beat Mark Mendelblatt
Match 4 - 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
Match 4 - Paolo Cian beat Mathieu Richard
Repechage Results
1. Mathieu Richard 4-1
2. Matthias Renker 3-2
3. Michael Hestbaek 3-2
4. Matteo Simoncelli 2-3
5. Staffan Lindberg 2-3
6. Evgeny Neugodnikov 1-4
Results after Group Round Robin
Group A
Ian Williams 5-0
Sebastien Col 4-1
Jochen Schuemann 3-2
Evgeny Neugodnikow 2-3
Michael Hestbaek 1-4
Matteo Simoncelli 0-5
Group B
Paolo Cian 4-1
Eric Monnin 3-2
Mark Mendelblatt 3-2
Staffan Lindberg 2-3
Matthias Renker 2-3
Mathieu Richard 1-4
Links
Results in Detail
Photos from St Moritz Match Race
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