William Tiller and his Full Metal Jacket Racing Team will join the world’s best skippers in September at Match Race France, the seventh stage of the 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour
William Tiller (NZ) Full Metal Jacket Racing has booked his place at Match Race France in Marseille - the seventh stage of the 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour - on 24 to 29 September 2012 after winning the international match race, Sails of White Nights/Congress Palace Cup in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Tiller overcame Russian finalist Vladimir Lipavsky with a commanding 3-0 scoreline, saying: “St. Petersburg has been great, the city and unique water areas are beautiful and the competition well-organized. I’d come here again and again”.
In the event’s opening exchanges, Tiller stayed in the background whilst it was the local Russian yachtsmen who started as central figures. After the first day’s racing, three-time winner of the St. Petersburg regatta, Andrey Arbuzov, had amassed four victories from his first five duels but ultimately it wasn’t enough to top the qualifying table. Arbuzov’s longstanding Yekaterinburg rival, Sergey Musikhin, took the spotlight as he won the round robin.
Following the qualification round a close battle between Arbuzov and Tiller took the full five flights to decide a winner, and it was the Kiwi who progressed after Arbuzov “lost a meter at the finish gate in the fifth race”. Tiller also beat compatriot Reuben Corbett (NZ) in their Semi-Final on his way to taking the event crown.
Saint Petersburg will now look forward to hosting the EUROSAF Match Racing, European Open Championship 2013, which will see an array of international teams competing at the Neva aquatic area.
William Tiller and his Full Metal Jacket Racing Team will join the world’s best skippers in September at Match Race France, the seventh stage of the 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour.
The international match race Sails of White Nights/Congress Palace Cup final standings:
1 William Tiller (NZL)
2 Vladimir Lipavsky (RUS)
3 Reuben Corbett (NZL)
4 Sergey Musikhin (RUS)
5 Staffan Lindberg (FIN)
6 Stratis Andreadis (GRE)
7 Sam Pearson (GBR)
8 Andrew Arbuzov (RUS)
9 Alexey Stupka (RUS)
10 Marek Stanczyk (POL)
11 Nikolay Korolev (RUS)
12 Robbie Allam (GBR)
| F | SF | QF | QR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FINAL | |||||
| Ian Williams | .png&w=20) |
1-0 | 3-2 | 0-0 | 9-2 |
| Adam Minoprio |  |
0-1 | 3-1 | 3-2 | 6-5 |
| PETIT FINAL | |||||
| Mathieu Richard |  |
1-0 | 1-3 | 3-1 | 8-3 |
| Johnie Berntsson |  |
0-1 | 2-3 | 3-2 | 6-5 |
The King Edward VII Gold Cup is the oldest match-racing trophy in the world for competition involving one-design yachts. It was given at the Tri-Centenary Regatta at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1907 by King Edward VII in commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of the first permanent settlement in America. C. Sherman Hoyt won the regatta and was the first to accept the now historic cup.
After three decades of holding the Cup, Mr. Hoyt gave it to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and proposed a regular one-on-one match-race series in 6-Meter yachts. In his letter he expressed the propriety of “my returning a British Royal trophy to the custody of your club, with its long record of clean sportsmanship and keenly contested races between your Bermuda yachts and ours of Long Island Sound, and elsewhere...” The first winner of the Cup in its new format was the celebrated Briggs Cunningham, who was also the first skipper to win the America’s Cup in a 12-Meter.
In the post-war years, the Club placed the Cup in competition in 1956 for match-racing in yachts of the International One Design Class. Bert Darrell had the honor of being first to defend the Cup in this class and won it a total of six times.
By winning his seventh championship in 2004, Russell Coutts surpassed Darrell to become the event’s all-time winner.
Through the years Bermuda has won the Cup 21 times, the United States 17 times, New Zealand 10 times, Australia 5 times, the United Kingdom three times, and in 2002 Denmark claimed the King Edward VII Gold Cup for the first time.
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