Viktor Ogeman tests his team against the world's top match racers at STENA Match Cup Sweden PHOTO: Andy Carter / AWMRT
Two of the world’s top young match racing prospects are testing themselves at STENA Match Cup Sweden this week as wildcard entrants include 23 year-old local skipper Viktor Ogeman (SWE) Team Accure and Joachim Achenbrenner (DEN) Team Trifork, who competes in his second Tour event of the year at just 18 years-old.
Ogeman joins Bjorn Hansen and Johnie Berntsson as home prospects for the Swedish fans, having been trained for a year by America’s Cup skipper and Swedish sailing legend, Magnus Holmberg. Talented Dane Joachim Aschenbrenner lines up alongside him as the youngest skipper of the Tour season to date.
Viktor Ogeman feels that now is the time for him to test himself against the best match racers in the world: “Naturally it is enhancing our motivation to be able to race against the biggest. We are here to learn and to see how we need to develop as a team. Of course our goal is also to try and take a victory or two as well”
Ogeman’s team have raced together for four years, training and being mentored by Magnus Holmberg and Tour Card Holder Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing in Holmberg’s Elite Challenge GKSS Youth Squad.
Outlining his goals for the season, Ogeman said: “The objective this year is to make a positive start in our first Tour event to show that we are prepared to compete in events at this level. It has been a great challenge so far to sail against the world’s elite in Marstrand and to test ourselves to see the level we are sailing at. And sure, it would be a fantastic introduction to beat Williams when we meet him today in qualifying too!”
| 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 Chicago Match Race Center was founded in 2009 to promote and grow the sport of match race sailing by WMRT champion Bill Hardesty & Chicago entrepreneur and sailor Don Wilson. As part of its mission to provide the highest-level match racing training facility for professional and amateur sailors in the US, CMRC has a fleet of Tom 28 MAX sailboats along with Elliott 6M class boats, the type that will be used in the 2012 Olympic Games.
Chicago is the third most populous city in the United States, with around 2.7 million residents while it’s metropolitan area, “Chicagoland” is home to 9.8 million people. Incorporated as a town in 1833 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, today Chicago retains its status as a major hub for industry, telecommunications and infrastructure. Navy Pier, the venue for the Chicago Match Race Center premier events is the #1 tourist and leisure destination in the Midwest attracting more than 8.6 million visitors a year.
The Chicago Match Cup has evolved from a Grade 2 event in 2009 and 2010 won by Phil Robertson and Mike Buckley respectively, to a Grade 1 in 2011 won by Keith Swinton. Both Phil and Keith have gone on to become Tour Card holders after winning in Chicago. In 2012 the Chicago Match Cup was upgraded again to Grade WC as the only US stop of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour with a $100,000 prize fund.
Also on the schedule for 2012 at the Chicago Match Race Center are three Grade 2 events and four Grade 3 events including the 100th anniversary of the Richardson Trophy, the oldest match racing trophy in North America that is not a challenge cup.
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