match racing 360 - november 2011

Korea:

ChiCago TaKes CenTer sTage

Match racing World Championship showdown

going for gold: Finland’s Silja Lehtinen

The Next Frontier

Issue 02 | November 2011

MATCH RACING 360° | November 2011 page | 2

TorVar MirsKY, sail raCing TesT TeaM 2011

www.sailracing.com


17 — Match Racer of the Moment Match Racing 360° meets Britain’s

young gun, 19 year-old RYA Youth National Match Racing Champion Mark Lees

18 — Polaroid Pinboard All your photos from on the water

19 — Flashback Up Close and Personal:

Umpires take to the water Match racing but not as we know it.

That was until the 1988 Congressional Cup when the advent of on-the-water umpires changed the sport forever…

20 — Results Who won what in the world of match

racing over the last few months?

21 — Calendar Upcoming events on the global match

racing scene

22 — Guest Columnist The Next Frontier Korea’s new dawn in match racing

is the brainchild of one man. Dong-Young Kim talks to Match Racing 360° about his motivations and vision for the future of the sport in Korea

04 — Newsround Bite-size nibbles of news from the

global match racing circuit

06 — Monsoon Cup: Where Champions are Made Match Racing 360° takes a closer

look at the World Match Racing Tour as it approaches its season finale in Malaysia after a season of thrills, shocks and surprises

10 — The Year Ahead World Match Racing Tour CEO,

Jim O’Toole, offers a snapshot into what his team are working on in the ‘close- season.’

12 — Center Stage America’s new Mecca for aspiring

match racers, we look at what the plans are both on and off the water for the Chicago Match Race Center

14 — Technical Corner Phil Robertson of WAKA Racing talks

through an incident in Qualifying at STENA Match Cup Sweden

15 — Team Profile: Going for Gold Finland’s Silja Lehtinen and her

match racing team have put themselves in the frame for a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics

Publishing Team

editorial Team: Mark ChisnellRupert HainsStacey Hunt

Contributors: Dong-Young Kim

designer: Goh Wei Lee

Photography: Chris Davies

Royal Canadian Yacht ClubGareth CookeIsao Toyama

Peter McGowanLoris von Siebenthal

Monsoon CupChris Gribble

Contact:Editorial: [email protected]

advertising and distribution:For advertising rates and our

editorial calendar, please send us an email at [email protected]

Contributors:

Do you have a story for Match Racing 360°? If you’re interested in becoming a contributor get in touch at [email protected].

disclaimer

All rights reserved © 2011. Match Racing 360° and its contents is fully protected by copyright and nothing may be printed or reproduced wholly or in part without prior written permission. Application for permission for use of copyright material including permission to reproduce extracts in other published works shall be made to the publishers. Full acknowledgement of author, publisher and source must be given.

FROM THE EDITOR

COnTEnTs

Welcome to the second edition of Match Racing 360°, the voice of the international match racing community. We’ve had some great feedback from the first issue; feature ideas, photos and comments, and we hope we’ve built the second edition even more to your liking than the first.This will be 2011’s final issue and we’re turning our thoughts to the end of the season. We have all the news and results from the global match racing circuits as national and regional titles are decided. And there’s an in-depth feature on the upcoming finale of the World Match Racing Tour at the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia. We look at who’s delivered this season, who has fallen short and, most important of all, who’s going to win it.

A definite over-achiever in any review of 2011 would be the Chicago Match Race Center – we take a look at a long list of achievements put together in a very short time in our ‘Venue Profile’. The quadrennial Olympic cycle is also reaching its endgame, and we check in with Finland’s Pre-Olympic Match Race gold medallists in our ‘Team Profile’. By way of contrast, our ‘Match Racer of the Moment’ is right at the start of his career - 19 year-old Mark Lees has just hit 70 in the ISAF rankings. And the last word will go to ‘Guest Columnist’ Dong-Young Kim, who explains how he’s building the sport of match racing towards a new future in Korea.

We hope you enjoy it and don’t forget to get involved by sending us your match racing news and ideas!

editorMatch racing 360°

page | 4MATCH RACING 360° | November 2011

isaf nations Cup grand final 2011New Zealand and France took the Open and Women’s Divisions of the 2011 ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final in mid-September. It was Claire Leroy’s third title win in succession in the Women’s Division, while for Kiwi Laurie Jury it was his first Grade One victory. The event was held in some testing conditions of big waves and breeze at the Sheboygan venue on Lake Michigan – to the surprise of Claire Leroy. “We expected the lake to be light air, not like an ocean,” she said. “We learned a lot about sailing the boat in heavy weather.” Sailed in Elliot 6m, it should have provided some good practice for the potential conditions in Weymouth Bay at next year’s Olympics.

rYa national Match racing Championships QualifierThe Royal Yachting Association (RYA) held their first qualifier for the 2011 RYA National Match Racing Championships over the weekend of the 22-23rd October. It was Sam Pearson and TeamWightMatch that departed victorious from the Queen Mary Sailing Club, and with a place booked in the grand final in late-November. The event opened on the Saturday with a perfect, steady eight knots, before increasing to a more challenging 16 to 18 knots for the following day. Mason Woodworth (USA) is a former RYA National Match Racing Championship finalist but he finished in second, with Pearson’s defeated semi-final opponent, Ali Hall (GBR) third. Afterwards, Pearson said, “Our goal was to reach the finals and to use the weekend as a chance to regroup and train as TeamWightMatch following our bowman Dan’s absence from the Bermuda (Argo Group) Gold Cup. It’s great to win but our main aim was getting into the finals so we are looking ahead to that now.”

Canadian Match racing ChampionshipsThe Canadian Match Racing Championships concluded in Toronto in sunshine and great, breezy conditions – and with a clean sweep of the top three for the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. It was a great endorsement for their grass roots training programme, with Peter Wickwire taking the win, and two women’s teams, led by Jen Provan and Sharon Ferris-Choat, rounding out the podium in second and third respectively.

Chicago Match CupLake Michigan was home to another Grade One event in September; the Chicago Match Cup at the Chicago Match Race Center. It attracted some of the world’s top and up and coming match racers, including New Zealand’s WMRT Card Holder, Phil Robertson and his fellow Kiwi, Reuben Corbett, currently holding a top ten ISAF ranking; while Pierre-Antoine Morvan, who is ranked 6th in the world, attended from France. Sailing legend Dave Perry was also competing, as was Ian Williams’ WMRT tactician and current Etchells World Champion, Bill Hardesty. But it was Australia’s Keith Swinton who prevailed, winning 3-1 in a final against Morvan. Phil Robertson took third in the Petite Final with a 2-0 victory over Portugal’s Alvaro Marinho.

nEwsROunD

laurie Jury in action during the isaf nations Cup 2011

on lake Michigan. Photo: Chris Gribble

Tim Bishop from Peter Wickwire’s regatta winning crew eyeballs the gap between the race committee. Photo: RCYC


David Gilmour leads Jay Griffin in the final of the Australian Youth Match racing Championships.

World Match racing Tour and garrard Unveil new World Championship TrophyThe World Match Racing Tour and Garrard, the new Official Jeweller and Silversmith to the Tour, presented the new, ISAF Match Racing World Championship trophy at Garrard’s flagship store in Mayfair, London, on the 7th November. Joined by a host of special guests, Eric Deardorff - CEO of Garrard, Patrick Lim - Executive Chairman of the World Match Racing Tour and Peter Gilmour - President of the World Match Racing Tour unveiled the unique silver, nautical inspired trophy which was both designed and created by Garrard. The collaboration continues the jeweller’s rich sporting heritage where its famous hallmark can be found on renowned trophies including the America’s Cup, the Cricket World Cup and the FA Premier League trophy. The new trophy will be awarded at the season finale, the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia in November, to the 2011 ISAF Match Racing World Champion.

Busan Cup, international Women’s Match raceA lack of wind held up the start of the finals in Busan, but eventually there was enough breeze to get the racing underway. The Petite Final for third and fourth was won by the Netherlands’ Renee Groeneveld, leaving Canada’s Sharon Ferris in fourth by a 1-0 scoreline. While in the final Europe triumphed again, this time in the shape of Camilla Ulrikkeholm of Denmark, beating New Zealand’s Stephanie Hazard 2-0. Camilla and her crew of Christel Jappe Teglers, Josefine Boel Rasmussen, Louise Ulrikkeholm and Sara Keir Wright took home the 2011 Busan Cup and shared US$20,000 in prize money.

WMrT President Peter gilmour receives Brandlaureate awardPeter Gilmour, President of the World Match Racing Tour and Race Advisor to the Monsoon Cup, received The BrandLaureate Brand Icon Leadership Award 2011 by the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation (APBF) at a glittering awards ceremony in November. The BrandLaureate Brand Icon Leadership Awards 2011 were launched by the APBF to honour the most outstanding icons in Malaysia and around the world. Gilmour was instrumental in making the Monsoon Cup, the final event on the World Match Racing Tour, a reality in 2005 and has since been one of the driving forces to have developed it into Malaysia’s second biggest annual sporting event.

If you have a story for Match Racing 360° then send it to us at [email protected].

nEwsROunD

Peter gilmour celebrates winning his award with the

team behind the Monsoon Cup. Photo: Monsoon Cup

australian Youth Match racing ChampionshipsIt was a case of ‘like father, like son’ at the 2011 Australian Youth Match Racing Championships, held in Perth in early September. Representing the hosts, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, David Gilmour (son of 4-time Match Racing World Champion Peter Gilmour) took a tough final 3-2 against Jay Griffin, from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. Third place also went to New South Wales, as the Royal Prince Alfred YC’s Reece Tailby dispatched local boy, RFBYC’s Mark Spearman 2-0.


The World Match Racing Tour’s 2011 season is gearing up for a showdown. The premier event in sailing’s one-on-one discipline will conclude in Malaysia at the Monsoon Cup on the 27th November. On that day, Ben Ainslie’s 2010

crown will move to a new head. The contenders are staring down the season finale like it was a loaded six-shooter. So we wanted to look at how the Tour Card holders had fared, judged by their own pre-season ambitions - whose year has been good, whose bad, and whose ugly?

The Monsoon Cup: Where Champions Are Made

MaIn sTORy

Photo: gilles Martin-raget / www.americascup.comThe Wave Muscat in action in St. Moritz.Photo: Chris Davies - WMRT


THE MOnsOOn Cup

We’ll start at the more cheerful end of the leaderboard and the top ranking Ian Williams. The Brit holds a slim (just over six points) advantage over Italy’s Francesco Bruni. Williams told us ahead of the first event; “We’d love to go out and win our third title so we’re closely evaluating how things went in 2010. We are certainly going to do a lot more match racing this year - last year our training was very limited and I think that proved pretty costly.”

Judging by the results so far – Williams’ scoreline includes two wins and two thirds - the extra practice has worked. But so has the change in the line-up of Team GAC Pindar. Williams added, “I will also be racing with a slightly different team this year. It’s changing due to a variety of reasons and getting the right balance will be critical. Our strength is the team that we employ.”

The new line-up has worked well and many pundits point to the key addition of the current Etchells World Champion, Bill Hardesty as tactician. Hardesty complements Williams’ analytic, measured style and they’ve been unstoppable when they’ve hit their straps. But as we’ve seen, Williams needs to deliver the goods in Malaysia. Only a third title will be enough for the man who once was king.

Right behind Williams in the standings is the Italian, Francesco Bruni, and there’s no doubt that Bruni has achieved his goal for the season. Bruni had this take on 2011 at the beginning of the year; “Honestly, this season we’re looking at the top three – we have to get there.” Bruni’s concern came after a 2010 season of near-misses. “We seem to do well in qualifying but we’re missing something in the knock-out phases. A lot of times we ended up losing 3-2 and not progressing to

the semi-final.”

This season Bruni has found what was missing and has turned near misses into results

– a win in Germany, second in

Korea and Portugal, and then third in Bermuda. The difference has probably been a clearer focus on match racing. The supporting evidence is the mid-season slump that began with a 12th in Sweden, at a time when Bruni had been on the road racing for many weeks. But with the sailing calendar thinning out considerably as we head into the northern hemisphere winter, there is every chance that the Bruni we will see in Malaysia is the Bruni of Lake Constance, not Marstrand.

In third place, just 0.2 point behind Francesco Bruni, comes Torvar Mirsky. The Australian has been playing the role of promising young sailor for a while – and podium finishes for the last two WMRT seasons were good enough. But promise has to become

Bruni racing team take the spoils at Match race germany.

Photo: Chris Davies - WMRT

Team gaC Pindar lift the sTena Match Cup sweden 2011.



year. “For all the teams on the WMRT success is obviously winning the Tour... this is a very competitive game, and so I think the ultimate success is to do as best as they possibly can, and for us that would be winning once again.”

The devil is in the detail though - Gilmour heads an incredibly tight

THE MOnsOOn Cupwinning at some stage, and many observers felt 2011 was the year for Mirsky. And so it seemed, did Mirsky. “We’ve only won one Tour event but have come second a great number of times. We’ve had consistent great performances but feel this lack of wins has weighed down on us - it’s time to change this. We’re ready to win events and the WMRT.”

Mirsky is well on the way to delivering. A poor start to the season can largely be blamed on uncertainty in other parts of his sailing career, but he refocused and turned up in St Moritz on a mission. He won there, and then won again in Bermuda to get right in the frame for the title. It’ll be the second time he’s gone to Malaysia with a shot at the prize. The previous experience will surely help Mirsky this time around but, as with Williams, he knows that nothing less than a win will be good enough. And that knowledge can only add to the pressure.

Moving off the podium and down into fourth we find Peter Gilmour on 78.8 points, a full 21 points off the pace. The multiple champion has a very slim shot at the title, and one that relies on all three of those teams above him failing in Malaysia. Gilmour’s season is surely a disappointment. The match racing legend told us at the beginning of the

Crowds line the island of Marstrand for STENA Match Cup Sweden 2011. Photo: Chris Davies - WMRT

group, the span is less than ten points all the way back to Matthieu Richard in ninth. The whole season is teetering on a knife’s edge; for half a dozen teams, it could yet be good, bad or ugly. Any one of them could end up not just missing the title and the podium, but getting dumped to the bottom of the pack!!

The Wave Muscat win their first WMRT event since 2009 in st. Moritz.



THE MOnsOOn Cup

All nine Tour Card Holders line up for the 2011 season.Photo: Chris Davies - WMRT

The fierce racing at the Portimao Portugal Match Cup reflects a fascinating 2011 Tour. Photo: Chris Davies - WMRT

Pierre orPhanidis“I can’t help but feel disappointed by the performance of my two fellow French Tour Card holders,

Mathieu Richard and Damien Iehl - in particular Richard. He hasn’t won any Tour events this year and three sevenths, one fifth and a third is certainly not the performance needed to be crowned Match Racing World Champion. I don’t think the Tour podium will be different from the current top three, and if I had to pick this year’s champion I’d bet

on Mirsky.”

doBBs daVis“I think Bruni has so far over-delivered; to be in the runner-up spot in only his second Tour season is as meteoric a climb

as the Young Guns did a few years ago. Under-delivering for me has been Mathieu Richard, with only one podium finish. I think the final top three will be: Williams, Richard, and Bruni - but not necessarily in

that order!”

andY green“I think Torvar Mirsky has had a particularly strong end to the season. He has a very good chance of taking the World

Championship. Obviously Mathieu Richard hasn’t had enough podium finishes this season, after he was challenging for the world title last year. The top three at the end of the year? That’ll be Mirsky, Williams, Bruni - in no particular order!”

It’s a desperate situation when you consider the early season ambitions. In sixth place on 74 points, Damien Iehl told us before Match Race France; “The objective is simple – it’s just the title.” Johnie Berntsson, now in seventh on 73.2 points, was only a little less punchy; “We have won Tour events but now we want the World Championship.” Back in eighth on 71.2 points - and for some pundits the pre-season favourite - Jesper Radich reckoned; “My goal is to win it.”

And then we come to last year’s nearly man – Mathieu Richard – who came so close to the title in 2010 (not for the first time), before losing it to Ben Ainslie on the final weekend of the season. Now Richard is languishing in ninth with 69.6 pts and had to rely on a wildcard invite to compete in Malaysia. But at

the start of the year he wanted, “... to win the Championship.” He’s surely failed in that task, but the fact that he could still recover to a podium position says a lot for how tight this year’s Tour has been.

If there’s one man who is guaranteed disappointment it’s Tour rookie, Phil Robertson. Sitting on just 56 pts and off the back of the pack by almost 14 points, Robertson has had a tough opening year. And he too had set his targets high. “Making the top six is a realistic goal, but recently we’ve upped it to top three...” Robertson still scored a third in Germany and has the talent and the motivation to make a splash at the final event of the season. After all, the jostling for next season’s precious Tour Cards is about to start the process all over again...

page | 10MATCH RACING 360° | November 2011

No ‘Close-Season’ for the World Match Racing Tour ManagementWhile most of the world’s match racing communities are currently focused on the end of their own calendar season and, of course, the culmination of one of the closest ever World Match Racing Tour seasons, those responsible for the management of the Tour are busy looking forward to 2012.

Jim O’Toole, the Tour’s CEO, explains: “The monsoon Cup is the culmination of a long season of hard work for everyone involved, specifically for the three teams in contention for the world title. We’re all looking forward to watching the drama unfold in malaysia however our team is also busy planning ahead for 2012 which promises to be another season of exciting growth.”

A good example is Sales Director Matt Strachan who has been busy on commercial matters: “We have signed two new sponsors, one of which is Garrard – the world’s oldest jewellers – and the fruits of that deal will be shown at this month’s monsoon Cup with a

stunning new World Championship trophy and medals. The second sponsor is a major global car brand who will launch their World match racing Tour partnership in europe in February. The level of activation planning that has gone into this deal at such an early stage is staggering and it’s sure to one of the most impactful car deals ever in sailing.”

Tour Director Craig Mitchell believes increased ‘ship to shore’ communications will play an increasingly important role in 2012. Fan feedback from the Tour’s 2011 internet television output demonstrates the desire to bring the action even closer to the shore and so boat audio, where fans can hear exactly what the sailors are saying in the heat of battle, will be a key focus.

Elsewhere, O’Toole said: “our Head of marketing, Ivan Tuen, is busy working with Tour partners Sail racing who will introduce new merchandise items

after successful trial campaigns ran in 2011 in partnership with the St. moritz and bermuda events.

“As part of the Tour’s ongoing development plans, two new venues have been contracted, one of which will go live next season in July 2012. Full details will be announced in December alongside the existing Tour events. The other event is likely to launch in 2013.The fleets of boats are central to these new venue agreements and we’ve developed some exciting new propositions for potential host cities, all of which will be revealed in 2012.”

O’Toole says the final piece of the jigsaw is the Tour’s sailor line-up: “Finally, and most importantly, we look forward to unveiling our major asset - the 2011 Tour Card Holder line-up - in January. If early interest levels are any indication, we shall be welcoming some exciting new faces to the Tour in 2012.”

THE yEaR aHEaD


WE ARE PROUD OF BEING THE OFFICIAL IT-PARTNER OF THE WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR.

WE ARE PROUD OF BEING THE OFFICIAL IT-PARTNER OF THE WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR

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VEnuE pROFIlE

CenTer sTage

Photo: Peter McGowan


The genesis of the Chicago Match Race Center (CMRC) is found in the sailing trajectory of its founder, Don Wilson. Beginning with dinghies in Switzerland before progressing to college racing, then onto the T10, J105 and the Melges 24, before finally trying his hand at match racing in 2005. It was love at first dial-up and by 2008 Wilson had got Bill Hardesty, a WMRT winning tactician, calling the shots for him on the US circuit, and had competed at the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda.

Etchells Worlds in San Diego in 2011. He’s now relinquished his original role as CMRC’s Sailing Director to return to the 2011 World Match Racing Tour with Ian Williams. Hardesty commented, “We took the best parts of all of the events we had done collectively and put the Center together. We hired really good people and always looked to improve.”

The daily management of the Center is now in the hands of Program Director, Tod Reynolds; while five-time College National Champion (and Reynolds’ some-time match race skipper), Taylor Canfield is the new Sailing Director. Canfield has taken full advantage of the opportunity, mixing coaching and umpiring with training at the Centre and representing CMRC in many events, including the WMRT’s Argo Group Gold Cup. Canfield now has an ISAF ranking of 30 and told us, “It is all because of Don Wilson ... who

Wilson takes up the story, “After seeing what was out there, I decided there was an opportunity to create an organization solely focused on match racing. Working with Bill Hardesty, we selected Tom 28 Maxs as our fleet, and Ribcraft as umpire boats. I also designed a 70 foot houseboat as the club house. The city and the park district were great to work with, and managed to set us up with plenty of room at the north end of Belmont Harbor.” The objective was simple; to provide the facilities to raise the level of match racing both locally in the Great Lakes area, and nationally in the United States.

Don Wilson currently sits at 37 on the ISAF Ranking list, so the project was never lacking credibility, but Bill Hardesty’s involvement can’t have hurt. Winner of the World Match Racing Tour as tactician for Britain’s Ian Williams, Hardesty also won the


has started such a unique program in a great city.”

The Center is one of the few places with the facilities to allow teams training sessions with all the necessary support – especially race officials and on the water umpires. Another sailor who’s benefitted is Olympic Match Racer, Sally Barkow - finding a role in training the USA’s Olympians shows that the CMRC has come a long way in a short time, as Wilson pointed out. “In 2011 (the third season in existence) we hosted a Grade 1, a Grade 2, as well as seven Grade 3s.” While the Grade 1 and 2 events take up the headlines, there are professionally coached match race training sessions for local members twice a week, along with entry into a series of Grade 4 and 5 events. And some of those locals are now getting pretty good.

Steven Lowry boasts the 1981 US Singlehanded Championship on his CV (at the expense of Dave Perry) but is now, “a family man with a day job, strictly Category 1”. Previously, Lowry and Derrick Reig craned two J22s in and out of the water to train in the evenings but, says Lowry, “Don’s establishment of CMRC changed that and transformed the level and effectiveness of our training. The Tom 28 Maxs are wonderful boats, superbly maintained and practices are well run.” Lowry’s ISAF Ranking is currently 111, but there are plenty of talented youngsters snapping at his heels. Alex Curtiss is one of them, “Once my friends and I decided match racing was something worth pursuing, we went to work, joining CMRC and with the support of Taylor Canfield and Tod Reynolds we were able to

rapidly ramp our level.” Watch out for Mr Curtiss.

The Center’s Tom 28 Maxs are fitted with a hot-seat position, and sponsorship is an important part of the strategy. Wilson commented, “We ran the Grade 1 and 2s at the end of Navy Pier, which provides one of the best locations in the world to host easily viewable match races in a major city. Using this forum, CMRC can now offer some very high profile sponsorship opportunities.” The boats are branded, and there are tiered bleachers and live commentary,

Do you know of a top match racing venue you’d like to see featured in Match Racing 360°?If so, contact us at [email protected].

VEnuE pROFIlE


Photo: Isao Toyama


making the racing accessible to anyone using the waterfront.

Looking ahead, Program Director Tod Reynolds hopes, “to continue to raise the level of and involvement in match racing in the United States, as well as providing excellent value for corporate sponsors by hosting events and programmes that utilize the city waterfront and stadium sailing amphitheatre that is downtown Chicago.” And Don Wilson plans to be one of those to benefit - now ranked second in the US; “The goal is to just keep on getting better at the game!”

Photo: Isao Toyama


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Match Racing 360° caught up with WAKA Racing’s Phil Robertson who talked us through a key incident at the windward mark in his match against Ian Williams’ Team GAC Pindar at the 2011 STENA match Cup Sweden.

going for gold: SILJA LEHTINEN’S FINNISH TEAM


The most important women’s match racing event this year was unquestionably the Pre-Olympic test event at Weymouth, back in August. It was won by the Finnish team of Silja Lehtinen, Silja Kanerva and Mikaela Wulff, and ended 3-2 after an unbelievably tight final. Silja started match racing in 2003, but they’ve only been sailing together as a team for 18 months. They are all in their early to mid-twenties, but have still been chasing the Olympic dream for a while. We talked to Silja Lehtinen:

how did you come together as a team?I used to sail 29ers with Silja K, but then in Ynglings we sailed in different teams. So it was nice to start sailing together again (for the match racing). I knew Miksu just from regattas, she sailed 470s before and is an outgoing and fun person, so I thought we would make a good team.

how do you organise your training?We have trained a lot with our American training partners, that’s Anna Tunnicliffe’s team, down in Miami. In Helsinki there is also a match race centre with six Elliotts, so we have good training facilities at home as well.

What’s the single most important skill or attribute for a successful match race skipper?There is no single skill, like sailing in general, match racing is all about balance, and you need to be good at a lot of

things. It’s really important to be a good sailor in general and feel the boat. Then you also need to have a sort of will to do battle, and to face your opponent eye-to-eye. But in the end, it’s all about team work, so you need to understand how people and a group of people work together best, and create a positive and encouraging environment.

What other sailing achievements do you have outside match racing as an individual?I was eleventh at the Beijing Olympics in Ynglings. Before that I won gold in the Byte in 2001, and at the 29er Worlds in 2006, and I was 4th at the Youth Worlds in 2002.

Tell us about the final for the gold medal against ekaterina skudina?I didn’t realize Ekaterina’s team had got a penalty (for pumping) at the start of the last downwind leg, when they were behind us. They then rolled us, but they dove deep afterwards, so we started rolling them again. Suddenly they luffed us, and I jumped to hike out

hard, but missed the hiking straps. I only caught a bungee with my left foot, so I was hanging from that and the tiller extension. Miksu held me from falling completely, and Silja K picked me up. We then gybed towards the line and saw Ekaterina starting a penalty turn right at the finish that I wasn’t expecting. They got caught head-to-wind for a second too long, and we just managed to pass them one meter from the line. It was pretty unbelievable.

Are you confident going into next year’s games of repeating your gold medal success?Match racing is such a close game and all the teams are getting very, very good, so the results keep changing a lot from regatta to regatta, and no one can be too confident.

What are your plans after the next olympics?We’ll see. We all love skiffs and have sailed them a lot, but let’s see (the Women’s skiff is a new class for the 2016 Olympics, but the match racing

has been dropped).

What do you see as the future for Women’s Match racing after the next olympics?I think women’s match race regattas were a lot of fun even before the Olympics. So I hope that kind of fun and social racing will keep going. I think it also has potential for a world tour at the top level, but that will need someone to put quite a lot of effort into organizing it. But definitely I would like to see that happening!

(L-R) Mikaela Wulff, Silja Lehtinen, Silja Kanerva and Annina Takala.

TEaM pROFIlESilja Lehtinen and her team fighting it out in Weymouth.

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if there was one thing you could change instantly about your sailing what would it be? Funding; Team Echo is entirely self-funded at the moment, and it is really hard to do as much practice and as many events as we would like to take our match racing to the next level.

What one word would you use to describe yourself? Determined.

and what one word do you think your crew would use to describe you? Short!

How do you stay fit for sailing? I have a gym in my garage at home with most of the things that I need, and there’s nothing quite as unpleasant as going for a run on a cold winter morning!

Where do you see yourself in ten years time? Good Question. Team Echo’s goal is to compete on the World Match Racing Tour in the near future. In ten years, I would like to be able to say I had sailed in most of the best events in the world and have a realistic chance of winning the America’s Cup for Great Britain.

MaTCH RaCER OF THE MOMEnTNominate a sailor for Match Racer of the Moment by emailing [email protected]

Britain’s Mark lees is just 19 years-old, but along with his Team echo sail racing is now sitting at 70 in the latest isaf rankings. Mark only started match racing three years ago and has already won the rYa Youth national Match racing Championships. Match racing 360° caught up with Mark:

name: Mark Leesage: 19Team: Team Echo Sail RacingRole on boat: Helm

how did you start sailing? Both sides of my family are sailing mad, and my parents always raced whatever boats they had together. I spent my childhood messing around in boats and my first racing was helping my mum on the bow of our family’s 30 footer at the age of eight.

and what was it about match racing that attracted you to it? Firstly, the complexity of it; the different boats, and the different number of people in the teams requires a very broad skill set. Secondly, I like the intensity, you win or you lose and even small mistakes can cost you the race, and one race can make a big difference to your overall finishing position.

What is your biggest achievement in match racing? Winning the UK Youth Nationals in 2009.

What is your biggest achievement in other sailing? Winning the Junior Optimist Nationals aged 12.

What is your biggest achievement outside sailing? I was a county-level rugby player for Dorset.

how did it feel to get to your current isaf ranking? Good, we have been doing a lot of different sailing this year which has been fantastic, but we didn’t do as much match racing as we would have liked. So we made an effort to do a few more events in the autumn, to try and give our ranking a boost.

Who has had the most influence on your sailing? My parents. They have helped and supported me from day one.

is there a common denominator you’re looking for when selecting your crew? Commitment is a big factor. If it means as much to everyone on the team then it’s easy to be motivated and go at one hundred per cent for each other. Team Echo

Team Echo


Black Swan Racing win the 2011 BMW Berlin

Match Race.

Photo: Berlin Yacht Club

pOlaROID pInbOaRD

Crowds gather to watch the action at the 2011 St. Moritz Match

Race.

Photo: Chris Davies WMRT

Malaysian Match Racing Championship.

Photo: Gareth Cooke

Asian Match Racing Championship 2011.

Photo: Gareth Cooke

Tovar Mirsky, winner of the Argo Group

Gold Cup, with Wade Waddell, winner of the

RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup.

Photo: Chris Davies WMRT


Up Close and Personal: Umpires take to the water

FlasHbaCk

it’s hard to believe but the 1987 America’s Cup – the one event that probably did more to propel sailing

into mainstream consciousness than any other - was sailed under fleet racing rules. There was no pre-start box, and so there was no entry. No entry, no dial-up. The boats just shadowed each other until the ten minute gun went, and then got stuck into it. If there were any collisions or rules incidents then they were settled in a conventional protest hearing, and those often ran late into the night.

The problem was exacerbated by a new kind of helmsman that embraced the rules as an offensive weapon - Peter Gilmour was the pack leader, and he kept the protest committees very busy. The results of races might only be decided hours after the boats had finished, making life tough

for journalists, not-to-mention the nascent US sports television station that had chosen to cover the event as part of its growth strategy – ESPN.

The sailing community in general and one or two individuals in particular quickly became convinced that something should be done. It was Tom Ehman that brought a proposal to ISAF’s November 1987 Conference, a proposal to introduce on-the-water umpires. In a poacher-turned-gamekeeper move, Gilmour’s 1987 America’s Cup rules advisor, Bryan Willis, was brought into a working party with Ehman and the-then chairman of the Racing Rules Committee, Goran Petersson (current ISAF President).

Things moved very quickly, Ehman and others had already ‘unofficially’ tested the concept of umpires at the

Maxi Worlds in Newport, Rhode Island in June of 1987. And it was just four months after the ISAF Conference that on-the-water umpires were used at a first major match race event, the Congressional Cup in March 1988. Tom Ehman was Chief Umpire and Bryan Willis and Goran Petersson were on the team – Willis becoming central to the process as the pace increased.

So who got the first ever umpire penalty at that 1988 Congressional Cup? Who else but Peter Gilmour – Kirk Brown reckoning that it was handed out by Bryan Willis and Chuck Fuller. Subsequently, Willis remembered that at the prize giving, Gilmour (who had won) called him up on stage and presented him with his Protest flag. It was Gilmour’s way of saying thank you to Willis for teaching him all the moves!

Congressional Cup ‘88 Jury and the winner, Australia’s Peter Gilmour.


2011 leaderBoard resUlTs

REsulTs

isaf grade W – World ChaMPionshiP eVenTs

grade 2 & 3 eVenTs

grade 4 & 5 eVenTs

grade 1 eVenTs

st. Moritz Match raceSt. Moritz, Switzerland30/08/2011 – 04/09/2011Grade W1) Torvar Mirsky (AUS)2) Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA)3) Ian Williams (GBR)

argo group gold CupHamilton, Bermuda04/10/2011 – 09/10/2011Grade W1) Torvar Mirsky (AUS)2) Johnie Berntsson (SWE)3) Francesco Bruni (ITA)

Chicago grade 1 Match raceLake Michigan, USA28/09/2011 – 01/10/2011Grade 11) Keith Swinton (AUS)2) Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA)3) Phil Robertson (NZL)

isaf nations grand Cup finalSheboygan, USA13/09/2011 – 18/09/2011Grade 1Women 1) Claire Leroy (FRA) 2) Rita Congalves (POR) 3) Olivia Price (AUS) Men 1) Laurie Jury (NZL)2) Mads Ebler (DEN)3) Henrique Haddad (BRA)

st Quay Women Match racingSt Quay Portireux, France18/10/2011 – 22/10/2011Grade 11) Lucy Macgregor (GBR)2) Claire Leroy (FRA)3) Silvia Roca Mata (ESP)

Busan Women’s international Match raceHaeundae Beach, Korea25/10/2011 – 30/10/2011Grade 11) Camilla Ulrikkeholm (DEN)2) Stephanie Hazard (NZL)3) Renee Groeneveld (NED)

Trofeo lago di BilancinoLago Di Bilancino, Italy 03/09/2011 – 04/09/2011Grade 51) Fabio Gabellini (ITA)2) Luigi Mercatali (ITA)3) Domenico Corbo (ITA)

dublin Match racing openDublin, Ireland03/09/2011 – 04/09/2011Grade 41) Mark Lees (GBR)2) Ryan Scott (IRL)3) Peter Bayly (IRL)

BMW Match raceRiva di Traiano, Italy 16/09/2011 – 18/09/2011Grade 41) Matteo Simoncelli (ITA)2) Saverio Ramirez (ITA)3) Luigi Ramirez (ITA)

Keelboat Match racing leagueMarina Bay Lower Boardwalk, Singapore24/09/2011 – 25/09/2011Grade 51) Shaun Toh (SIN)2) Morten Jakobsen (THA)3) Weiguo Cai (SIN)

Match race PetropolisRio de Janeiro, Brazil01/10/2011 – 02/10/2011Grade 51) Mauricio Santa Cruz (BRA)2) Ricardo Lobato (BRA)3) Bernardo Low-Beer (BRA)

Puma Muritz Match raceWaren, Germany07/10/2011 – 09/10/2011Grade 41) Heino Leja (GER)2) Guido Ecks (GER)3)Frank Prehn (GER)

oCToBer oPen MaTCh raCeOyster Bay, USA22/10/2011Grade 51) John McGrane (USA)2) Michael Nicoletti (USA)3) Anthony Pulgram (USA)

rYa national Match racing ChampionshipsQueen Mary’s Sailing Club, Great Britain22/10/2011 – 23/10/2011Grade 41) Sam Pearson (GBR)2) Mason Woodworth (USA)3) Ali Hall (GBR)

oakcliff international Match raceNew York, USA30/08/2011 – 03/09/2011Grade 21) Laurie Jury (NZL)2) Nicolai Sehested (DEN)3) William Tiller (NZL)

Wasa MatchVasa, Finland02/09/2011 – 04/09/2011Grade 21) Staffan Lindberg (FIN)2) Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN)3) Robert Nyberg (FIN)

Match race Thailand ChallengePattaya, Thailand02/09/2011 – 04/09/2011Grade 31) Ayaz Shaikh (IND)2) Maximilian Soh (SIN)3) Jeremy Koo (MAS)

Women’s finnish Championships Skifferholmen, Finland09/09/2011 – 11/09/2011Grade 31) Silja Lehtinen (FIN)2) Elena Oblova (RUS)3) Trine Abrahamsen (DEN)

new Zealand Youth Match racing nationalWellington, New Zealand28/09/2011 – 02/10/2011Grade 31) Josh Porebski (NZL)2) Tim Coltman (NZL)3) Adam Middleton (NZL)

international geneva Match raceGeneva, Switzerland15/10/2011 – 16/10/2011Grade 31) Emmanuel Kilchenmann (SUI)2) Jerome Clerc (SUI)3) Alexa Bezel (SUI)

Master espana Match raceBayona, Spain18/10/2011 – 22/10/2011Grade 21) Simone Ferrarese (ITA)2) Manuel Weiller Vidal (ESP)3) William Tiller (NZL)

oakcliff halloween invitational New York, USA23/10/2011 – 30/10/2011Grade 31) Colin Rathbun (IVB)2) Mike Quaglio (USA)3) Michael Komar (USA)



Got an event you want listed in the Match Racing 360° calendar? Email us at [email protected].

CalEnDaR

isaf grade W – World ChaMPionshiP eVenTs

grade 2 & 3 eVenTs

grade 4 & 5 eVenTs

Monsoon CupKuala Terengganu, Malaysia22/11/2011 - 27/11/11Grade W

Perth 2011 isaf sailing World Championships Perth, Australia03/12/2011 – 18/12/2011Grade Wwww.perth2011.com

Christmas Match racesBrindisi, Italy10/12/2011 - 11/12/2011Grade 3www.circolovelabrindisi.it

Women’s ibero-american Match racingMar del Plata, Argentina 14/12/2011 – 16/12/2011Grade 2www.cnmp.org

open ibero-american Match racing ChampionshipMar del Plata, Argentina17/12/2011 – 18/12/2011 Grade 3www.cnmp.org

Colin Mullins Youth Match racing regattaPerth, Australia27/01/2011 – 30/01/2011Grade 3 www.warrenjonesregatta.org.au

January Match race Scarlino, Italy 28/01/2012 – 29/01/2012Grade 3 www.clubnauticoscarlino.com

Warren Jones international Youth regattaPerth, Australia31/01/2012 – 03/02/2012Grade 3www.warrenjonesregatta.org.au

Women’s Match racing international Country Florida, USA02/02/2012 – 05/02/2012Grade 2 www.sailsheboygan.org

hardy CupSydney, Australia05/02/2012 – 09/02/2012Grade 3www.rsys.com.au/sailing/hardycuphomepage.php

Youth International Match RacingAuckland, New Zealand10/02/2012 – 14/02/2012Grade 3www.rnzys.org.nz

Match race CerviaCervia, Italy30/11/2011 – 02/122011Grade 4www.circolonauticocervia.it

saint francois Match racing 3rd roundSaint Francois, France14/01/2012 – 15/01/2012Grade 5 www.ycsf.fr

UnM’s CupMarseille, France14/01/2012 – 15/01/2012Grade 4

BUCs/BUsa Match racing Q2Queen Marys Sailing Club, Great Britain 21/01/2012 – 22/01/2012Grade 4www.rya.org.uk

Zo.la dura Match – februaryLi Trani, Italy11/02/2012 – 12/02/2012Grade 4

15th asian sailing ChampionshipLangkawi, Kedah, Malaysia16/02/2012 – 25/02/2012Grade 4www.sailing.org.my

selective Bassin atlantique round robin 4Saint Pierre Quiberon, France18/02/2012 – 19/02/2012Grade 4 www.envsn.fr

finale du Championnat de MediterraneeMarseille, France18/02/2012 – 19/02/2012Grade 4www.ycpr.net

february Match raceScarlino, Italy25/02/2012 – 26/02/2012Grade 4www.clubnauticoscarlino.com



The next frontier

sailing was a very small sport in Korea when I began my career in the marine industry, there

were maybe 500 dinghy sailors, and just a few club keelboat sailors. There were no regattas for the yachts, just some dinghy events organised by the Korea Sailing Federation. So we started the Korea Match Cup right at the beginning of the sport in my country.

There was no other match racing going on in Korea when we began, although the Busan Woman’s International Match Race event has subsequently started. I chose a match racing event because good television coverage was essential. There were so few sailors in Korea that we knew we had to appeal to non-sailors, we

Dong-Young Kim is the architect behind the Korea Match Cup, an

event that has created a groundswell of interest in the sport of sailing

in Korea. As our guest columnist, Dong-Young Kim explains his

motivations and vision for the future. dong-Young Kim, organiser of the Korea Match CupPhoto: Gareth Cooke - Korea Match Cup

Korea Match Cup 2011 in Jeongok Harbour, South Korea.

Photo: Chris Davies, WMRT

GuEsT COluMnIsT

Cup with the Korea International Boat Show at the same event site, this provided us with a ready-made audience. Secondly, we worked hard at having things for the public to do at the event – ‘experiences’ if you like – things like trying sailing and other entertainment, so that they don’t just have to come to watch the sailing. And thirdly, we sponsored and promoted the Korea Match Cup with the most popular television drama programme. The results have been excellent, with spectator interest growing all the time.

We then decided to enter the America’s Cup to build on the platform provided by the World Match Racing Tour, and specifically to promote the boat building industry in Korea. An important part of the America’s Cup is building a competitive boat. boat. The Korea Match Cup and the World Match Racing Tour were vital in educating the public, government and sponsors about how exciting sailing can be, and this allowed us to move into the America’s Cup, and start to use that to promote another side of the marine industry in Korea.

We’ve still got a long way to go, but the good news is that the government is developing marinas, and operating many sailing school programs. We now see the spectators we’ve drawn into the sport through the Korea Match Cup going sailing for themselves, and we can see the sport of sailing really starting to grow in Korea.

had to engage the mainstream sports fan. I felt that it would be a lot easier to make good television from match racing, compared to fleet racing. The other element of the decision was that by becoming part of the World Match Racing Tour we were able to invite some of the world’s top sailors. This gave the event an important credibility with the Korean audience, it helps us bring in the spectators, both at the event and for the television coverage.

Spectators were an essential part of the strategy, because sailing is not a popular participation sport in Korea, we knew we had to have spectators to make it work. They are a vital part of the success of the event. We promoted the event to spectators in three ways; firstly by combining the Korea Match

An intense rivalry for one world championship title

Match Race FranceMarseille, France

Match Race Germany Langenargen, Germany

Korea Match CupGyeonggi, Korea

Monsoon CupTerengganu, Malaysia

Argo Group Gold CupHamilton, Bermuda

Portimão Portugal Match CupPortimão, Portugal

STENA Match Cup SwedenMarstrand, Sweden

St Moritz Match RaceSt Moritz, Switzerland

2011 ISAF World Match Racing Tour CalendarStage 1 Match Race France 10 - 15 May Marseille, FranceStage 2 Match Race Germany 24 – 29 May Langenargen, GermanyStage 3 Korea Match Cup 7 - 12 June Gyeonggi, South KoreaStage 4 Portimão Portugal Match Cup 22 - 26 June Portimão, PortugalStage 5 Stena Match Cup Sweden 4 - 10 July Marstrand, SwedenStage 6 St Moritz Match Race 30 Aug - 4 Sept St Moritz, SwitzerlandStage 7 Argo Group Gold Cup 3 - 9 Oct Hamilton, BermudaStage 8 Monsoon Cup 22 - 27 Nov Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

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match racing 360 - november 2011

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