|
|
|
|
 |
|
| 1 |
IAN WILLIAMS (GBR) |
| 2 |
PAOLO CIAN (ITA) |
| 3 |
ANDY GREEN (GBR) |
| 4 |
CHRIS MAIN (NZL) |
|
|
| DAY
4 & OVERALL
(Source
: sailsail.com)
|
|
| 
|
|
| Sailing a faultless regatta,
the RYA British Match Racing Champion, Ian Williams, sailing
with his brother Mark Williams, David Lenz, Chris Gowers and
Mark Nicholls, won the RYA Match Racing Open Championships,
and only dropped one race the whole way through.
Ian Williams came up against Chris Main in the Semi Finals,
after starting prematurely, he soon caught up and an incident
at the windward mark saw Main penalised with a double red
flag penalty. By the time he had taken his penalty Williams
had a considerable lead that Main could not close the gap
on.
In the second race of the Semi final, Williams seemed to have
better speed and was playing the shifts well to have a slight
lead over Main at the windward mark, that he then went on
to extend throughout the race.
By this stage Williams was two races up and just needed one
more win to make it into the finals. A tighter third race
saw two green flags called by the umpires as both boats thought
there was reason for a penalty on their opponent but both
were denied. Williams again played the shifts to his advantage
and secured his place in the final by a considerable lead.
Racing for the other place in the final was going to be a
lot tighter, with GBR Challenge sailor Andy Green up against
Italian America's cup sailor Paulo Cian. Green took the first
race quite comfortably, but Cian came back in the second race
with a vengeance and by the windward mark had a considerable
lead. Green's downwind speed enabled him to catch up and by
the finish had split gybes with Cian and looked like he was
going to take the second race aswell. Unfortunately for Green,
Cian just crossed the finish line ahead to even the scores.
The third race saw Cian taking advantage of the shifty conditions
and go on to take the third race by a considerable distance.
Green decided that he was not going to be defeated easily,
and sailed well up the first beat, crossing Cian and going
on to win the race. For the final race the wind had dropped,
making conditions a little tricky. Green led to the windward
mark with Cian hot on his tail, Cian managed to overtake Green
after Green gybed early and then covered Green closely to
take the final race and secure his place in the Final against
Williams.
It was decided that since the wind was dropping, the finals
would be first to two points. Both teams got a good start
and then split tacks, with Williams playing the shifts to
his advantage. By the time they had reached the windward mark
he had a good lead from Cian and didn't look back to take
the first race. Cian 'pulled his socks up' in the second race,
the boats split tacks after the start with Cian sailing out
to the right hand side of the course to find more pressure,
his moved paid off, and by the windward mark he had established
a slight lead. Williams pushed him hard around the remainder
of the course, and down the final run, Cian made the mistake
of not covering Williams. Williams gybed off into better pressure
and Cian did not cover, this move was to cost him the Championships,
as Williams crossed clear ahead and secure his second Match
Racing Championship in two weeks.
sudden death 'sail-off' for third and fourth saw Andy Green
taking an early advantage form the start over Chris Main,
Main did not seem to pose a problem for Green and his team
and he went to take the race by a considerable lead.
|
|
|
|
|
| DAY
3
(Source
: sailsail.com)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today started with the end of the knockout rounds and
the departure of Jesper Feldt and Barney Chandler from the
Championships. After a long day today with 10 flights raced
in all, the four semi finalists have been decided.
Ian Williams, the British Match Racing Champion looked on
fine form, and sailed extremely well to win all of his races
and become the top seed in the semi-finals. Williams is
sailing with his brother Mark, Swedish IMS National Champion
Dave Lenz, past British Match Racing Champion Chris Gowers
and Mark Nicholls.
Second to qualify, winning six out of seven races, was Andy
Green. Green, who won the Bermuda Gold Cup in 1999 and the
Stockholm City Match in 2000, is sailing with some of his
GBR Challenge crew including 1996 Olympian Adrian Stead,
2000 Olympian Richard Sydenham, America's Cup veteran Chris
Mason and fellow GBR Challenge crew member and Farr 40 sailor
Mark Sheffield.
Qualifying in third place is Paulo Cian from Italy who is
ranked in the top 20 of the ISAF Match Racing league, and
also signed up to sail for the second Italian America's
Cup Challenge for 2002/2003, Mascalzone Latino. Cian sailing
with some of his AC ceew including Michele Paoletti, Federico
Michetti, Guido Antar Vigna and Pier Luigi Fornelli (tactician).
Last to qualify for the Semi finals was Chris Main of New
Zealand, Main sailed for Nippon Challenge in the Americas
Cup 2000 and more recently had successes at the Farr 40
Europeans and Worlds where he finished 3rd in both. He is
sailing with a predominantly British crew including top
Admirals Cup sailor Jonathan Tayor, Etchells World Champion
Nik Pearson, Jim Turner who was ranked number 7 in the ISAF
World Rankings in 2000 and a late crew swop from Derek Clark
to Matt Cornwell, after Derek injured himself in races earlier
today.
Racing for the final place was tight with any of the other
5 boats being contenders. 1996 and 2000 Olympian Ian Walker,
who has had such a successful event so far, seemed to lack
speed today, and after winning only one race was knocked
out of the Championships. RYA Youth Match Racing Champion
Paul Campbell-James, who is the youngest skipper in the
championships, was knocked out after a very tight match
against Main. Whoever had won this match would have gone
through to the final four and it was Main that just clinched
it.
Tomorrow will see Ian Williams line up against the number
four seed Chris Main and Andy Green against Paulo Cian.
|
|
|
|
|
| DAY
2
(Source
: yachtsandyachting.com
)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gavin Brady pulled out of the RYA British Open Match
Racing. In the official notice to competitors, signed by
Event Director Bill Edgerton and Chief Umpire Chris Simon
it explained that "Due to the increasingly unstable situation
after last Tuesday's atrocities Gavin has been forced to
withdraw from the RYA British Open". It went on to say that
"Gavin has a wife and young family in Washington and some
of his crew are traveling with families, and facing uncertainty
over flights, they decided they needed to leave Europe as
soon as possible".
When the sailors turned up at the Weymouth and Portland
Sailing Academy this morning the water was coming over the
harbour wall and the wind blowing over 25 knots. The decision
was made by Race Director Bill Edgerton to postpone the
race for two hours to see if the wind died down.
Racing did eventually get underway in 18-22 knots, with
Group B finishing off the round robin that was started yesterday.
With Gavin Brady pulling out of the Championships, his scores
in the three matches that he sailed yesterday still stand,
this meant that teams were still required to start correctly
and thereafter the absent boat was "black flagged" meaning
that they did not have to continue the race.
At the end of the first round, Ian Walker and Andy Green
both finished at the top of their respective groups by winning
every race, while Chris Main won both of his remaining races
to move into fourth position and join his teammates in the
latter stages of the competition.
As group winners, Walker and Green were pitched against
each other in the best of three repechage series. Green
won the first of the closely fought races but Walker took
the second and third. Main also had a successful start to
the knockout phase of the event, defeating Barney Chandler
2-0.
After a short break waiting for the increasing wind to drop
again the repechage knockout rounds began. RYA Youth Match
Racing Champion Paul Campbell-James was fortunate enough
to earn a 'bye' leaping him straight through to the Quarter
Finals. Ian Williams and Paolo Cian were also excluded from
the first repechage knockout round as they were runners
up in their groups in the first round, this means they will
now go straight through to the 2nd stage of the knockout
rounds.
The result of the knockout round saw the 2000 RYA Youth
National Champion, Andrew Cornah of West Kirby Sailing Club
returning home early after being defeated in three races
by Match Racing legend Chris Law. Accompanying Law is RYA
Team GBR Squad member Hugh Styles who has just returned
from success at the Tornado Europeans where he won a silver
medal.
Tomorrow morning will see the end of the repechage knock
out round, with the 2000 Youth Match Racing World Champion
fighting it out against Danish entry Jesper Feldt to stay
in the Championship. Chris Law also faces going home early
from the Championships if he does not manage to beat the
Channel Island Match Racing Champion Barney Chandler.
Repechage Knockout
Ian Walker def. Andy Green (2/1)
Chris Main def. Barney Chandler (2/0)
Chris Law def. Andrew Cornah (prov.)
Mark Campbell-James def. Jesper Feldt (prov.)
Group A Leaderboard at the end of
the RR 1 (skipper/win/loss)
Andy Green (GBR Challenge), 5/0
Ian Williams (GBR), 4/1
Barney Chandler (GBR), 3/2
Paul Campbell-James (GBR), 2/3
Andrew Cornah (GBR), 1/4
Jesper Feldt (DEN), 0/5
Group B Leaderboard at the end of
the RR 1 (skipper/win/loss)
Ian Walker (GBR Challenge), 5/0
Paolo Cian (Mascalzone Latino), 3/2
Chris Main (GBR Challenge ?), 0/3
Chris Law (GBR Challenge ?), 1/4
Mark Campbell-James (GBR), 1/4
Gavin Brady (Prada Challenge), Withdrawal
|
|
|
|
|
| DAY
1
(Source
: yachtsandyachting.com
)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today was one of the more unusual days in Match Racing
history, seeing some of the RYA National Match Racing Champions
line up against their sailing hero's, including names such
as Gavin Brady, Chris Law, and Andy Green.
The 12 entries were split into two groups based on their
ISAF rankings and each group sailed a round robin enabling
them to sail every team in their group.
In Group A, British Match Racer Andy Green, sailing with
some of his GBR Challenge crew including the 2000 RYA National
Match Racing Champion Adrian Stead, and 2000 Soling Olympian
Richard Sydenham, came out on top after 3 races. 2001 RYA
British Match Racing Champion Ian Williams proved he could
hold his own against the best of them losing only one race
but not easily, after a very tight Match with Green. Wild
card entry Barney Chandler from Guernsey, who finished 8th
at the RYA British Match Racing Final this year, also put
in a good performance and equaled Williams' 2 wins, defeating
Andrew Cornah from West Kirby Sailing Club and Jesper Feldt
from Denmark.
In Group B, Gavin Brady won all three of his races along
with 2000 Olympic Silver Medallist Ian Walker. Walker, who
has not really Match Raced since his school days seemed
delighted with his performance today. Last years Youth Match
Racing World Champion Mark Campbell-James was proving that
he was making good progress in the Match Racing World and
sailed a very closely fought race with Match Racing legend
Chris Law who was ranked number 2 in the World in 1999,
with Campbell-James finally winning the race.
Tomorrow the round robins will be completed and the repechage
knockout rounds will commence, which will see the bottom
four sailors knocked out of the Championships.
Group A Leaderboard (skipper/win/loss)
Andy Green (GBR Challenge), 3/0
Ian Williams (GBR), 2/1
Barney Chandler (GBR), 2/1
Andrew Cornah (GBR), 1/2
Paul Campbell-James (GBR), 1/2
Jesper Feldt (DEN), 0/3
Group B Leaderboard (skipper/win/loss)
Gavin Brady (Prada Challenge), 3/0
Ian Walker (GBR Challenge), 3/0
Chris Law (GBR Challenge ?), 1/2
Mark Campbell-James (GBR), 1/2
Paolo Cian (Mascalzone Latino), 1/2
Chris Main (GBR Challenge ?), 0/3
|
|
