WMRT : 2009 ISAF Match Racing World Champion Minoprio Wins Stage 2

Mighty Mother Nature was Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing’s best friend today as he took the Match Race Germany Trophy. The finals today at Stage 2 have been tortuous for the remaining racers. The wisps of wind that did strike the glassy lake today taunted the Tour’s competitors.

A jubilant Minoprio and his team shared their joy, “It’s unfortunate when no wind comes in. We felt we started sailing better as the regatta went on finishing the round robin on 8 wins with Richard and Williams. We have been fortunate enough today to take out the regatta”.

Semi final stage was cut short at midday after no morning racing; Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team went through to the finals over a disappointed Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team at 2-1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing cemented his finals spot after yesterday’s score of 2-1 over ‘birthday boy’ Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team.

As the air temperature soared to 26 degrees so too did the tension on board the race boats. The yellow and black ‘standby flag’ hung limply on the race committee’s boat which further infuriated the skippers who desperately needed action to be in with a champion chance. The anxiety of waiting for wind is tough on a crew’s mental focus and motivation. “It plays with your head”, said Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing.
Current ISAF Match Racing World Champion, Minoprio, kept his fingers crossed and joked with his bathing beauty team mates throughout the waiting room ordeal. For the Kiwi no racing meant a guaranteed number 1 finish. Activity today was mostly online with the WMRT live blog and interactive social media feeds, Mark Chisnell, WMRT’s dedicated commentator, kept everyone positive and said, “It’s a lake and therefore things do change very quickly”.

But sadly nothing changed and by 16:00 hours the race committee stopped the dormant drifting and decided on a boat parade for the fans announced through a blaze of horns akin to that of the Volvo Ocean Race starts.

Radich, a newly rejuvenated match racer, was slightly down hearted on not being able to race the final. “It would have been great to race the current World Champion as my team and I were really on form to take on the final after winning the semi matches yesterday. I know tomorrow I will look back and be pleased with our performance and I am now having a serious think about getting back into match racing if I can keep this team together. It’s such a great sport to be in”.

In the overall 2010 Tour standings, France’s Richard stays in the lead and Minoprio takes an outstanding leap from 6th to 2nd place, with Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN in joint 3rd with Radich.
The ever diplomatic Richard, who was victor of Stage 1, was happy to share his thoughts. “It was a frustrating day. We felt we could have won the first 2 matches yesterday but we lost, so today we really wanted to race the semi-finals. Unfortunately the wind decided the results for us and being in third place is not a bad result, I can’t complain about it”. Richard is now looking forward to a debriefing with his team on this event and heading home for some relaxation time before Korea Match Cup in June, where they will be back stronger.

From the overwhelming excitement of the public enjoying their national holiday and WMRT World Series viewing, no one could guess that football instead of sailing is in fact Germany’s leading sport. Miss Tuning 2010 shone for the gentlemen today in a tight fitting sequined number as she presented the prizes to the top three winners. ‘Mino’ as Minoprio is more popularly known to the Tour fraternity, was awarded with the gorgeous Match Race Germany Trophy at a glitzy champagne-fuelled open air ceremony.

The awesome Match Race Germany Event Director duo, Eberhard Magg and Harald Thierer, are happy to have put smiles on the faces of the spectators and the sailors this week. “Despite the superstition of it being the 13th edition this year, the event has gone smoothly. We had some close matches which highlighted the calibre of the talent competing here. The live streaming gave Stage 2 of the Tour a fantastic dimension and the web pages to access the footage have had 23,000 click throughs”.

Travel plans will now shift to Korea Match Cup, Stage 3 of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour happening at the beginning of June. This will be the first 2010 event outside of Europe and could see the likes of new hot shot Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team taking advantage of his previous regatta training at this unique venue that is also to host the Korean International Boat Show while the Tour event plays out.

2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings (After Event 2 of 10)

1 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 40 Points
2 Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing 33 Points
3 Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team 20 Points
– Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 20 Points
5 Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 16 Points
– Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 16 Points
7 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 15 Points
8 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 10 Points
– Sebastian Col (FRA) ALL 4 ONE 10 Points