After putting the teams through snow, rain and freezing alpine temperatures, the St Moritz Match Race completed the qualifying round today and YANMAR Racing were amongst the quarter finalists. Perhaps unsurprisingly, after days of delays and tough conditions, race officials pushed on with the racing, shortening the quarters to get a result – and that didn’t go so well for Peter Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing team in this, the fifth event on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour.
The day had started well with YANMAR Racing having three more matches to conclude the qualifying round, the first of which was against reigning World Champion, Ian Williams. Williams found himself ninth going into the day, and in desperate need of points to qualify. He found Peter Gilmour in no mood to oblige. “We had a pretty feisty pre-start, and won the favoured right-hand side off the line. We turned that into a good lead at the first mark, and were never caught.”
The victory gave YANMAR Racing a shot at topping qualifying and getting the bye into the semi-finals. But it plunged Williams into real trouble, and he subsequently didn’t make the cut, putting the pressure on for the next couple of events, ahead of the season decider in Malaysia.
YANMAR Racing’s next opponent was Pierre-Antoine Morvan, and this was a top-of-the-table duel – both at St Moritz, and overall Tour points with Morvan just three ahead of YANMAR Racing at this stage of the season. It was Morvan that came out in front.
“He got overlapped with us into the second mark,” said Gilmour, “and then got the inside and did a nice job of the rounding, and led from there.” The loss meant that despite winning the final match against Keith Swinton, YANMAR Racing came off worse in the three-way tie (on seven wins) for second place – having lost to both Johnie Berntsson and, of course, Pierre-Antoine Morvan.
The skippers choose their quarter final opponents on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, and Morvan chose YANMAR Racing. Peter Gilmour put his hand up for the loss in the first race, “I made a mistake in the pre-start, we started well to the left of him, and the breeze went to the right, and he led all the way around.”
The light wind then died out completely, and the racing was postponed, and as the postponement dragged on, the race committee shortened the quarter finals to the first to two points – meaning YANMAR Racing had to win to stay in the competition.
Peter Gilmour described the race, “We won the start and got the favoured right-hand side, and managed to lead around the top mark. But Morvan got past us at the bottom mark and led around, we were on his stern at the third buoy, but he just got the wind shift he needed and that was that.”
The result was disappointing, but it’s unclear if it will make that much difference in the overall standings. The second placed sailor, Ian Williams had already departed the competition, the Tour’s overall leader Bjorn Hansen also went out in the quarter finals, while the fourth placed New Zealander, Phil Robertson was twelfth. The only skipper ahead of YANMAR Racing in the Tour who is still in the competition in St Moritz is Pierre-Antoine Morvan. “It won’t make that much difference,” said Gilmour, “but from here on through to the end, they are all vital. The exit of Williams and Hansen has kept it alive for many teams.”
YANMAR Racing’s next appearance is at Match Race France at the end of September, and Gilmour is looking forward to it, with his tactician, Fred Guilmin, having won it (racing with Damien Iehl) last year. “The size of boat here in St Moritz is very similar to France, and we were strong here, so if you look at the fact that neither Williams and Hansen had a good regatta here, it’s still all very open.”
“There’s no doubt we’re still in the competition, and I think that shows the importance of the support of YANMAR, the power of having solid corporate sponsorship behind us. It’s possible to see the friction it creates in the teams that don’t have that support, so we’re very grateful for the help we get from YANMAR.”
St. Moritz Match Race – Quarter Final Results:
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 0 – 2 Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team 2 – 0 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
Mathieu Richard (FRA) Loire Atlantique Sailing Team 2 – 0 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team
St. Moritz Match Race – Final Qualifying Table:
Laurie Jury (NZL) Kiwimatch Sailing Team 8 – 3
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 7 -4
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team 7 – 4
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 7 -4
Mathieu Richard (FRA) Loire Atlantique Sailing Team 6.5* – 3 (0.5 point deduction for boat collision)
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing 6 – 5
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team 4.5* – 6 (0.5 point deduction for boat collision)
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar 4.5* – 6 (0.5 point deduction for boat collision)
Jerome Clerc (SUI) Team CER 4 – 7
Eric Monnin (SUI) Okalys Corum 4 – 7
Josh Junior (NZL) Wellington Spirit 3 – 8
Phil Robertson (NZ) WAKA Racing 3 – 8