The action came slowly and then in fits and starts as the promised breeze failed to deliver on day one of racing for Match Race Germany, the first event on the 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour. But while the action was slow, YANMAR Racing were plenty quick enough to take two wins from their first three races and hold third place on the overnight leaderboard.
YANMAR Racing’s tactician, Fred Guilmin, reflected on a difficult day. ‘It was typical for this lake, we had a maximum wind of perhaps five or six knots, it started out grey, then got sunny and very hot, and then finally a big thunderstorm – fortunately we were off the water by then. But it’s the same for everyone, and we have to deal with it.’
Guilmin has only joined YANMAR Racing this season, and added, ‘I am the new part in the team, it’s been a long time since I sailed with Peter (Peter Gilmour, Skipper (AUS)) and YANMAR Racing, I think the last time was in 2007 in Portugal. So we have to set up the communication on board, and how we handle the crucial information. We worked at it and I think we could see the improvement by the third race.’
YANMAR Racing won the start but then narrowly lost the first match to Pierre-Antoine Morvan. The Frenchman, a compatriot of Guilmin, found better breeze on the right-hand side of the course and took a lead on the opening leg. Guilmin added, ‘We were not far behind, perhaps only a quarter or a half boat-length at the finish.’
Racing was then held up while the wind rotated to blow from the opposite direction, and the course had to be reset. The postponement allowed YANMAR Racing to regroup and they took a win in their next two matches. The first came after pinning out Simone Ferrarese for the full four minutes of the pre-start sequence. After that it was a relatively straight-forward win for Guilmin, Gilmour and their team.
There were more delays before the third flight could be sailed, and the next one against Jan-Eike Andresen just came down to speed. Guilmin said, ‘There was a long drag-race off the line and we were just faster. We extended the lead for the rest of the match. I don’t think those guys have as much experience in big boats and it makes the difference.’
YANMAR Racing will now sit out the next five flights before they rejoin the action tomorrow – the break in their schedule came at just the right moment. Thunderstorms forced the race committee to keep the fleet ashore again into the late afternoon, and while other teams were made to wait on standby, Gilmour, Guilmin, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Thierry Douillard and Yasuhiro Yaji went to relax back at the team hotel.
Racing was eventually abandoned at 18:00 local time, leaving YANMAR Racing in third behind Phil Robertson and Pierre-Antoine Morvan, who shared the lead with three wins from three races.
Match Race Germany, the first event on this year’s Tour is held on Lake Constance, at Langenargen in Germany, and runs from the 23rd to 28th May.
24th May 2012 – Top Three After Three Flights at the end of Day One
Pierre-Antoine Morvan; Vannes Agglo Sailing Team 3 – 0
Phil Robertson; WAKA Racing Team 3 – 0
Peter Gilmour; YANMAR Racing 2 – 1