The 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour opens the second half of the season with the St Moritz Match Race, starting 28th August. The mid-summer break began at the Chicago Match Cup in July, with triple World Champion Ian Williams victorious at that last event. Consequently, Williams closed the gap to Bjorn Hansen at the top of the Tour leaderboard to just four points. It wasn’t one of YANMAR Racing’s Tour events, and as a result Peter Gilmour (AUS, skipper) and the team slipped back from second overall to fifth, but are still just three points behind Pierre-Antoine Morvan in third.
The Tour now moves into the mountains of the Swiss Alps and the legendary resort of St Moritz. Peter Gilmour and the YANMAR Racing team return to Tour action and have been out practicing in today’s opening sessions, where the skippers and crews familiarise, or re-familiarise themselves with the boats and the conditions.
The St Moritz Match Cup has a special place on the Tour, sailed on Lake Engadine, one of the most breath-taking race venues in the world. It’s literally breath-taking too, as the altitude of 1856 metres means that there is quite a bit less oxygen in the atmosphere and the teams will need to be at peak fitness to perform at their best.
Practice on Lake Engadine
The sailing began today with the practice sessions in front of the grandstands, and the classic mountain wind, the Maloya blowing moderately up the valley and across the lake. The event takes place in a four person keelboat called the Blu26, highly manoeuvrable and with a big rig, it can be quite a handful for the crews when the wind picks up. YANMAR Racing got a good session in, and declared themselves happy with their practice.
The team are keeping the crew together from the first half of the season, with Japan’s Yasuhiro Yaji handling the forward end of the boat. In the cockpit it will be all France with Thierry Douillard trimming and Fred Guilmin on the mainsheet and doing tactics. The four-person boat means that the regular bowman, Kazuhiko Sofuku has to sit this one out.
The racing will open on the 29th August with the first flight of the first qualifying session at 11:00, and the forecast is for similar conditions, but getting very cold by Thursday with just eight degrees centigrade predicted!
The St Moritz Match Cup is the fifth event on this year’s Alpari World Match Racing Tour and is held in St Moritz from the 28th August to the 2nd September.