Eight Advance at Match Cup Australia

Perth, Australia (March 23, 2017) – With three matches on tap, the focus narrowed today at the first event of the World Match Racing Tour. The field of 18 teams in Match Cup Australia has now been reduced to the top eight that will advance to the quarterfinals and vie for the winners purse of $24,000US.

Half the field is from Australia as Torvar Mirsky came back from 2–1 down to defeat Sweden’s Nicklas Dackhammar. Earlier in the day Steve Thomas had become a giant slayer, eliminating Tour Card holder Nicolai Sehested (SWE) in three straight races, to join yesterday’s local qualifiers David Gilmour and Matt Jerwood.

Thomas has seen his confidence grow since sweeping undefeated through last week’s qualifier, then continuing his impressive performances this week. “For us just making sure we have good communication all the time is critical, and you know that when the communication breaks down that’s when things go wrong, and were really disciplined on simple things and it’s paying off for us.”

Torvar Mirsky showed great composure to turn around a bad situation and come out with the right result. “We didn’t know what to feel, we knew we were sailing well, we know what to do and we just need to put it together.

“Nicklas just took it to us, he schooled us in three starts, and we just fought as hard as we could all the time. I think eventually we broke him and got a couple of good starts, and finally got up on him.”

Conditions on the Swan River today provided challenges in the shifty southerly wind, with gusts causing a few anxious moments, and some opportunities. Also going through to the quarterfinals today was reigning world champion Phil Robertson of New Zealand, who was pushed all the way by Sweden’s Mans Holmberg.

Here are the pairings for the quarterfinals:
Dave Gilmour (AUS) vs. Taylor Canfield (ISV)
Matt Jerwood (AUS) vs. Chris Steele (NZL)
Yann Guichard (FRA) vs. Torvar Mirsky (AUS)
Steve Thomas (AUS) vs. Phil Robertson (NZL)

Racing continues tomorrow with the final on Saturday, March 25.

Broadcast: To watch the racing live, or catch up on earlier races, click here.

Tour details – Event details – Scoreboard – Facebook

2017 World Championship Level Events:
WMRT Match Cup Australia, March 20-25
WMRT Congressional Cup, March 29-April 2
WMRT Northern Europe, June 6-11 (Venue TBA)
WMRT Match Cup Sweden, July 3-8 (Venue TBA)
WMRT Match Cup USA, August 1-6 (Venue TBA)
WMRT Match Cup America, October 3-8 (Venue TBA)

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
WMRT Match Cup China, November 3-10 (Venue TBA)

Background: In 2013, Swedish company Aston Harald AB acquired the design and production rights to the one-design M32 catamarans. In July 2015, Aston Harald AB acquired the World Match Racing Tour, which then began the use of the M32 during the 2016 Tour. Launched in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour is the leading professional match racing series sanctioned by World Sailing.

Source: WMRT