Mathieu Richard Reigns as King of Korea Match Cup

The island of Jebu sitting 2km off Jeongok Marina could once again be seen today as great weather set in for the ultimate day of Stage 3 in the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT). Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team is ‘King of Korea Match Cup’ after racing against the best pool of match racing skippers in the world and concluding Korea with a victory over double World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar.

Richard kept momentum at all times in the light airs up the concentrated course area which created a need for all the crew to use their bodyweight and drill the KM36 yachts into a series of smooth roll tacks and gybes to propel the Blakewell-White designed yachts round the race marks.

© Ian Roman-Subzero Images 2010

is delighted to have won Korea Match Cup, two years previously he was watching the skippers in the final hoping to reach it himself one day, “I have had a good feeling onboard since the beginning of the season and I am happy with the team”.

Richard

Williams has now been in the final at Korea Match Cup for the last 3 years since the inception of the Korean leg of the WMRT. Williams however has not yet won this Tour stage and is seen as ‘always the bridesmaid and never the bride’. He is however, in good spirits despite missing out on the biggest prize money and spoke about Richard’s style on the race course, “Richard really nailed the starts today, every time he dominated the first exchange”.

The semis, sailed in the sheltered flat waters of Jeongok Port, saw Williams beat Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team and Richard taking a last minute lead over Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team followed by an instantaneous on the water request for redress due to interference from a boat on the course, redress was then denied.

© Ian Roman-Subzero Images 2010

The World Match Racing Tour’s 3rd Stage has changed the ISAF WMRT ranking. After 5 days of racing at Korea Match Cup Richard reigns at the top of the table with 65 points, Adam Minoprio (ETNZ) BlackMatch Racing also stays consistent with 39 points in 2nd. Williams who is an unstoppable force is climbing the ladder from 8th place to 3rd in one event and Mirsky moves up one position into 4th place, followed by Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra in 5th.

The next Tour event will be Stage 4, in Portimão, for Portugal Match Cup running 22 – 27 June.

Day 5 - Overall Standings
1 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 25 Points
2 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 20 Points
3 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team 15 Points
4 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 12 Points
5 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 10 Points
6 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 8 Points
7 Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 6 Points
8 Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 4 Points
9 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team
10 Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia
11 Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team
12 Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match

2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings (After Event 3 of 10)
1 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 65 Points
2 Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing 39 Points
3 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 30 Points
4 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 28 Points
5 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 23 Points
6 Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 20 Points
- Jesper Radich (SWE) Radich Racing Team 20 Points
8 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 18 Points
9 Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 16 Points
10 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team 15 Points

Spurce : World Match Racing Tour