Adam Minoprio (left)
and his Emirates Team New Zealand/Black Match Racing crew of Nick Blackman, Dan McLean, David Swete and Tom Powrie, have won the Monsoon Cup.
And, they have
finished the year winning the ISAF 2009 world match racing championships.
Minoprio
beat Ben Ainslie (TeamOrigin) 3-0 in the Monsoon Cup final, sailed in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
Dave Swete reports for
Black Match: “It was an amazing morning for us…. a brief celebration on
hearing we had won the world title, before heading back out to the racecourse
to take on Peter Gilmour in the semi-final.
“We made an amazing
comeback in race three with the scores locked at 1-1, and took out the
semi-final 3-1.
“After fully controlling
Gilmour in the first race by forcing a red flag penalty in the pre-start
and then sailing well to extend throughout the race. He went one better in race
two, forcing two penalties on us in the pre-start and totally dominating
the match.
“Race 3 again saw
us out-gunned in the pre start, Peter did a good job of stalling
us at the committee boat end of the start line and we drifted on to the boat,
very close to snagging the anchor chain on our keel.
“We had to fend off
the boat; not only had Gilmour sailed away to a comfortable lead, but we
had also incurred an early penalty. Now the scene was set for the comeback
and as we chipped away at Gilmour’s lead.
“Gybe sets at the top mark
to gain a little tide relief and picking the right bottom mark to round allowed
us to get back in the game and by the final downwind we were hot on his
heals, albeit with a penalty to our name.
“On the gybe to the finish
we went for the roll, the Yanmar Racing team luffed us in a defensive move but
it was too late and we rolled over his bow to take the lead. We
were very close to the finish line, still with a penalty outstanding
so our only option was to slow down and try to force one back on him before we
finished. Tom and Dan (whose jobs are usually to make the boat go fast) did a
great job of slowing the boat down and right on the finish line Peter and his
team made a fatal mistake, crashing into the back of us which offset
our penalty and handed us the win.
“The third race went all
our way and in a press conference afterwards, Gilmour stated that
we 'punched his lights out' in the deciding match, totally dominating the
start and winning the side we wanted to get an unassailable lead.”
In the first match of the final, Minoprio
entered on port but headed to the starboard end of the box. Ainslie was over
early and was penalized for failing to keep clear. Minoprio, too, was over
early but was able to duck back while Ainslie was slow to get back.
Minoprio had a massive advantage; he was in
the current and steaming around the top mark with Ainslie 18 seconds behind. In
a risky attempt to close the gap, at the bottom of the course Ainslie went
right and sailed into softer air. Minoprio extended on the left and headed for
home with a 10-boat length lead.
It got worse for Ainslie in the second race as
Minoprio timed his start perfectly and headed left, leaving Ainslie staggering.
Ainslie went right but bailed and flopped
left. He was struggling against his young rivals who were two lengths ahead at
the top mark. Minoprio retained his lead, going two up in the first to three.
Just seconds before the third race start,
Minoprio saw pressure coming in from the right and did not contest the
previously favoured left. Ainslie hit the current on the left but it was not
enough, Minoprio was around the mark two lengths ahead.
Twenty seconds ahead at the bottom mark, the
Kiwis headed left and the British followed. With the breeze up, Minoprio
extended his lead.
On the third lap and on the right, Minoprio
had private current and the best breeze and won comfortably.
Minoprio said: “That last breeze call was
the defining moment. It's been a very intense event for us. We came in thinking
that if we focussed on winning the Monsoon Cup, the ISAF World Match Racing
Championship result would look after itself.”
'We just scraped into the quarter finals,
but it went pretty well after that.”
Ben Ainslie said: “We are pleased for Adam
and his boys... they gave us a lesson today. We have more work to do as a
team.”
Monsoon Cup Results
1st Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing Team
2nd Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin
3rd Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
4th Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/ALL4ONE
5th Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
6th Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing
7th Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
8th Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team
Tour Standings
1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 138
Points
2. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 97 Points
3. Ben Ainslie, (GBR) Team Origin 95 Points
4. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR 93 Points
5. Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team Racing 79 Points
6. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar 75 Points
7. Sebastien Col, (FRA) French Match Racing Team 55
Points
8. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 48 Points