Barker v Bertrand

Ian Williams reports from the semi-finals of Auckland Match Racing Cup

Dean Barker (Emirates Team New Zealand) and Bertrand Pace (BMW Oracle) swept into the finals at the Auckland Match Racing Cup today, each winning their respective semi-finals 3-0. The morning started with Barker, as winner of the round robin, choosing to sail against Cameron Appleton leaving the BMW Oracle sail-off in the other semi-final between Pace and Chris Dickson.

The races were not without controversy however. In race 2 between Barker and Appleton, Barker appeared to luff above head to wind in a close situation by the committee boat at start time. Immediately a blue flag was flown, signaling a penalty on Barker. A few seconds later, a second blue flag was flown signaling a double penalty on Barker - this seemed a bit harsh. Just as the boats reached the windward mark with Appleton in a sizeable lead the race was abandoned. It turned out that the umpires had not thought that Barker had gone through head to wind and that they had intended to penalise Appleton twice for barging in at the committee boat. As the umpires are unable to correct mistakes in match racing, the race committee was advised by the chief umpire that the race was not a fair one and they abandoned the race.

The Williams Sail Racing team also dominated in its 5th/6th playoff against Matthieu Richard of France, winning 2-0 in two almost identical races. In each race, we started strongly and rounded the top mark into a strong windward going tide with Richard right on our transom. In both races, we sailed a distance on port before both gybing and in both races Richard rolled over the top of us. However, on each occasion he was not able to get clear ahead and we were able to take him well past the lay-line for the leeward mark, eventually leading him back to the mark without spinnakers. On the second beat, we continuously bounced him out to the unfavoured side of the course (which was different in each race), also forcing him to take two extra tacks. This allowed us to extend a few lengths with left us with a more comfortable run to the finish.

The other playoffs all went to three races - Baird beat Holmberg for 7th, and Lindberg beat Col for 9th.

Results:

PLACES 5 TO 10 ROUND
FLIGHT ONE
Col beat Lindberg by 4s
Baird beat Holmberg by 21s
Williams beat Richard by 12s

FLIGHT TWO
Lindberg beat Col by 14s
Holmberg beat Baird DNF
Williams beat Richard

FLIGHT THREE
Lindberg beat Col DNF
Baird beat Holmberg 14s

SEMI FINALS
FLIGHT ONE
Pace beat Dickson DNF
Barker beat Appleton by 9s

FLIGHT TWO
Pace beat Dickson
Barker beat Appleton by 11s

FLIGHT THREE
Pace beat Dickson by 36s
Barker beat Appleton

FINAL RESULTS
Final Placings

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Ian Williams
6. Mathieu Richard
7. Ed Baird
8. Magnus Holmberg
9. Staffan Lindberg
10. Sebastien Col