HiQ shows better pace

After the Nokia Oops Cup's Malmö City Race

Knut Frostad on the 60ft trimaran Nokia Academy had clear tactics for the Nokia Oops Cup's Malmö City Race today: to try to push Klas Nylöf on HiQ down the start. He succeeded well at this three times, but in the end it didn't help: HiQ had much better speed in the race and won the ninth round of Nokia Oops Cup, even though the Finnish trimaran TietoEnator Audi proved fastest of the three, winning two heats of four.

"This was a fighting victory," Klabbe Nylöf said after coming ashore winner of the race off Malmö harbour. In three of four starts Nylöf's blue trimaran was pushed outside the pin, and had to restart but while Frostad achieved this, Nylöf was still able to get ahead. HiQ was flying over the water sailing faster, higher and better downwind than Nokia Academy.

"I can’t understand why we don’t have the speed in the boat," said Knut Frostad, disappointed over his third place in the race. "Even if we got some seaweed on the rudder in the end, we had worked so hard with the boat yesterday, both on the main sail and the rudders and daggerboard to find more speed."

The boat that has really found its speed is Finn Thomas Johanson's TietoEnator Audi with Kenneth Thelen as skipper and helmsman. They won the first start without problem, and finished almost a minute ahead of HiQ and a couple of minutes before Nokia Academy.

In the second race their gennaker broke and they had to hoist a smaller genoa leaving them third. In the third race they had further problems with the gennaker during a rounding and again ended third. But in the fourth and last heat TietoEnator Audiclaimed another outstanding victory.

The fight between Nylöf and Frostad, Sweden and Norway, continues to be tough in the national competition within the Nokia Oops Cup. Following his win today in Malmö HiQreceives three points and now leads the Nokia Oops Cup on 22 points, two points ahead of Nokia Academy going into the offshore race to Kiel starting on Tuesday, the second last round.

"It’s a great feeling to lead before that race, now we’ll step on it," Klabbe said.

Knut Frostad, on the other hand, saw this as the worst possible scenario: "Well, we just have to beat them twice, easy…", he said laughing.

Results Malmö City Race

1. Klas Nylöf, Sverige, HiQ 9 (2-1-2-2)
2. Thomas Johanson, Finland, TietoEnator Audi, 8 (1-3-3-1)
3. Knut Frostad, Norge, Nokia Academy, 7 (3-2-1-3)

Standings in the Nokia Oops Cup after nine of 11 rounds:

1. HiQ Sailing Team, Klabbe Nylöf, Sweden, 22 p
1. Team Nokia Academy, Knut Frostad, Norway, 20 p
3. Team TietoEnator Audi, Thomas Johanson, Finland, 12 p

Nokia Oops Cup Race schedule August:

15 August Start Offshore Race Malmoe - Kiel, 13.00 (01.00 p.m.)
19 August Kiel City Race (Finish of Nokia Oops Cup)