Spithill falls at final hurdle

As Jesper Bank shows some of his old Olympic form at Match Race Brazil

Danish sailor Jesper Bank of Team Germany, surprised favorite Australian James Spithill, of the Italian Luna Rossa, by winning the 2006 Match Race Brasil. This boat-to-boat competition, held at Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, finished this Sunday. Bank broke Spithill’s winning streak at the final regatta and finished the best of five series with a 3-2 victory. In the fight for third place, Danish sailor Sten Mohr of BMW Oracle Racing beat British skipper Iain Percy of +39 2-1.

Bank’s crew celebrated their hard won victory and the opportunity to sail. “Of course it is great to win, even more so when the opponent is strong as ours was, but our main goal here really was to compete, to improve our team colaboration in preparation for the America\'s Cup, in 2007," commented the 49-year old sailor and three-time Olympic medalist (two gold and one bronze in the Soling class).

Even frustrated with the loss at the very final, after having won eight regattas in the qualifying round and two in the semifinal, James Spithill ensured that he is very pleased with his team’s performance. “We came to win but I think that we took excellent advantage of the competition. We had fun and were able to train for the America's Cup," said the 28-year old Spithill. “At the end we had to admit that Jesper Bank did a better job.”

US sailor Sandy Hayes won the Match Race Brasil title in the female category. In a very well balanced race, Sandy beat Brazilian Fernanda Oliveira 3-2, in a best-of-five series. The US sailor’s team consisted of Brazilians Adriana Kostiw, Cinthia Knoth and Roberta Borges. Fernanda had Isabel Sawn, her partner in the 470 Class, Larissa Juk and Mariana Teixeira on her team.

In the fight for third place in the women’s competition, which began on Friday in J/24 boats, Carol Béjar defeated Rossana Ramos in a 2-0 in a best-of-three series.

Semifinals

Percy 0 x 1 Bank
Mohr 0 x 1 Spithill
Bank 1 x 0 Percy
Spithill 1 x 0 Mohr

Finals

Bank 1 x 0 Spithill
Spithill 0 x 1 Bank
Bank 0 x 1 Spithill
Spithill 1 x 0 Bank
Bank 1 x 0 Spithill

Third place

Percy 0 x 1 Mohr
Mohr 0 x 1 Percy
Percy 0 x 1 Mohr

Overall results

1 - James Spithill
2 - Jesper Bank
3 - Sten Mohr
4 - Iain Percy
5 - Daniel Glomb
6 - Alexandre Paradeda
7 - André Fonseca
8 - João Signorini
9 - Alan Adler

The fourth edition of the Match Race Brasil has been organised by Vela Brasil, under supervision of the Brazilian Federation of Sail and Motor (Federação Brasileira de Vela e Motor -FBVM), with support from the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club.

The race was sponsored by UBS, Vivo, Piz Buin, Bloomberg, Aracruz and Forjas Brasileiras.