Radich victorious

All-Danish final at the Danish Open match racing

Danish eyes were smiling today at the Danish Open. Both finalists Jesper Radich (DEN) and Peter Wibroe (DEN) are products of the Royal Match Race Center here in Skovshoved and gave the enthusiastic crowd an amazing display of Match Race sailing. In a close fought battle Radich emerged victorious with a 3-1 score line and a cheque for 100,000 Dkr (approx US$18,000).

A champagne drenched Jesper Radich said: "I can't praise my crew enough. Everyone fought right to the end and finally we are celebrating a victory at the Danish Open. It means an awful lot to us all that we have managed to defeat an ensemble of some of the worlds best match racers." Among the field were five other America's Cup skippers, the current European Champion and the current Tour leader.

After a poor start in race 1 Radich fought back to take the win, then in race 2 Wibroe came fast out of the blocks to take control of the race and level the score. A bounce back by Radich in match three saw him go to match point but it wasn’t all going Radich’s way. Match four saw Peter Wibroe engineer a penalty on to Radich, a fierce battle then ensued as the two crews fought their way around the course with Radich just putting enough distance between himself and Wibroe to shed the penalty right on the finish line and take the Danish Open.



Peter Wibroe was obviously disappointed to come second even though the goal of this young crew before the event had been to reach the semi-finals. During the course of four days they have demonstrated match racing at the highest level to an appreciative audience. As Wayne Boberg (NZL), one of the International Umpires put it "Peter Wibroe is going to be the next big name in match racing in the coming years. He is a fantastic sailor and he has got the crew working well together. His temperament is perfect for a match racing. Peter really has got the keys for success."

The conditions on the final day were a big challenge for the sailors. The wind shifted direction constantly with max left to max right being 70 degrees. Third placed Ian Williams (GBR) of Team Pindar was full of praise for the organisers, the Royal Matchrace Center: "They were very difficult conditions out there today in our match against Sebastien (Col) for third place. We were lucky enough to choose the favoured side. For us the third place here is a good result, we keep our first place on the ISAF Ranking list and take the lead on the World Tour. At the same time I would like to praise the organisers for a really good event where everything worked perfectly and we would like to return next year."

Last years winner Sebastien Col (FRA) finished in fourth place whilst Swede Bjorn Hansen was fifth after his victory over Jesper Bank (DEN).

Final Results
1 Jesper Radich (DEN)
2 Peter Wibroe (DEN)
3 Ian Williams (GBR)
4 Sébastien Col (FRA)
5 Björn Hansen (SWE)
6 Jesper Bank (DEN)
7 Sten Mohr (DEN)
8 Philippe Presti (FRA)
9 Staffan Lindeberg (FIN)
10 Mathieu Richard (FRA)
11 Paolo Cian (ITA)
12 Rasmus Viltoft (DEN)