King of the Mountain

BlackMatch's Adam Minoprio beats Torvar Mirsky in the final of the St Moritz Match Race

The last day of St. Moritz Match Race proved to be a tricky one for both the organisers and competitors. The northerly breeze was blowing very inconsistently, forcing the Race Committee to cancel many start procedures during the final series between Adam Minoprio (NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch) and Torvar Mirsky (AUS, Mirsky Racing Team).

The final race eventually took place in good conditions allowing the Kiwi sailor - number 1 in the ISAF world ranking and now once again leader of the Tour - to beat his Australian opponent and to grab the title of King of the Mountain 2009. The two previous races took place in a very light and shifty breeze.

“It was very difficult to get back into winning mode after loosing the second race of the finals that could have brought us the title," said Minoprio. "The guys did a great job considering how hard and irregular the conditions were. We managed to consolidate our lead during the last run of the final race, we are obviously very happy with this victory.”

The 'counter-performer' of the day is Philippe Presti, who lost the Petit final to Ian Williams (GBR, Team Pindar). The French skipper was disappointed by the outcome of the regatta. He was stalled at the start of the last race leaving Williams to sail away and never managed to get back into the race.

“We would have loved to make it to the Final and we are obviously disappointed," said Williams. "However, winning the Petit Final and finishing on the podium is a good thing. We needed a good night’s sleep to digest yesterday’s poor performance. We got back on the water full of motivation this morning which helped us a lot.”

Mathieu Richard (FRA, French Match Racing Team), King of the Mountain in 2008 wasn’t very happy either with his performance as he was eliminated before the quarter-finals.

Adam Minoprio, the winner of the title and new King of the Mountain joins a prestigious list of winners that includes Mark Mendelblatt (2003/2004), Ed Baird (2005), Paolo Cian (2006), Ian Williams (2007) and Mathieu Richard (2008). Minoprio becomes the sixth different winner in six years to claim the trophy.

Minoprio also takes back the lead of the Tour leapfrogging Mathieu Richard to a 12 point lead over Torvar Mirsky who moves up to second place and dropping frenchman Mathieu Richard to third. The next event on the Tour is the Danish Open starting on the 10th September.

Christian Scherrer President of the Organising Committee concluded: “I am really pleased with this event, the weather was great and it was a real pleasure to organise it although I am looking forward to racing again, it’s sometimes less tiring… The seventh edition of St. Moritz Match Race is a real success and it couldn’t have happened without our partners and sponsors, I want to thank them with all my heart.”

Results:
Ranking, Name of the skipper, ISAF ranking, Nationality, Name of team

- 1: Adam Minoprio (1) NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch
- 2: Torvar Mirsky (6) AUS, Mirsky Racing Team
- 3 : Ian Williams (4) GBR, Team Pindar
- 4: Philippe Presti, (7) FRA, French Match Racing Team
- 5: Francesco Bruni (50) ITA, Team Joe Fly Match Race
- 6: Sébastien Col (3) FRA, French Match Racing Team
- 7: Peter Gilmour (11) AUS, YANMAR Racing
- 8: Mathieu Richard (2) FRA, French Match Racing Team
- 9: Johnie Berntsson (9) SWE, Berntsson Sailing Team
- 10: Björn Hansen (10) SWE, Onboard Sailing Team
- 11: Alvaro Marinho (17) POR, Seth Sailing Team
- 12 : Éric Monnin (31) SUI. Swiss Match Race Team

Final
Adam Minoprio (NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch) beat Torvar Mirsky (AUS, Mirsky Racing Team) 2 - 1

Petit Final
Ian Williams (GBR, Team Pindar) beat Philippe Presti, (FRA, French Match Racing Team) 2 - 1

Semi Finals :
-Adam Minoprio (NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch) beat Ian Williams (GBR, Team Pindar) 3 - 0
-Torvar Mirsky (AUS, Mirsky Racing Team) beats Philippe Presti, (FRA, French Match Racing Team) 3 - 1

World Match Racing Tour rankings after St. Moritz Match Race 2009
Ranking, Name of the skipper, Nationality, Name of team, Points

1 : Adam Minoprio (NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch) 86
2 : Torvar Mirsky (AUS, Mirsky Racing Team) 74
3 : Mathieu Richard (FRA, French Match Racing Team) 68
4 : Ian Williams (GBR, Team Pindar) 64
5: Peter Gilmour (AUS, YANMAR Racing) 62
6: Damien Iehl (FRA, French Match Racing Team) 44
7: Sébastien Col (FRA, French Match Racing Team) 41
8: Ben Ainslie (GBR, Team Origi) 40