The French apprentice turns master at the St. Moritz Match Race

03/09/2010

Damien Iehl (FRA) of the French Match Racing Team was the aggressor on day two of The St. Moritz Match Race in Switzerland, storming through a run of five successive victories including a comprehensive defeat of the reigning ‘King of the Mountain’, Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing.

Iehl showed no intimidation
If the spectators expected the relative newcomer to the ISAF World Match Racing Tour to be apprehensive after a disappointing opening day, he did not show it. As the thermally-induced Maloja wind rushed in, the young Frenchman exhibited some deft moves on the water, leading Minoprio around mark one by three lengths and eventually extending his lead all the way to the finish.

Perfect wind reading
The ISAF World Match Racing Tour has a rich history of nurturing the best match racing talent and Iehl looked every bit a champion in the making today. His next fight was against another super-tough opponent, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) of the Mirsky Racing Team, currently ranked second in the Tour. The two skippers jostled and jabbed like boxers to gain the upper hand at the start with only inches separating them. This was toe-to-toe action. Mirsky gained the initial advantage, but Iehl read the subtleties of the wind to perfection, building what proved to be an insurmountable 10-length lead at the first mark.

Strategy paid off
With two victories under his belt Iehl was unstoppable, even by the might of triple Olympian and America’s Cup sailor Francesco Bruni (ITA) AZZURRA. At the start the French team gained the favourable lee bow position and led the accomplished Italian round all three laps of the course. Iehl commented, “We had a clear game plan today which gave us the great starts we needed, as well as a strategy that delivered the best course through all the wind shifts. Our teamwork and manoeuvres were spot on, too – it was a perfect progression for us from yesterday.”

Ainslie demonstrated total dominance
A classic French – British dogfight is developing between the front runners, and if anyone is going to put a counter-attack together on Iehl, there’s a strong chance it will come from Ian Wiiliams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar who leads the standings overnight, having won all three of his races today. Triple Olympic gold medalist and America’s Cup skipper, Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN also demonstrated total dominance of his opponents with a clean sweep of victories, as did Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team.

Hunt for the remaining places
With seven teams advancing to the next stage, three are confirmed as having made the quarter finals, but another six – including some veteran stars – are still in the hunt for the remaining four places. You can follow the live blog at www.wmrt.com from 1 - 5 September from 11.00 a.m. until racing finishes at approximately 06.00 p.m.

Source: wmrt.com

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