Western Australian skipper David Gilmour survived strong competition and very unpredictable conditions on the third and final day, to win the Geographe Bay Cup. Another local skipper, Matt Jerwood finished runner-up, so both these team qualify for Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand, a championship level event on the World Match Racing Tour.
David Gilmour commented, “We were very happy that most of our racing was in the stronger winds of the first two days, because today’s fickle conditions were very difficult to handle.” He and his team only had one race today against Mans Holmberg, which they won, coming back after a poor start.
Today’s racing started promptly, with a steady but light breeze of less than 10 knots, but this faded out after a couple of hours, making the race committee’s job very difficult. By sheer perseverance and some swift course adjustments they managed to complete the round robin, and get a fair result.
Despite the light and shifty winds there were a few moments of drama during the day, with Olympic silver medallist Olivia Price, sailing with Evan Walker, falling overboard during a gybe. Some strong swimming and quick crew work got her back on board without losing the lead. The last time she abandoned ship was in the final of the women’s match racing at the 2012 Olympics in England.
Torvar Mirsky just missed out of qualifying, finishing third, having been level with Jerwood on seven points, but losing second place on a countback. First overseas entry was Sweden’s Mans Holmberg who finished fourth, beating Sydney’s Evan Walker on a countback.
The next event on the World Match Racing Tour is the Perth Match Cup, another Tour level event from 16th to 18th March, followed immediately by championship level event Match Cup Australia, with both events hosted by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club on the Swan River.
Results:
1 David Gilmour AUS 8pts
2 Matt Jerwood AUS 7pts
3 Torvar Mirsky AUS 7pts
4 Mans Holmberg SWE 6pts
5 Evan Walker AUS 6pts
6 Lachy Gilmour AUS 4pts
7 Harry Price AUS 3pts
8 Gemma Jones NZL 2pts
9 Will Dargaville AUS 1pt
10 Robert Gibbs AUS 0.5pts
– John Roberson
