Team Pindar extend lead

And while Williams may have slipped ahead, the biggest move through the ranks came for Col, who advanced from 12th to tie for second place, bolstered by the 25-points he earned for his victory in Korea. Another team that made a noticeable advance was one of the youngest on the Tour, Adam Minoprio (NZL) of Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing who marched from 14th to 9th based on his impressive third place performance, the best to date he’s had at a Tour event.

Both Cian and Bjorn Hansen (SWE) and his Alandia Sailing Team were disappointed in their results in Korea to have not put more pressure on Williams’ lead, having finished 6th and 7th, respectively. “We had some bad luck but also just didn’t get into a good rhythm at this event,” said Cian, “but I’m looking forward to having a better regatta in Marstrand.”

Marstrand will be the venue for Match Cup Sweden, the next stage on the 2008 World Tour. Unlike the brand-new event just held in Korea, Match Cup Sweden has a long history, offering competitive match race sailing for nearly 20 years. But similar to the event in Gyeonggi, it will also have a large turnout of thousands of spectators to watch all the action in the Marstrand fiord. Co-organized by Brandspot and the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club (GKSS), the event will feature 12 teams competing in equally-matched DS37’s over 30 June – 6 July for a total prize money purse of $200,000.

Col, Williams, Cian and Hansen will all be in Marstrand, with Hansen poised to defend his win last year earned in a spectacular storm-tossed Final. Other competitors invited to Match Cup Sweden include: Magnus Holmberg (SWE) of Victory Challenge; Mattias Rahm (SWE) also of Victory Challenge; Ben Ainslie (GBR) of Team Origin, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) of the Mirsky Racing Team; Mathieu Richard (FRA) of the French Match Racing Team; Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) of Trifork Racing; Peter Gilmour (AUS) of Team PST; and Match Race Germany winner Damien Iehl (FRA) of the French Match Racing Team.

In addition to the Men’s field of 12 teams, there will be an ISAF Grade 1 women’s event held concurrently.

World Tour Standings (After 3 events of 9)
1 Ian Williams (GBR) – Team Pindar – 47 points
=2 Sebastian Col (FRA) – K Challenge/French Match Racing Team – 33 points
=2 Paolo Cian (ITA) – Team Shosholoza – 33 points
4 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) – Alandia Sailing Team– 32 points
=5 Damien Iehl (FRA) – Team Sinbad – 25 points
=5 Mathieu Richard (FRA) – French Match Racing Team – 25 points
7 Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) – Trifork Racing – 20 points?
8 Adam Minoprio (NZL) – ETNZ/BlackMatch – 15 points