Peter Gilmour wins first session of Korea Match Cup 2011 qualifiers: 2011 World Match Racing Tour
Australia’s Peter Gilmour grabbed first place after the first session of Korea Match Cup 2011 qualifiers ended on Wednesday, June 8 at Jeongok Harbour in Gyeonggi Province, Korea.
The YANMAR Racing team skipper, Gilmour sailed with his crew on the top position in four of five races of the day. The Korea Match Cup 2011 is the third stage of the World Match Racing Tour 2011.
The first day of the event at the Jeongok Harbour was a total action-packed adventure as the skippers tried to make a strong impact on the Gyeonggi Province waters. The sailors sailed in a light wind
blowing six to 12 knots in their specially designed KM36 yachts.
The four-time Match Racing World Champion, Gilmour won four races out of five of the session. His team YANMAR Racing, lost to the last year’s Korea Match Cup champion, Mathieu Richard, who skippered
French Match Racing Team.
While speaking to the local media, Gilmour said, "It's pretty brutal out there. You make one mistake and the other guys will pounce on you. The key is definitely to sail clean and slick. It's early
days but we're feeling pretty good after day one."
Italy’s Francesco Bruni of Bruni Racing finished second with three victories while another Australian, Torvar Mirsky ended fourth with three wins and two defeats after Great Britain’s Ian Williams
of Team GAC Pindar.
However, local favourite, Korea’s Sung Wook Kim disappointed his home crowd as he grabbed three defeats in his three races to finish last spot.
He told the reporters, "It was really tough for us just to qualify but I feel very honoured to be here competing against the very best professionals in sailing. Last year we beat Peter Gilmour so
hopefully we will be able to do it again this year."
The overall results at the end of the first qualifying session are given below;
Peter Gilmour - YANMAR Racing 4-1
Francesco Bruni - Bruni Racing 3-1
Ian Williams - Team GAC Pindar 3-1
Torvar Mirsky - The Wave Muscat 3-2
Mathieu Richard - French Match Racing Team 3-2
Bjorn Hansen - Mekonomen Sailing Team 2-2
Damien Iehl - French Match Racing Team 2-2
Paul Campbell-James - Dream Team 2-3
Phil Robertson - WAKA Racing 2-3
Reuben Corbett - AON Racing Team 1-2
Johnie Berntsson - Berntsson Sailing Team 1-4
Sung Wook Kim - Busan Match Team 0-3
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