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FINAL
RANKING
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1 - JESPER RADICH
1 - (DEN)
2 - JAMES SPITHILL
1 - (AUS)
3 - MAGNUS HOLMBERG
1 - (SWE)
4 - KAROL JABLONSKI
1 - (POL)
5 - CHRIS LAW
1 - (GBR)
6 - PAOLO CIAN
1 - (ITA)
7 - MATTIAS RAHM
1 - (SWE)
8 - JES GRAM-HANSEN
1 - (DEN)
9 - JOHNIE BERNTSSON
1 - (SWE)
10 - JESPER RADICH
10 - (DEN)
11 - FRANE BRATE
10 - (CRO)
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On the water it was another difficult day
for the race committee with the sea breeze failing
to behave in the expected manner. Principal
Race Officer Alen Kusic had set a deadline of
1500 (local time) to complete the semi-finals,
but in this time only one flight had been run.
This proved disastrous for Polish competitor
Karol Jablonski who going into today was clear
leader of the rankings. Jablonski lined up against
fourth placed skipper Jesper Radich and following
an OCS at the start, lost to the young Dane.
The wind died and with the 1500 deadline passed,
Jablonski was unable to rectify this situation
and found himself lining up in the petite-finals
against former Swedish Match Tour winner Magnus
Holmberg.
Insult was added to injury for Jablonski when
during his second race of the Petit Finals against
Magnus Holmberg there was a course change. Holmberg
failed to recognise the course change and rounded
the old weather mark locked in close combat
with the Pole. Jablonski then headed for the
new windward mark while Holmberg continued down
the run.
At a meeting of the jury to examine the incident
afterwards Holmberg made a convincing argument
that he had not been given the warning of the
change of course long enough in advance. The
race was resailed with Holmberg winning to take
third place overall with Jablonski fourth.
Meanwhile in the Finals, three races were held
between 24-year-old Australian James Spithill
and Jesper Radich. Spithill won the first race
while the Dane took the second and third races.
With the wind once again failing, the race committee
opted to call it a day, leaving the win to a
delighted Radich.
For James Spithill it has been the second time
in consecutive events on the Swedish Match Tour
that he has claimed the runner-up spot.
The 20 points he has scored in each of the last
two events is enough to make the former OneWorld
helm the new leader in the Swedish Match Tour.
He now leads Jes Gram-Hansen by two points and
Jesper Radich by eight.
Due to other commitments Spithill will not be
at the next Swedish Match Tour event, Match
Race Germany to held on Lake Constance starting
on June 5. This is likely to mean that the winner
of Swedish Match Tour 2002/2003 will not be
decided until the final event of the season,
the Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand beginning
on June 30.
Results
Finals : Radich 2 – Spithill 1
Petit Finals : Holmberg 2 – Jablonski 1
Semifinals : Radich def. Jablonski - Spithill
def. Holmberg |
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Thanks to a large black rain cloud canceling
out the sea breeze, just two and a half flights
were held today on day four of the Swedish Match
Tour’s ACI HTmobile Cup in Split, Croatia.
Conditions over the last two days have been
tough for both the race committee and the competitors
with Principle Race Officer Alen Kustic having
to abandon the final two races of the fifth
flight of the second round robin with just one
day of racing left to go.
"This is the first time we didn’t finish
a full scheduled round robin," commented
Kustic looking back at the competition’s 17-year
history.
With only one and a half round robins completed
a lot of calculators have been in action working
out who will make it into tomorrow’s semi-finals.
This has not been as simple as adding up all
the wins and calculating them as a percentage
of the races sailed.
Instead those races where competitors came up
against each other in both round robins count
for half points, while matches from the first
round robin which were not sailed in the second
round count for a whole point.
In fact the result is the same - with the four
semifinalists being :
- Karol Jablonski – 8.5 points
- James Spithill – 7.5 points
- Magnus Holmberg – 7 points
- Jesper Radich – 6.5 points .
Chris Law’s team The Outlaws were just knocked
out, scoring 6 points on this system, over which
there were small grumblings.
"Because the order in the round robins
is determined by rankings coming into the event
then because we’re in the low tier in the second
round we had the toughest matches to start with,"
commented Outlaws’ tactician Dobbs Davis.
For example The Outlaws sailed against James
Spithill and Karol Jablonski in round robin
two while Jesper Radich sailed against low rankers
Allan Coutts and Frane Brate.
In the semi-finals tomorrow Karol Jablonski
has chosen to sail against Jesper Radich leaving
Magnus Holmberg to race James Spithill.
Leaderboard (Skipper/Pts)
1. Karol Jablonski, (POL), 8.5
2. James Spithill (AUS), 7.5
3. Magnus Holmberg, (SWE), 7
4. Jesper Radich (DEN), 6.5
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5. Chris Law (GBR), 6
6.Paolo Cian (ITA), 5
7. Mattias Rahm (SWE), 4.5
8. Jes Gram Hansen (DEN), 4
9. Johnie Berntsson (SWE), 3
10. Allan Coutts (NZL), 2.5
11. Frane Brate (CRO), 5
Round Robin Two - Results
Flight 3 : Law def Jablonski - Gram Hansen def
Coutts - Holmberg def Radich - Rahm def Brate
Flight 4 : Cian def Berntsson - Jablonski def
Spithill - Holmberg def Gram Hansen - Coutts
def Brate - Radich def Rahm
Flight 5 : Law def Berntsson - Jablonski def
Cian - Holmberg def Brate |
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With a northeasterly breeze blowing off
the land early this morning, the racing got
underway at 9:30am local time with the final
flights from round robin one taking place in
a solid breeze that fluctuated from 15 to 25
knots.
Progress was made through to the final race
in the second flight of round robin two. This
was abandoned when the wind died completely.
With no breeze on the race course coinciding
with lunchtime, the boats returned to ACI Marina
only to leave again mid-afternoon to await a
sea breeze that only partially materialized.
A cheer went up from local spectators when in
the first flight of the second round robin local
Split sailor Frane Brate managed to dispatch
Swedish Match Tour leader Jes Gram-Hansen of
Denmark. This is Brate’s only win in the competition
to date.
Losing to the novice Croatian was just one of
a catalogue of disasters for Jes Gram-Hansen,
the present Swedish Match Tour leader, who today
dropped matches to Paolo Cian – the Mascalzone
Latino America’s Cup team skipper also not on
form – and to fellow Swede Mattias Rahm. Gram-Hansen
is now lying seventh in the overall results
after three days of racing.
Meanwhile Chris Law staged a come back with
his band of Outlaws, who aside from Law comprise
tactician Dobbs Davis and three local sailors,
Ante Vanjaka, Ivan Kljakovic-Gaspic and Darko
Supuk. Law today beat Magnus Holmberg, Allan
Coutts and Paolo Cian, only losing to James
Spithill.
This afternoon’s racing barely took place. The
last abandoned match of the second flight between
Jesper Radich and Frane Brate was held in good
breeze and was won by Radich. Principle Race
Officer Alen Kustic then decided to get the
third flight underway.
"We opened the third flight between James
Spithill and Paolo Cian and as soon as I let
the procedure go and when they entered, the
wind was dying," recounted Kustic. The
race was completed but was painstakingly long.
Racing for the day was subsequently cancelled.
Tomorrow the race committee will have their
work cut out to complete the second round robin
before launching into the quarter-or semifinals
on Saturday.
Leaderboard (Skipper/Wins/Losses)
1. James Spithill (AUS), 10/3
2. Karol Jablonski (POL), 9/2
3. Magnus Holmberg (SWE), 8/4
3. Jesper Radich
(DEN), 8/4
5. Chris Law (GBR), 7/5
6. Mattias Rahm (SWE), 6/6
7. Jes Gram Hansen (DEN), 5/7
7. Paolo Cian (ITA),
5/7
9. Johnie Berntsson (SWE), 4/8
10. Allan Coutts (NZL), 3/9
11. Frane Brate (CRO), 1/11
Round Robin One - Results
Flight 10 : Law def Holmberg - Spithill def
Coutts - Gram Hansen def Berntsson - Jablonski
def Rahm - Radich def Cian
Flight 11 : Law def Coutts - Spithill def Brate
- Berntsson def Rahm - Cian def Gram Hansen
- Jablonski def Radich
Round Robin Two - Results
Flight 1 : Jablonski def Berntsson - Spithill
def Law - Radich def Coutts - Rahm def Holmberg
- Brate def Gram Hansen
Flight 2 : Berntsson def Spithill - Law def
Cian - Holmberg def Coutts - Rahm def Gram Hansen
- Radich def Brate
Flight 3 : Spithill def Cian |
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