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Paolo Cian won his first World
Match Racing Tour championship when he defeated
Ed Baird in the final of the 4th annual St. Moritz
Match Race.
Cian won the series 2-1, which was halted when the
4:00 pm time limit passed. Cian and his Team Viano
Mercedes Benz crew Pierluigi Fornelli and Nello
Pavoni finished with a 13-6 record and also won
the new “King of the Mountain” trophy, a 45-pound
piece of granite from Maloja Valley south of St.
Moritz.
A weighty trophy, Cian nearly toppled when he picked
it up. They earned this championship, advancing
out of the Repechage Round and then defeating the
three Alinghi helmsmen – Peter Holmberg, 2-1, in
the quarterfinals, Jochen Schuemann, 2-0, in the
semifinals and Baird – in successive rounds.
Baird and his Alinghi crewmembers Mike Drummond
and Nils Frei, last year’s champions, finished with
a 10-5 record. Facing a 2-0 deficit they won the
third race to keep the series alive, but then the
weather, from thunderstorms and shifty winds to
sunny skies and light winds, worked against them
and the time limit expired.
With three stages now complete in the eighth Tour
season, Cian became the third consecutive skipper
to win his first World Tour championship.
Chris Dickson began the season by winning in Portugal
and Sébastian Col won last week in Denmark. Col,
the 29-year-old French helmsman of Areva Challenge,
placed eighth in St. Moritz, which was good enough
to take the lead in the World Championship standings.
Col has 29 points and leads Jes Gram-Hansen of Denmark
by 2 points.
Cian and Baird advanced to the Final by beating
Schuemann and Mark Mendelblatt, respectively, in
the semifinals. Cian took down Schuemann, his Soling
idol, and Baird beat Mendelblatt, 2-1, in a rematch
of last year’s championship. In the Petite Final,
Mendelblatt beat Schuemann, 2-1.
Finals Results
Flight 1 : Paolo Cian def. Ed Baird - Mark Mendelblatt
def. Jochen Schuemann
Flight 2: Paolo Cian def. Ed Baird - Jochen Schuemann
def. Mark Mendelblatt
Flight 3 : Ed Baird def. Paolo Cian - Mark Mendelblatt
def. Jochen Schuemann
SemiFinals Results
Flight 2 : Ed Baird def. Mark Mendelblatt - Paolo
Cian def. Jochen Schuemann
Flight 3 : Ed Baird def. Mark Mendelblatt
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