There’s a new ‘King of the Mountain’ after Ian Williams and his Team Pindar nipped past Mark Mendelblatt’s Team Kaenon in the fifth and deciding match at the St. Moritz Match Race.

Williams made his passing move just metres from the finishing line to win the Swiss stop on the World Match Racing Tour. The ‘first to three’ Final went down to the last race and indeed, down to the final seconds.

The top two teams in St. Moritz put on a stunning display of match racing, showcasing incredible boat-handling skills and tactical nous in difficult conditions on Lake St. Moritz; the wind on Sunday was extremely shifty and gusty. Despite occasional rain showers, the grandstand was full again today and the crowd lined the shore of the lake to cheer some of the best sailors in the world.

They weren’t disappointed, as the Final couldn’t have been scripted to be more exciting. In the final race, two-time St. Moritz champion Mark Mendelblatt carried a narrow lead onto the last run to the finishing line, but a great spinnaker hoist by Williams and his crew brought Team Pindar into an overlapped position.

Under the racing rules of sailing, Williams was obliged to sail a ‘proper course’ to the finish. As he moved to make a quick double gybe, which would give him more rights, Williams fooled Mendelblatt into gybing himself. Now holding the starboard tack advantage, Williams watched as the Umpires penalised Mendelblatt just metres from the finishing line. Team Pindar crossed the line to win the match and the series.

With the St. Moritz Match Race title, Ian Williams extends the lead of Team Pindar atop the World Match Racing Tour rankings and picks up a generous 35 000 Swiss Francs in prize money, in addition to the coveted ‘King of the Mountain’ title. Mendelblatt and his team of America’s Cup veterans can console themselves with a 22 000 Swiss Franc prize for second place.

In the Petite Final, local Swiss sailor Eric Monnin and his band of brothers swept past defending champion and America’s Cup sailor Paolo Cian 2-0 to claim third place. The Italian, a popular defending champion, was in tough against Monnin who claimed the hearts of the predominantly Swiss crowd and demonstrated some good local knowledge of the wind shifts on the lake.

Final (First to 3 points) & Petit Final (First to 2 points)

Flight 1 : Ian Williams def. Mark Mendelblatt - Eric Monnin def. Paolo Cian

Flight 2 - Mark Mendelblatt def. Ian Williams - Eric Monnin def. Paolo Cian

Flight 3 - Ian Williams def. Mark Mendelblatt

Flight 4 - Mark Mendelblatt def. Ian Williams

Flight 5 - Ian Williams def. Mark Mendelblatt