Battle lines drawn again

Sean McNeill previews the next event in the Swedish Match Tour - Match Race Germany

The 8th annual Match Race Germany, Stage 6 of the 2004-’05 Swedish Match Tour, is set to begin tomorrow with the competition raced on Lake Constance in southwest Germany.

The field of 12 teams features four of the top eight skippers on the Swedish Match Tour leaderboard, including Nos 1 and 3 and the top two skippers on the ISAF world rankings. There are six crews representing syndicates for the 32nd America’s Cup, and two skippers making their Swedish Match Tour debut. Also, the event’s reigning champion has returned to try and make it two in a row.

According to event organiser Eberhard Magg, it’s the most competitive line-up ever for the event, which is held on beautiful Lake Constance. The lake borders Switzerland and Austria and offers stunning views of the Alps. The only drawback is that the wind conditions can be very fickle at times.

“It’s a great mix of America’s Cup sailors,” said Magg. “It’s only due to the Swedish Match Tour that these guys are here. We have difficulties sometimes with the wind conditions, but the race management is proactive and I think the sailors are happy that they at least get out and try to get the racing done.”

Among the entries are Swedish Match Tour leader and world No1 American Ed Baird of Team Alinghi, and Australian Peter Gilmour of Pizza-La Sailing Team, the reigning Tour champion who won here last year. Gilmour lies in third place on the Tour leaderboard and is ranked No. 2 in the world. Other Tour leaders include Finnish match racer Staffan Lindberg who is sixth, and France's Mathieu Richard placed eighth.

Locally, the most anticipation surrounds Danish Olympic Gold medallist Jesper Bank who raced with the Scandinavian-based Victory Challenge in Louis Vuitton Cup 2003, and has been selected as skipper of Germany’s first-ever challenge for the America’s Cup, United Internet Team Germany.

Alongside his old Soling crew Bank will sail this week with tactician Markus Wieser. Although the two veteran sailors have never raced together before, Wieser is in line to join the upstart team. Wieser said the most important thing about the team is to educate the German public and sailors about Cup racing. “In Germany, there’s not a lot of professional sailing. You have to get an education and then a job,” he said, referring to the career-orientated goals of German society. “I don’t know if the challenge will help change that or not. There are no new sailors coming up the ranks.”

In the grand scheme of the Swedish Match Tour, Match Race Germany stands as an important event towards the Tour championship. Baird, who has 75 points, leads Gilmour by 13 points. Russell Coutts (NZL) is second in the standings, 5 points behind Baird, but isn’t entered. Baird placed fifth last week at stage 5 in Italy, his worst showing in four events this season. He can’t clinch the championship this week, but he can go a long way toward solidifying his top standing.

Conversely, Gilmour can take another bite out of Baird. He trailed by 23 points going into Italy, but gained 10 points after placing second overall.

After this event both Baird and Gilmour are entered in the two remaining events of the season: the ACI H1 Match Race Cup, in Croatia on 22-28 May, and the Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand Sweden on 4-10 July. Baird wasn’t scheduled to compete in Croatia, but just confirmed his participation today, showing he feels Gilmour breathing down his neck. “Gilly is the real problem,” Baird confirmed.

The format of Match Race Germany splits the 12 teams into two groups of six for a single round robin in each group. The top four from each group advance to the next round, which will either be another round robin or a knockout round, depending on the weather conditions. The top four from that round advances to the semifinals, with the winners advancing to the final.

Regardless of the stated format, the event remains flexible to change to accommodate the weather. “There’s only been one year where we’ve had to advance straight to the final,” said Magg. “We’ll lose some time due to the light winds, but it always seems to get sorted out in the end.”

Although Match Race Germany has been held since 1997, this is the eighth annual event. The 1999 event was canceled when Langenargen and the towns lying on Lake Constance were flooded. “That was a force majeure,” Magg said. “There was nothing we could do.”

This year Match Race Germany ends on Monday 16 May in honour of the Whit Sunday and Whit Monday holidays - the German celebration of Pentecost. Nearly everyone in the country goes on a two-week vacation beginning Friday in honour of the Christian holiday.

Match Race Germany 2005 Entrants
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand – Two-time Olympic Gold medalist
Ian Ainslie (RSA) Shosholoza Challenge – Three-time Olympian in Finn class
Jan Eike Andresen (GER) – Ranked 40th on ISAF World Match Race Ranking List
Ed Baird (USA) Team Alinghi – Leads Swedish Match Tour standings
Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany – Skipper of Germany’s first America’s Cup Challenge
Sébastien Col (FRA) K-Challenge – Tactician for France’s K-Challenge
Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team – Reigning Match Race Germany champion
Sten Mohr (DEN) – Won qualifying regatta for entry
Staffan Lindberg (FIN) – Sixth on Swedish Match Tour leaderboard
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) BMW Oracle Racing – Runner-up at Match Race Germany ’04
Mathieu Richard (FRA) – Seventh on Swedish Match Tour leaderboard
Ian Williams (GBR) – Making Swedish Match Tour debut

Swedish Match Tour Standings
(After 5 of 8 stages)
1. Ed Baird (USA) 75 points
2. Russell Coutts (NZL) 70 points
3. Peter Gilmour (AUS) 62 points
4. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) 45 points
5. James Spithill (AUS) 35 points
6. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) 26 points
7. Philippe Presti (FRA) 24 points
8. Mathieu Richard (FRA) 21 points