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| World elite in Match racing races in Sweden to get fit for Match Cup Sweden |
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The season opener in Match racing, Grade 3 race Ice Breaker at Långedrag in Sweden, April 12-13 has a sensationally strong starting field, and world elite sailors from four nations meet. The world champion in Match racing, Ian Williams, fourth in the world Björn Hansen, Staffan Lindberg, Johnnie Berntsson and several Nordic top sailors come. - We want to get a tough practice race before Match Cup Sweden and the World Match Racing Tour, and the competition here is quite proper, says British world champion Ian Williams. The reason for the super strong starting field in Ice Breaker is that only three months is left to the Swedish world champion race Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand, organised by Brandspot and GKSS. The race in Marstrand is part of the World Match Racing Tour and was a great success; the all-Swedish final became historical as the toughest ever – and with Swedish star sailor Björn Hansen as the winner. Now he and his Finnish team pal in Alandia Sailing Team, Staffan Lindberg is challenging Brit Ian Williams, Swedi9sh top sailors Johnnie Berntsson, Mattias Rahm and Nordic sailing elite in the Grade 3 race this weekend. - This race has never offered better competition. With a partly new crew this will be a perfect practice before the first race on the World Tour in Brazil end of April. The goal is to be able to sail in all races this year on the Tour, explains Björn Hansen, who also won the title Sailor of the Year for his fourth place on the Tour and his victory in Match Cup Sweden 2007. One who wasn’t as satisfied with his result in the Swedish race was British Ian Williams, who didn’t quite get to grips with the fast and manoeuvrable boat type DS37, but despite his failure in the race won the World tour and became world champion in Match racing 2007. - In this race we are going to learn to sail the boat to get revenge in Match Cup Sweden, Ian Williams says. It is also a good opportunity for the new crew to practice before the Tour. As only female Swedish sailors, Linda Rahm and Anna Kjellberg will sail against the men. Linda has stepped up from ninth to fifth place in the Women’s ranking. - Interest is also record high for Match Cup Sweden, several of the world top sailors wants to race, so there will be a really tough World championship race, says Erik Centerwall, GKSS. For more information, contact Lars-Ola Nordqvist, press manager Match Cup Sweden, +468 545 063 21, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or Erik Centerwall, GKSS, +46708 16 21 70. |
