The Round Robin sailings in Match Cup Sweden’s Open class were finished today. All the Swedes; Björn Hansen, Magnus Holmberg and Mattias Rahm are qualified for quarter finals. Today’s great surprise was that number one-ranked British Ian Williams is out.

“We are very disappointed not to reach the quarter finals. The races are even this year. Unfortunately we didn’t make it.”

In the match between Williams and Richard, Williams left an objection that the umpires didn’t accept. Therefore Williams couldn’t get his well needed point.

“You have to take all your chances on the water. But we didn’t. “says Ian Williams. “Light breezes are hard to sail in. Everybody is taking wind from each other. I wish the others all the best from now on.”

At the same time, Williams is looking forward to the next competitions in Denmark and next year’s Match Cup Sweden.

“We love Marstrand. It is one of the best races on the tour.”

The objection in the race between Williams and Richard got overruled, and that was actually the best thing that could happen to Swedish Björn Hansen, last year’s winner. By that decision he managed to get the last spot in the quarter finals.The starting position today for the Swedish skipper looked indeed very well but Hansen had a rough day out on the sea and lost three out of four races. He ended up with the same score as Ian Williams but since Hansen won against Williams, the last spot in the quarter finals went to him.

“This has not been the best of days for us”, Hansen said. “The sailing has been very tricky and very little separates the winners from the losers. Everyone can beat everyone. Today we had problems with our starts and since the courses were shortened the starts become very crucial”, said Hansen.

But in  the match against Ian Williams, Björn Hansen’s tactics really paid off. By choosing the opposite side of Williams, Hansen caught a stronger breeze and won quite comfortably.

“We noticed that the side we sailed on had stronger winds during the earlier races” said Björn Hansen.

Another Swede who also made it to the quarter finals is Mattias Rahm who, through some convincing sailing yesterday, more or less had secured a place in the next round.

“We had six points yesterday. We figured that it would be enough and sailed more relaxed today. We´re focusing on the quarter finals now.”

The winner of the Round Robin is Mathieu Richard. Through confident sailing the French won nine out of fourteen races.

“We did a great Round Robin. Now we have to keep it up. The conditions here in Marstrand have really been good for us. Sailing with weak winds is something we are good at” Richard said. “Before the quarter finals we have some details to work on. Last year we got eliminated in the quarter finals. This year, that will not happen.”