‘It was just fine tuning. Today we won all our starts and the boys just kept us going fast down the track.

‘With Gilmour, Mirsky and Minoprio, all three, we managed to get to the right of them and push them down the line and then we were able to tack off towards the current. In our fourth match Damien Iehl was under a lot of pressure, he made a mistake on his timed run and that was it.

‘Actually we’ve found overall there is an advantage going out in tide in the pre-start, it has allowed us to get enough gauge to come back and control.'

Next the number 25 ranked sailor tackled former World Tour Champion Magnus Holmberg and in the tight pre-start Holmberg attracted a penalty. Robertson comprehensively outsailed his rival and went on to finish the day with a 6-3 score card.

While for some crews its all going swimmingly, there are losers too.

Ian Williams and Team Pindar have dominated the World Tour for the last two years winning both the 2007 and 2008 World Match Racing Championships but right now Williams is in nightmare territory.

After the first day Williams was 1-3, having recorded losses to Damien Iehl (French Team) Peter Gilmour (YANMAR Racing) and Phil Robertson (WAKA Racing), while defeating Torvar Mirsky (Mirsky Racing Team).

After the completion of racing last night Williams commented ‘you have to be right on the money and we were not.'

Today he knew he had to be and Williams started with a workman like victory over the Malaysian Match Racing champion Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (MAS).

He then lost to Sebastien Col (French Team/ALL4One) and Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge).

A moderately stressed but very determined Ian Williams and his Team Pindar crew were 2-5, needing to win four out of four races in the round robin series.

‘The mistakes we've made or problems we've had, have come in different races. It has not been all about the start. Right now we are doing the hard stuff well; it’s just the simple things. We've been losing by small margins' said Williams.

'Of course we are all racing the conditions as well as the other crews. The tide lines are moving, you have to be very aware and very sharp, because one mistake and you lose.

'We've won four of seven starts but we've lost two races where we clearly won the start and that is a real concern. We have had a couple of umpire calls that could have gone a different way...but I guess everyone can say that.

'Two years ago we went through to the quarter-finals on four wins, last year on five. We will have to get to six wins; it’s actually possible that someone could go out on six. We are just focussed on winning our next four races' concluded Williams.

But it was disaster for Williams in his match against Ben Ainslie, earning a penalty in the pre-start. Team Pindar sailed hard, won a leg advantage on the left, but lost the match.

The bitterly disappointed World Champion said ‘We think that’s it for us; we can't make the cut. We are just going to keep trying and let’s see what happens.’

Press conference Day 2 Quotations.

Ben Ainslie 7-2. ‘Our teamwork has been good, the racing is very close.’

Mathieu Richard 6–3. ‘We are improving every day.’

Phil Robertson 6-3. ‘All the wheels are turning, he boys are stoked.’

Holmberg 5-4. ‘The race against Phil Robertson was exciting. We ran out of time; we tried to tangle with them but Phil and his crew did a good job beating us.’

Torvar Mirsky 4-4. ‘The highlight of the day for us was beating Adam Minoprio.’

Peter Gilmour 4-4. ‘Some of these young fellows just do not respect their elders, the whole field is very, very tight. The last four flights tomorrow will be critical for all of us struggling to make the quarter-finals.’

Adam Minoprio 4-4. ‘We were 1-3 today. We are disappointed with our performance. We still have a job to do to make the quarter-finals.’

Damien Iehl 4-5. ‘We had a disappointing day today, as we did yesterday. We have to do better.’

Bruni 3-6. ‘It’s been a very big season for us and I think we are just tired. We had a couple of close races, but don’t know the boats and course well enough, but we are looking to improve tomorrow.’

Hazwan Hazim 0-9. ‘We are too light (100kg) for strong conditions. We had trouble accelerating, we got some tips from Peter Gilmour and we will be better for this experience.’

Day 2 (03/12/09) Round Robin Results after flight 13

Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin - 7 2
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team - 6 3
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team - 6 3
Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge - 5 4
Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/ALL4ONE - 5 3 *
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team - 5 3 *
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing - 4 4 *
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing - 4 4 *
Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team - 4 5
Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar - 3 6
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Team Azzurra - 3 6
Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (MAS) Taring Pelangi Team - 0 9

* only eight matches sailed

by Rob Kothe