Congressional Cup, in semifinale sarà Bruni contro Lindberg
EnglishMatch RaceVela 26 Marzo 2011 Zerogradinord 0
Long Beach – Francesco Bruni contro Staffan Lindberg e Ian Williams contro Mathieu Richard: sono questi gli accoppiamenti validi per le semifinali della Congressional Cup, evento di match race da 40.000 Dollari di montepremi in corso di svolgimento a Long Beach, in California. A definire il secondo turno del tabellone è stato lo skipper italiano, mattatore del doppio girone di qualificazione con uno score da record: diciassette vittorie e una sola sconfitta, patita per mano di Ian Williams.
La scelta di Bruni, straordinario interprete del ruolo di campione uscente, era piuttosto prevedibile, altro non fosse che per il buono stato di forma evidenziato dal citato Williams e dal vincitotre del 2007, Mathieu Richard, lontani dalla perfezione mostrata dallo skipper palermitano, ma comunque protagonisti di una partecipazione di qualità, al punto da essere sin dalle battute iniziali sicuri del passaggio del turno.
Qualificazione che per Lindberg è arrivata solo in seguito alla vittoria ottenuta nell’ultimo dei diciotti duelli disputati nelle acque del Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier. Superando Taylor Canfield, fanalino di coda della classifica, lo skipper finlandese ha staccato definitivamente il due volte vincitore del blazer rosso, Dave Perry, finito quinto davanti a un generoso Simone Ferrarese e al vincitore del 2009, Johnie Berntsson.
Bruni, che ieri aveva ricordato come “…non sia affatto facile fare la scelta giusta. Se guardi agli ultimi cinque anni ti rendi conto che, nel settanta per cento dei casi, chi si è trovato a dover decidere chi affrontare è stato eliminato…” si è detto paricolarmente soddisfatto di quanto fatto nel corso del doppio Round Robin: “Non ho mai avuto un feeling del genere con le barche. Spero che la mi fortuna non sia finita: per vincerne diciassette e perderne solo una devi per forza avere la dea bendata dalla tua”.
Le semifinali, previste al meglio delle tre regate, si svolgeranno nella tarda mattinata californiana – il tardo pomeriggio europeo – e potranno essere seguite in diretta streaming tramite la home page di Zerogradinord.it. Le condizioni meteo, liberate dal giogo di una depressione che ha reso instabile la situazione nel corso delle prime giornate, dovrebbero confermarsi analoghe a quelle di ieri: 10-13 nodi da sudest.
Congressional Cup, primo turno, finale
1. Francesco Bruni, 17-1
2. Ian Williams, 13-5
3. Mathieu Richard, 13-5
4. Staffan Lindberg, 9-9
5. Dave Perry, 8-10
…
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CONGRESSIONAL CUP, FINNS FINISH STRONG TO REACH CONGRESSIONAL CUP SEMIFINALS
[Source Congressional Cup] Not much was going Finland’s way at first in the Long Beach Yacht Club’s 47th Congressional Cup. The Finns’ finishes were lousy—first in only one of the first six races Tuesday, and then tactician Nils Bjerkas slipped overboard Wednesday, but that was OK because it marked a turning point.
Staffan Lindberg’s team still won the race and, rolling past the rough early stages this week, found enough of its form to win eight of its last 12 matches, including one by 10 seconds against 2009 champion Johnie Berntsson in a Scandinavian showdown Friday.
A final runaway win against struggling Taylor Canfield leveled their double round robin record at 9-9 and ushered them into the fourth and last slot in Saturday’s best-of-three semifinals, where they’ll meet defending champion Francesco Bruni (17-1), while 2007 winner Mathieu Richard of France (13-5) goes against Great Britain’s Ian Williams (13-5).
The tall and taciturn Lindberg skipper said, “I think we were too bad in the beginning, but we got better and better. We had nothing to lose. This was our first sailing since last September. I’m pretty sure we’ll make a run.”
The problem for everyone has been stopping Bruni’s charge. The Italian has won his last 10 races since losing to Williams Wednesday—by one second—and seems to be making all the right moves.
“We’ve never had such a good feeling on the boat,” he said. “I hope our luck is not over. You need some good luck to go 17 and one.”
As was his option, Bruni picked Lindberg, as his semifinals opponent, although with some reservations.
“He’s sailing better and better every day, and we know that,” Bruni said.
A day earlier Bruni noted, perhaps ominously, “Over the last five years in Grade 1 [match racing] events, the opponents picked have won 70 per cent of the sailoffs.”
The weather Friday was ideal. A heavy storm that was heading south toward Long Beach the previous two days suddenly veered east into Nevada, leaving a steady 13-knot southwesterly that was expected to continue into Saturday.
The downside was two more crew members hitting the drink: pitman Matt Clark off Canfield’s boat and tactician Andrew Campbell off Dave Perry’s boat. Both were quickly retrieved, although their races were lost.
The same happened to Williams a day earlier when the skippers raced singlehanded Naples Sabots against junior sailors in the Junior Congressional Cup in the marina channel. His little boat flipped and totally dunked him.
Meanwhile, Jack Berg, 11, won the race and the trophy.
Racing is scheduled to start around noon off Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier in east Long Beach, well inside the breakwater of the outer Long Beach Harbor. There is public parking at the base of the pier and free shuttles out to the end, where there is expert commentary, limited seating, a snack bar, restaurant and comfort stations.
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