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Holmberg 5th
TEAM CARIBBEAN FIFTH IN GERMANY'S
MATCH RACE LAKE CONSTANCE
-- Penalties and Point System Take Their Toll
Kressbronn, GERMANY -- July 24, 1998 After dominating an impressive field of 12 world-ranked skippers and leading on points after the first two days, Peter Holmberg's Team Caribbean Match Racing Team narrowly missed qualifying for Saturday's semi-finals to finish fifth in the MATCH RACE LAKE CONSTANCE 1998.
"It's a pity that after leading all teams after two days of racing, all that is erased and one round robin decides the final outcome," says Holmberg. "We obviously would have preferred the standard system, where two round robins decide the semi-finalists, or you carry the points from the two days forward."
Also failing to benefit from a superb performance in the two arlier Round Robins, England's Andy Beadsworth finished sixth. The top four teams to advance from today's Round Robin E -- skippered by Sten Mohr (Denmark), Markus Wieser (Germany), Chris Law (England) and Neville Wittey (Australia) --Will compete in tomorrow's semi final and final.
Dubbed the wind arena, the Watersports Centre of Kressbronn's inner harbor racing venue features ten state-of-the-art wind machines, powered by MTU generators, that provide wind insurance when natural breezes fail to materialize. Although the innovative use of turbo fans to create spectator-friendly match racing stadiums may be the wave of the future, competitors and organizers alike will need time to adjust to the new technology.
Explains Holmberg, "It's all about timing in the critical last few seconds as you pick the final entry into the narrow wind zone from the fan at the start. What worked so well for us yesterday, did not hold true today. The alignment of the fans was slightly different, and my timing was off by one to two feet in several races. Unfortunately we had a bad day today, and it came at the wrong time." Crewing with Team Caribbean in Germany are Mikael Bjorndal (bow) of Sweden and Morgan Avery (trimmer) of St. Thomas.
Hosted by the Yacht Club Langenargen and the Kressbronner Segler, Germany's first ISAF Grade 1 contest in years offers a 100,000 DM purse. The match is contested in a fleet of eight identical 7.3 meter Diamont 2000s.
Holmberg's international match racing team is sponsored on the circuit by its Team Caribbean America's Cup Challenge sponsors and American Airlines. For more information contact Arlene R. Martel at 340-776-0921. Photos are available on the official event webpage: http://www.matchrace.de.
MATCH RACE LAKE CONSTANCE 1998
RESULTS AFTER THREE DAYS
GROUP E RESULTS (Qualified for semi finals:)
Sten Mohr (DEN/29/No. 6) 3 wins
Markus Wieser (Starnberg/32/No. 7) 3 wins
Chris Law (GBR/46/No. 2) 3 wins
Neville Wittey (AUS/40/No. 17) 2 wins --------------------------------------------------------
(Final placements: 5th thru 6th)
5. Peter Holmberg (ISV/37/No. 3) 2 wins
6. Andy Beadsworth (GBR/31/No. 35) 1 win
GROUP F
(Final placements: 7th thru 12th)
7. Morten Henriksen (DEN/31/No. 14) 5 wins
8. Magnus Holmberg (SWE/36/No. 16) 3 wins
9. Henrik Witzmann (GER/25/No.66) 2 wins
10. Murray Jones (NZL/39/No. 42) 2 wins
11. Mikkel Rossberg (DEN/27/No. 20) 2 wins
12. Alexander Hagen (GER/43/No.69) 1 win |
