After several delays and thanks to the long Swedish day, Group 2 was finally able to take to the water, concluding their opening round as a more-competitive-than-normal sunset sail.

When the proverbial dust settled, Sweden’s Mattias Rahm of Team Stena Bulk advanced as the top qualifier from his group to Stage 2 of the Swedish Match Cup, as Rahm and crew went 2-1 on the day to finish 6-1 overall.

“It’s hard when you do one race (in the morning) and then go sit for six hours and go back out again,” confessed Rahm.

“All the guys here are so good, you have to be a little lucky in each race you win,” explained Rahm.  “The best guys sail their own way around the course, you can’t fool the competitors on the Swedish Match Tour.”

Posting perfect records of 3-0 on the day were Denmark’s Jesper Radich, Swedish Match Tour rankings leader, and fellow Dane Jesper Bank, helmsman for the Victory Challenge.

Meanwhile, Denmark’s Jes Gram-Hansen of Team Victory Lane finished the day 0-3 and his overall record of 1-6 eliminated him from the regatta, ending his chances of winning the Swedish Match Tour. 

Tied with Gram-Hansen at 1-6 but advancing on to the next round is Sweden’s Mikael Lindqvist who further explained Rahm’s comment about the importance of luck by stating, “Sometimes you beat the right guys.”

Tomorrow Group 1 which features Australia’s Peter Gilmour of Team Pizza La, Sweden’s Magnus Holmberg of Team StoraEnso, Peter Holmberg of the US Virgin Islands, Great Britain’s Andy Beadsworth, Australia’s James Spithill, Great Britian’s Chris Law of “The Outlaws,” American Ed Baird of Team Musto, Poland’s Karol Jablonski of the Jablonski Sailing Team and Sebastien Destremau of Le Defi Areva take to the water.

Swedish Match Cup Women’s Class

In the Swedish Match Cup Women’s Class, semifinal racing was held in the late afternoon with Marstrand’s own Malin Kallstrom sweeping past Denmark’s Annette Strom 3-0, while the world’s top ranked match racing skipper Marie Bjorling of Sweden needed all five matches to upend the recently crowned women’s match racing world champion, Malin Millbourn of Sweden.

The best-of-five all-Swedish women’s final will be held on Saturday afternoon, July 5th.

“They say it takes two to tango,” said Malin Källström.  “And if you want to see some tough dancing, join us on Saturday.”

Swedish Match Cup Open Class Standings – Group 2

Skipper                                                                                    Wins            Losses

1.Mattias Rahm, SWE/Team Stena Bulk                               6            1

2.Jesper Radich, Denmark                                                         6            1

3.Jesper Bank, Denmark                                                         5            2

4.Johnie Berntsson, Sweden                                                           4            3

5.Paolo Cian, ITA/Riviera di Rimin di Sailing Team               3            4

6.Staffan Lindberg, Finland                                                            2            5

 7.Mikael Lindqvist, Sweden                                                           1            6

 8. Jes Gram-Hansen, DEN/Team Victory Lane               1            6

Group 2

Flight 5

Berntsson def. Lindqvist

Radich def. Lindberg

Rahm def. Gram-Hansen

Bank def. Cian

Flight 6

Berntsson def. Lindberg

Cian def. Gram-Hansen

Radich def. Lindqvist

Bank def. Rahm

Flight 7

Radich def. Gram-Hansen

Cian def. Lindqvist

Bank def. Berntsson

Rahm def. Lindberg

Swedish Match Cup Women’s Class Results

Semifinals

Flight 1

Kallstrom def. Strom

Bjorling def. Millbourn

Flight 2

Kallstrom def. Strom

Millbourn def. Bjorling

Flight 3

Kallstrom def. Strom

Millbourn def. Bjorling

Flight 4

Bjorling def. Millbourn

Flight 5

Bjorling def. Millbourn

Source: Shawn McBride