Sport

Shosholoza in first major win of 2008

29 April 2008

The Team Shosholoza match race team skippered by Paolo Cian claimed the first major match race victory of 2008 by winning the opening event of the World Match Racing Tour in Vitoria, Brazil on Saturday.

Representing South Africa's first ever America's Cup sailing challenger, Team Shosholoza, Cian and his crew had steadily climbed the leader board in the five-day event, which started last Tuesday and ended on Saturday.

On the way they defeated current Tour world champion Ian Williams of Great Britain in a fiercely fought semi-final, before taking the championship in a best-of-five-match final against Sweden's Bjorn Hansen.

By winning the 2008 Brasil Sailing Cup, Cian notched up 25 points to take an early lead in the new 2008 World Match Racing Tour Ranking List. The team also won the top prize of US$36 000 of the total purse of $150 000.

"This is great news for South Africa," Team Shosholoza managing director Captain Salvatore Sarno said in a statement on Sunday. "Match racing is the format of the America's Cup, and the World Tour is the principle benchmark by which we can measure ourselves against the world's best teams.

"Wins like this will keep Shosholoza alive until we have clarity on the next mult-challenge America's Cup," Sarno said. "I am confident that with a helmsman like Paolo, a naval architect like Alex Simonis and a crew like the one we had in the 2007 America's Cup, we will be able to show the world what South Africa can do."

Cian described the final races on Saturday as "extremely tough."

"We sailed more matches than any other day all week," Cian said. "Bjorn and his team sailed extremely well, and he just got unlucky in the last race. But the credit goes to my team of these great guys who have gotten me to the finals three times in the last few events."

Crewing for Cian were Pierluigi Fornelli, Antar Vigma, Pierluigi De Felice, and Teva Plichard - all of them sporting new gear featuring sponsors MSC Crociere and Breil Milano.

The Team Shosholoza Match Race team will be racing in Match Race Germany, the second event of the World Match Racing Tour, in Langenargen from 7 to 12 May.

Team Shosholoza will also be campaigning the team's America's Cup Class yacht Shosholoza RSA 83 at the Naples Velalonga in June and again at the Trieste Barcolona in October.

Many of the crew who sailed in the 2007 America's Cup will be back on the yacht for these events.

Vitoria Brasil Sailing Cup final results

1st – Paolo Cian (Team Shosholoza) – 25 points
2nd – Bjorn Hansen (Alandia Sailing Team) – 20 points
3rd – Ian Williams (Team Pindar) – 15 points
4th – Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge) – 12 points
5th – Mattias Rahm (Stenna Bulk) – 9 points
5th – Torvar Mirsky (Mirsky Racing Team) – 9 points
7th – Peter Wibroe (Wibroe Sailing Team) – 6 points
8th – Pierre-Antoine Morvan (France spoir) – 4 points
9th – Adam Minoprio (Emirates Team New Zealand)
10th – Henrique Haddad (Giant Sailing Team)
11th - Juan Grimaldi (TAG Heuer Sailing Team)
12th - Daniel Glomb (Bravíssimo Sailing Team)

2008 World Match Racing Tour schedule

Stage 1: Apr 21-26: Brasil Sailing Cup - Victória, Brazil
Stage 2: May 7-12: Match Race Germany - Langenargen, Germany
Stage 3: Jun 10-15: Korea Match Cup - Gyeonggi, Korea
Stage 4: Jun 30-Jul 6: Match Cup Sweden - Marstrand, Sweden
Stage 5: Jul 15-20: Portugal Match Cup - Troia, Portugal
Stage 6: Aug 27-31: Danish Open - Frederikshavn, Denmark
Stage 7: Sep 2-7: St Moritz Match Race - St Moritz, Switzerland
Stage 8: Oct 6-12: Bermuda Gold Cup - Hamilton, Bermuda
Stage 9: Dec (TBC): Monsoon Cup - K.Terengganu, Malaysia

SAinfo reporter