Perth, Australia (March 23rd, 2017) – Royal Perth Yacht Club skipper Torvar Mirsky kept the spectators on the edge of their seats as he came back from 2–1 down to defeat Sweden’s Nicklas Dackhammar to become the fourth local skipper into the quarter finals of the Match Cup Australia.

Earlier in the day Steve Thomas, also of Royal Perth Yacht Club, had become a giant slayer, eliminating Tour Card holder Nicolai Sehested in three straight races, to join yesterday’s local qualifiers David Gilmour and Matt Jerwood.

Thomas has seen his confidence grow since sweeping undefeated through last week’s qualifier, then continuing his impressive performances this week. Attributing his teams success to on board communications he said, “for us just making sure we have good communication all the time is critical, and you know that when the communication breaks down that’s when things go wrong, and were really disciplined on simple things and it’s paying off for us.”

Torvar Mirsky showed great composure to turn around a bad situation and come out with the right result, talking about what was going through his mind as he prepared for the deciding heat he said, “We didn’t know what to feel, we knew we were sailing well, we know what to do and we just need to put it together.

“Nicklas just took it too us, he schooled us in three starts, and we just fought as hard as we could all the time, I think eventually we broke him and got a couple of good starts, and finally got up on him.”

Also going through to the quarter finals today was reigning world champion Phil Robertson of New Zealand, who was pushed all the way by Sweden’s Mans Holmberg.

The two northern hemisphere skippers to make it into the next round are Frenchman Yann Guichard and Taylor Canfield from the US Virgin Islands.

Conditions on the Swan River today provided challenges in the shifty southerly wind, with gusts causing a few anxious moments, and some opportunities.

Qualifying

 

SUPER 16 Pair 1
POS COUNTRY SKIPPER TEAM 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 PTS
1 ISV Taylor Canfield US One 1 1 1 3
2 NED PieterJan Postma Sailing Team NL 0 0 0 0

SUPER 16 Pair 2
POS COUNTRY SKIPPER TEAM 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 PTS
1 NZL Chris Steele 36 Below Racing 0 0 1 1 1 3
2 DEN Jonas Warrer Team Warrer 1 1 0 0 0 2

SUPER 16 Pair 3
POS COUNTRY SKIPPER TEAM 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 PTS
1 AUS Torvar Mirsky Mirsky Racing Team 1 0 0 1 1 3
2 SWE Nicklas Dackhammar ESSIQ Racing Team 0 1 1 0 0 2

SUPER 16 Pair 4
POS COUNTRY SKIPPER TEAM 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 PTS
1 NZL Phil Robertson Robertson Racing 0 1 1 1 3
2 SWE Mans Holmberg CFA Sports 1 0 0 0 1

SUPER 16 Pair 5
POS COUNTRY SKIPPER TEAM 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 PTS
1 AUS Steve Thomas RPM Racing 1 1 1 3
2 DEN Nicolai Sehested EWII Racing 0 0 0 0

SUPER 16 Pair 6
POS COUNTRY SKIPPER TEAM 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 PTS
1 FRA Yann Guichard Spindrift Racing 1 1 1 3
2 AUS Sam Gilmour Neptune Racing 0 0 0 0

SUPER 16 Pair 7
POS COUNTRY SKIPPER TEAM 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 PTS
1 AUS Matt Jerwood Redline Racing 1 1 1 3
2 GBR Ian Williams GAC Pindar 0 0 0 0

SUPER 16 Pair 8
POS COUNTRY SKIPPER TEAM 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 PTS
1 AUS Dave Gilmour Team Gilmour 1 1 0 1 3
2 AUS Evan Walker KA Match 0 0 1 0 1