Robertson on a roll

as WMRT turns to Russia

St. Petersburg, Russia (July 25, 2017) – Current Match Racing World Champion Phil Robertson and his CHINAone NINGBO team are in a dominant position and on supreme form as they head to the fourth round of the World Match Racing Tour Championship season – the WMRT Match Cup Russia hosted by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, supported by Gazprom, August 1-6.

Can the unique challenges of the Neva River in St Petersburg finally unsettle the New Zealander? It may take more than that, because though this is the first Championship level WMRT event in Russia, it is not the first time for Robertson.

“I’ve sailed in Russia about four times now,” Robertson said.  “It can be really beautiful – it’s quite a stunning location to sail – but it comes with its challenges, which is being a river it’s got probably a couple of knots of current, and is very shifty and puffy at the same time being in the middle of the city. So, it’s a challenging place, but nonetheless very beautiful and a cool place to sail. You’ve got some beautiful buildings right on the edge of the race course, when the sun shines, it’s a hard spot to beat.”

These are not words to encourage the chasing pack – who given Robertson’s record this year need all the encouragement they can get. Robertson won stage one, Match Cup Australia and has been generally unbeatable in July. He followed a crushing victory in the GKSS Match Cup Sweden at the beginning of the month, by winning the inaugural M32 World Championship in Marstrand, Sweden, and last weekend won the Extreme Sailing Series event in Barcelona. On the fourth week he rested.

“We’ve had a pretty good run, can’t really complain,” he said. “I’m just resting this week.”

What does he put his form over the past two seasons (after victory at the WMRT Match Racing World Championship in 2016) down to? “There’s nothing special to be honest, it’s just years of hard work starting to pay off and we’ve found a nice little balance in the team and it seems to be working well. I’m improving a lot and still have a lot to improve on, so it’s a nice spot to be in.”

Robertson will never be able to take it easy with the likes of Ian Williams, the six-time world champion, in the wings. One Wild Card to watch is Victor Serezhkin, skipper of Gazprom Team Russia, who knows these waters and surprised everyone with his performances coming from behind on day 2 of the M32 World Championships a fortnight ago. He confirmed Robertson’s view of what will face the teams.

“St Petersburg as a sailing venue is definitely one of the most interesting and beautiful in the world – just imagine that you’re racing with the backdrop of all these amazing sites that you can almost reach out touch,” Serezhkin said. “But from the sailor’s point of view, this is one of the toughest racing venues. It’s river, not a sea, so there’s lots of current and the winds are shifty and puffy (going from) 5-15 knots in just seconds.

“St Petersburg events are always surprising. Yes, local knowledge plus some luck is half of the success. But (it’s also about) smart sailing – the feature that the fleet has in abundance.”

Racing will take place in the heart of St. Petersburg at the foot of the walls of the Peter-and-Paul Fortress, with the Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum to the south, Vasilievsky Island to the west, and the sailing so close to shore that spectators will not miss a beat. Fans will have unparalleled access to the event, the sailors, and the machines they race on as the event village will be situated on the beach in front of the Peter-and-Paul Fortress with the M32 catamarans landing there after racing each day.

Racing at WMRT Match Cup Russia begins Tuesday 1st August with the finals scheduled for Sunday. All action will be covered via wmrt.com.

parallax_image_speed=”0.5″ bg_video_loop=”yes” parallax_video_height=”window-height” row_id=”skippers” parallax_video_overlay=”none” row_overlay_opacity=”0″ remove_element_spacing=”no” row_col_pos=”default” row_expanding=”no” row_animation=”none” row_animation_delay=”0″ width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]

Result Board

current WMRT leaderboard

Pos Skipper Country Team ESMR WCC CCC SRMC GBC PMC MCA FC CC MMC CGC GMC CMC MCS SPMC MCR MCC Total
1 Phil Robertson NZL China One Ningbo 40 0 36 40 40 36 192
2 Ian Williams GBR GAC Pindar 0 40 40 33 33 20 166
3 Taylor Canfield ISV US One 24 33 33 36 22 148
4 Yann Guichard FRA Spindrift Racing 20 26 24 22 33 125
5 Chris Steele NZL 36 Below Racing 26 20 24 22 30 122
6 Sam Gilmour AUS Neptune Racing 0 0 26 30 12 36 10 114
7 David Gilmour AUS Team Gilmour 8 0 10 30 20 26 24 110
8 Torvar Mirsky AUS Mirsky Racing Team 9 0 0 8 33 9 15 40 106
9 Matt Jerwood AUS Redline Racing 0 0 36 15 16 30 7 104
10 PieterJan Postma NED Sailing Team NL 0 10 30 9 26 16 91
11 Nicklas Dackhammar SWE Essiq Racing Team 0 0 16 22 20 15 15 88
12 Harry Price AUS Down Under Racing 4 0 0 15 10 0 8 13 26 72
13 Jonas Warrer DEN Team Warrer 15 0 14 20 12 67
14 Måns Holmberg SWE CFA Sports 10 0 0 7 13 10 *9 24 9 66
15 Steven Thomas AUS RPM Racing 8 10 22 16 8 64
16 Johnie Berntsson SWE Flux Team 36 11 14 61
17 Joachim Aschenbrenner DEN Aschenbrenner Racing 6 0 22 7 13 56
18 Evan Walker AUS KA Match / CYCA 0 9 14 0 10 16 *8 49
19 Markus Edegran USA E11EVEN RACING 7 0 7 10 12 11 47
20 Nevin Snow USA Team 13Fifty 0 9 9 9 14 41
21 Sally Barkow USA Team Magenta 32 7 11 10 11 39
22 Scott Dickson USA Dickson Racing Team 10 24 34
23 Eric Monnin SUI Albert Riele Swiss Team 7 16 7 30
24 Kim Kling SWE Caprice Match Racing Team 4 0 6 7 13 30
25 Nicolai Sehested DEN EWII Racing 10 14 24
26 Quentin Delapierre FRA Team Lorina-Golfe du Morbihan 13 23
27 David Storrs USA Pequot Racing 9 13 22
28 Lukasz Wosinski POL Delphia Sailing Team 8 9 20
29 Victor Serezkhin RUS Gazprom Team Russia 5 0 14 19
30 George Anyon NZL RNZYS Performance Program 8 8 16
31 Patrik Sturesson SWE Team Accure 7 8 15
32 Anthony Kotoun ISV Kotoun Racing 6 8 14
32 Evgeny Neugodnikov RUS Team Tavatuy 6 8 14
34 Hans Wallén SWE WAR - Wallén Racing 5 8 13
35 Will Boulden AUS Alpha Racing Team 5 7 12
36 Jeremy Wilmot USA Wilmot Racing 5 7 12
36 Evgeny Elfimov RUS M1 Cloud 5 7 12
36 Andrew Campbell USA Heart of America 12 12
39 Rasmus Rosengren SWE Artemis Youth Racing 6 5 11
40 Pete Burling NZL NZL Match Racing Team 10 10
40 Nico Dellenbaugh Karth AUT Chilli Racing 10 10
42 Allan Nørregaard DEN Team Nørregaard 9 9
43 Daniel Björnholt DEN Youth Vikings 3 5 8
44 Philip Bendon IRL Bendon Race Team 3 4 7
44 Sime Fantela HRV Croatia Match Racing Team 7
46 Brett Burvill AUS Edge Racing 6 6
46 Vladimir Lipavsky RUS Lipavsky Racing 6 6
48 Lachy Gilmour AUS Gilmour Racing Team 5 5
49 Chris Rast SUI EFG Bank 5 5
49 Peter Holz USA Windy City Racing 5 5
51 Jeremy Koo MAS Sime Derby Foundation - KRT 0 4 4
51 Dave Hood USA DH3 Racing 4 4
51 Chris Poole USA Riptide Racing 4 4
51 Olivia Mackay NZL Team Magenta 32 4
51 Ekaterina Kochkina RUS SailWay Match Racing Team 4 4
56 Gemma Jones NZL RNZYS Performance 3 3
57 Matthew Chew AUS KA Match / CYCA 3 3
57 Robbie Gibbs AUS RPYC 0 3 3
57 Sydney Gathrid USA DRYC 3 3
57 Jo Aleh NZL Team Magenta 32 0 3 3
57 Anna Östling SWE Tean Anna 3 3
62 Logan Beck NZL RNZYS Performance 0 0
62 Will Dargaville AUS Rogue Racing/RPAYC 0 0
0

CONFIRMED ENTRIES

PHIL ROBERTSON (CHINA ONE NINGBO)

SALLY BARKOW (TEAM MAGENTA 32)

IAN WILLIAMS (GAC PINDAR)

YANN GUICHARD (SPINDRIFT RACING)

SAM GILMOUR (NEPTUNE RACING)

VICTOR SEREZHKIN (GAZPROM TEAM RUSSIA)

MATT JERWOOD (REDLINE RACING)

MÅNS HOLMBERG (GOTHENBURG RACING)

NICKLAS DACKHAMMAR (ESSIQ RACING)

STEVE THOMAS (RPM RACING)

JONAS WARRER (WARRER RACING)

NICO DELLE KARTH (CHILLI RACING)

MARKUS EDEGRAN (E11EVEN RACING)

PIETER-JAN POSTMA (SAILING TEAM NL)

LUKASZ WOSINSKI (DELPHIA SAILING TEAM)

KIM KLING (CAPRICE MATCH RACING TEAM)

EVGENY NEUGODNIKOV (TEAM TAVATUY)

EVGENY ELFIMOV (M1 CLOUD