{"id":2886,"date":"2016-07-06T06:54:20","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T06:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/?p=2886"},"modified":"2016-08-15T06:37:18","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T06:37:18","slug":"wmrt-wallen-double-bullets-into-super-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/?p=2886","title":{"rendered":"WMRT &#8211; Wall\u00e9n Double-Bullets into Super 16"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=Every_sailrace\" class=\"twitter-share-button\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PbiflPqznkM?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Marstrand, Sweden &#8211; WMRT &#8211; Hans Wall\u00e9n bounced back from a slow start in Marstrand to win his last two Qualifying heats and earn a place in the Super 16 of the World Championship Finals of the World Match Racing Tour.<\/strong><br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Everysailrace --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-4487550053079833\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"8435785152\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\nToday was the second and final day of the fleet racing phase of the competition, with 20 international teams divided into four groups of five. For the bottom two in each of those groups, they go into Wednesday\u2019s Sail Offs to determine which four teams live to fight another day in the competition, and which four go home early.<\/p>\n<p>The 55-year-old Wall\u00e9n started the Tour season in startlingly good fashion, battling his way through to the final of the first event in Australia. But since then the Olympic silver medallist from Sweden has struggled, including the early stages of this week. \u201cWe were lacking confidence, we weren\u2019t getting the right spirit in the boat,\u201d said Wall\u00e9n. \u201cThe first two races of today, our heads weren\u2019t in the right place but then I said, \u2018It\u2019s time for us to behave like winners, for us to approach the start like we own it.\u2019 So that\u2019s what we did, and it worked.\u201d<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/seCuOXQrEZU?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Swede finished 2nd in his Group behind the imperious Taylor Canfield and US One who were making it look easy. The young Steve Thomas from Australia claimed the final guaranteed spot in the Super 16, relegating two more experienced Swedish skippers &#8211; Mattias Rahm and Bj\u00f6rn Hansen &#8211; to the Sail Offs. Even if Hansen has won the previous four Match Cup Sweden regattas at this spectacular island venue, the \u2018Master of Marstrand\u2019 is not surprised to find himself at the bottom of the order this year. \u201cWe haven\u2019t sailed the M32 that much, and we\u2019re still struggling, still developing, and having extreme fun. We\u2019re discussing each manoeuvre, trying new things, and we tacked differently in all four races. But we\u2019re getting better; we averaged 5th yesterday, averaged 3rd today, so maybe tomorrow we will average 1st!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hansen will be battling with Rahm for survival in the competition. When Wall\u00e9n was asked which of his two fellow Swedes would make it through, he said: \u201cI\u2019m definitely going to cheer for Bj\u00f6rn, he\u2019s my friend. Mattias gets so nervous &#8211; even though he has sailed the M32 five years. Bjorn has the guts, and he knows that Mattias gets nervous, so he needs to take advantage of that. Bj\u00f6rn is the cool guy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Out of all four Qualifying Groups, Yann Guichard\u2019s dominance of his fleet was the most impressive. The Frenchman won five out of the eight heats, finishing on 12 points to Phil Robertson\u2019s 24 points, the New Zealander taking 2nd place, just a point ahead of Matt Jerwood from Perth. The young Australian was delighted to have made it through to the Super 16. \u201cIt\u2019s our best performance of the season so far, and it was nice to win a race today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Iker Martinez also won five heats in what was arguably the toughest Group of the draw. The 49er Olympic Champion and Volvo Ocean Race veteran relegated one of the hot favourites, Denmark\u2019s Nicolai Sehested, to 2nd, with Nicklas Dackhammar of Sweden in 3rd.<\/p>\n<p>Racing in the lighter winds of the afternoon, Ian Williams came through his Group in good shape, beating Chris Steele of New Zealand and Sam Gilmour of Australia. However, the GAC Pindar skipper had a wobbly last race &#8211; starting over the line early and picking up an umpire penalty. Watching from the shore, arch rival Taylor Canfield speculated that maybe the reigning World Champion was looking to \u2018throw\u2019 a race on purpose. \u201cMaybe Ian\u2019s thinking about who he wants to line up against in the Semi Finals,\u201d said Canfield. But Williams, asked if that\u2019s what he\u2019d been up to, said he didn\u2019t deserve that much credit for being clever enough to know the permutations and implications. \u201cIt might have looked like we were trying to lose,\u201d he laughed, \u201cbut no, we were just making a bit of a mess of the start and picking up that penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whoever Williams faces in the latter stages &#8211; assuming he makes it that far &#8211; is unlikely to be a pushover. The game moves on with every event and teams that were struggling to challenge the favourites at the start of the season are now posing a regular threat. With every day that passes, the chance of winning the $1 million prize bonus for the victor of Marstrand draws closer. The tension is building.<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s schedule starts with the bottom eight teams competing in the Qualifying Sail Offs, to see if they can fight their way through to the Super 16 and the knock-out phase of the competition.<\/p>\n<p>Marstrand Results Day 2 &#8211; Qualifying<\/p>\n<p>Group 1<br \/>\n1. Taylor Canfield (ISV), US One &#8211; 15 pts<br \/>\n2. Hans Wall\u00e9n (SWE), Wall\u00e9n Racing &#8211; 23 pts<br \/>\n2. Steven Thomas (AUS), RPM Racing &#8211; 24 pts<br \/>\n4. Mattias Rahm (SWE), Rahm Racing &#8211; 29 pts<br \/>\n5. Bj\u00f6rn Hansen (SWE), Nautiska Racing &#8211; 33 pts<\/p>\n<p>Group 2<br \/>\n1. Ian Williams (GBR), GAC Pindar &#8211; 15 pts<br \/>\n2. Chris Steele (NZL), 36 Below Racing &#8211; 20 pts<br \/>\n3. Sam Gilmour (AUS), Neptune Racing &#8211; 23 pts<br \/>\n4. Evan Walker (AUS), KA Match \/ CYCA &#8211; 29 pts<br \/>\n5. Eric Monnin (SUI), Albert Riele Swiss Match Race Team &#8211; 35 pts<\/p>\n<p>Group 3<br \/>\n1. Iker Martinez (ESP), Team Espana &#8211; 16 pts<br \/>\n2. Nicolai Sehested (DEN), TREFOR Matchracing &#8211; 18 pts<br \/>\n3. Nicklas Dackhammar (SWE), Essiq Racing &#8211; 22 pts<br \/>\n4. Murray Jones (AUS), Full Bants Racing &#8211; 32 pts<br \/>\n5. Sally Barkow (USA), Team Magenta 32 &#8211; 35 pts<\/p>\n<p>Group 4<br \/>\n1. Yann Guichard (FRA), Spindrift Racing &#8211; 12 pts<br \/>\n2. Phil Robertson (NZL), Phill Robertsson Racing &#8211; 24 pts<br \/>\n3. Matt Jerwood (AUS), Redline Racing &#8211; 25 pts<br \/>\n4. Johnie Berntsson (SWE), Flux Team &#8211; 31 pts<br \/>\n4. Keith Swinton (AUS), Team Accure &#8211; 31 pts<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=Every_sailrace\" class=\"twitter-share-button\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marstrand, Sweden &#8211; WMRT &#8211; Hans Wall\u00e9n bounced back from a slow start in Marstrand to win his last two Qualifying heats and earn a place in the Super 16 of the World Championship Finals of the World Match Racing Tour. Today was the second and final day of the fleet racing phase of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2886"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2886"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2889,"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2886\/revisions\/2889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.everysailrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}