Williams and GAC Pindar win third title

Congratulations to Ian Williams, the new ISAF Match Racing World Champion. Ian celebrated his third world title in style yesterday, winning the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia. The previous title holder Ben Ainslie has been missing from circuit this year, concentrating on Olympic qualification.

Ian's win means he now joins Russell Coutts, Chris Dickson, Peter Gilmour and Ed Baird as skippers who have won the title at least three times. His Team GAC Pindar crew of Bill Hardesty, Mal Parker, Gerry Mitchell and Matt Cassidy have added strength to this year's campaign, achieving wins in two previous regattas and leaving the team in a strong position going in to the last round.

His nearest contender,  Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing, said small mistakes had cost him races. In the first two races of the quarter final, the Italian team picked up penalties in the pre-race manoeuvres that proved costly, falling two races behind until he pulled one back in the third. Only six points separated the teams and had Bruni beaten the Pindar team in the quarter finals he would have won the championships. But Williams took an early lead in the fourth race to win and put the title beyond Bruni's reach.

Final World Championship Standings
1 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar – 144pts
2 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing – 112pts
3 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team – 106.2pts
4 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat – 105.8pts
5 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing – 102.8pts
6 Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners – 99.2pts
7 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team – 90pts
8 Phil Robertson (NZL) Team China powered by WAKA Racing – 74.4pts
9 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 74pts
10 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team – 72.6pts