| SKOVSHOVED, DENMARK-(17-8-2002) Local skipper Lars Nordbjaerg has joined Sweden’s Mattias Rahm and his Team StoraEnso in the semifinals of the Swedish Match Tour’s Danish Open 2002.
“I don’t know who we’ll be facing because the highest seed has yet to be determined, but obviously I’m very happy to have advanced,” said Nordbjaerg. “We’ve sailed well all week and look forward to tomorrow.”
With two flights of round robin action still to be completed the remaining two semifinal spots are still up for grabs, but Denmark’s Jes Gram-Hansen of Team Victory Lane sits on seven wins and looks certain to advance.
Completing their portion of the round robin and failing to move on are Great Britain’s Chris Law and the Outlaws and Sweden’s Gustav Nilsson.
Law was upbeat, even though the chance to win two Swedish Match Tour events eluded him, “We’ve still got Swedish Match Tour points to sail for tomorrow, so we’ll be back and ready to go.”
The “perfect match racing conditions” of the first two days of the regatta gave way to the extreme opposite today as sailors and spectators milled about the SKS/KDY Match Race Center awaiting the arrival of the wind. Finally, after more than five hours, a southerly wind rolled across the Oresund sending the boats out to attempt to complete the round robin.
The breeze never built to more than 4-5 knots however and, as a result, the racing was quite measured and the tactics more deliberate than in the first half of Danish Open 2002. Nevertheless, all the crews sailed under the same conditions, and the battle for the remaining semifinal spots played out in front of an anxious crowd gathered along the Skovshoved Harbor seawall.
The racing format for the Danish Open 2002 begins with a round robin with each of the 12 teams sailing each other once. Following the round robin the four highest scoring teams qualify for the first-to-two-points semifinals. The two teams to advance from the semifinals then meet in a first-to-three-points finals
The Danish Open 2002 concludes on Sunday. For all the latest news and results log on to www.swedishmatchtour.com.
ROUND ROBIN LEADERBOARD
Skipper Wins Losses
1. Mattias Rahm, SWE/Team StoraEnso 8 3
2. Lars Nordbjaerg, Denmark 8 3
3.Jes Gram-Hansen, DEN/Team Victory Lane 7 2
4. Henrik Jensen, Denmark 6 5
5. Chris Law, GBR/The Outlaws 5.5 5
6. Bjorn Hansen, SWE/Team GOL Sailing 4.5 4
7.Staffan Lindberg, Finland 5 4
8. Michael Lindquist, Sweden 4 5
9. Mathieu Richard, France 4 5
10. Jesper Radich, Denmark 4 5
11.Gustav Nilsson, Sweden 3 8
12.Scott Walton, Australia 0 11
Round Robin Results
Flight 17
Lindquist def. Nilsson
Lindberg def. Law
Radich def. Nordbjaerg
Flight 18
Law def. Lindquist
Nilsson def. Radich
Nordbjaerg def. Lindberg
Flight 19
Radich def. Law
Nordbjaerg def. Lindquist
Lindberg def. Nilsson
Flight 20
Hansen def. Radich
Gram-Hansen def. Lindberg
Richard def. Lindquist
About the Swedish Match Tour
· The Swedish Match Tour is comprised of nine of the world's leading professional sailing events and is proving to be the ultimate battleground of sailing.
· In addition to more than US$400,000 in individual event prize money, the Swedish Match Tour awards US$200,000 to the top eight sailors on the Swedish Match Tour, with the first-place skipper netting US$60,000.
· In addition to a US$60,000 first prize, the winner of the Swedish Match Tour receives the official Swedish Match Tour Championship Trophy, 15`` (30 cm) high with 22 carat gold gilding, produced by Swedish Match Tour sponsor Wedgwood. Additionally, Wedgwood supplies runner-up prizes for second and third places as well as commemorative plaques to each event organizer.
· The Swedish Match Tour produces 155 hours of television coverage reaching more than 427 million households worldwide.
· Swedish Match Tour partners include Swedish Match, Octagon and the Match Race Association.
· Swedish Match Tour sponsors include Colorcraft, Champagne Mumm, Musto and Wedgwood
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