BlackMatch on the final day of racing in Bermuda,
 
Today we faced a focused Johnie Berntsson in a grueling final but after showing so much promise against Ben Ainslie in yesterday's semi final, we went down 3-1 to a deserving champion. The Swedish team were on fire today, pouncing on any mistake we made and unfortunately for us we made a few too many, finishing up 2nd in the 2008 King Edward VII Gold Cup.
 
Our first match was a prime example of a match that was in our hands but we let it slip. After enforcing a penalty on them during the pre-start we were even off the start line only to miss out on the first shift which gave them a slight advantage. By the top mark it was so close that the Swede's luffed us to defend their lead and also to try and clear their penalty. While we were to windward they tacked and bore away inside us to do their penalty turn, we thought that they tacked in our water as we had to avoid contact however the umpires saw it differently and it was back to an even playing field although we had a one boat length advantage. We held that advantage until the final upwind when the tenacious Berntsson clawed his way back and we failed to defend the starboard side of the course at the top of the upwind leg. This allowed them back into the game, an opportunity that they jumped on managing to gain a small lead going into the final downwind which they defended to take the victory. We totally dominated the second race, Adam demolished Johnie in the start forcing two penalties on him and pushing him over the start line to gain an unassailable lead. Our next two pre-starts did not go our way, although we had very close matches, Johnie had slight advantages off the start line in both races and sailed very consistently to go 3-1 up and become the 2008 King Edward VII Gold Cup Champion.
 
We were very happy to make it through to our first World Tour final, especially at such a prestigious event. Our second placing here in Bermuda not only means we will gain invaluable ISAF world ranking points, but it also promotes us to 4th on the World Match Racing Tour, one place ahead of Australian Torvar Mirsky. Our result here also guarantee's us entry into the final World Tour Event, the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia and we are looking forward to returning to Malaysia after competing in the New Zealand Match Racing Nationals in November. BlackMatch would like to congratulate Johnie and his team on an excellent victory, they sailed extremely well this week and we have to take our hats off to them, awesome sailing and well deserved.
 
From Adam, Dave, Tom and Nick we would like to say a very big thank you to our friends and family and we hope we have done you proud after an arduous year. We would also like to thank our sponsors FedEx Express, especially our friend's David Ross from FedEx Asia and Ross Munro from Line 7 New Zealand. To the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, thank you for your support and the privilege of representing you this year.
 
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Today held so much promise but the weather put an early dampener on things with the lightest, shiftiest and coldest day of the entire week that even saw snow falling on the surrounding hills. We were held ashore for 3 hours until a very light and uncharacteristic northerly came through, with pressure on the race committee to get through the tight program they shortened the semi final to a best of 3 series and we were sent out to take on the current world champion.
 
In our fist race against Ian, Adam absolutely nailed the start and we had a significant lead off the start line. We held our lead throughout the race in the tricky conditions until 100m from the finish line when the wind shut down on us and the British team managed to sail around us in a breeze of their own, setting them up for match point. In the next race Ian had the advantage off the start line and held a good lead for most of the race. Again in the shifty conditions it was almost beneficial to be behind on the final downwind, this was illustrated when we brought pressure up from behind and made significant inroads to reduce the deficit to half a boat length. But luck was on the Brits side and they got our puff just in time to defend their lead and win the semi final 2-0.
 
World #1 Mathieu Richard took his semi final 2-0 over fellow countryman Philippe Presti, which meant we were to race Philippe for 3rd place. Conditions were even more fickle in the race off for 3rd and we took the first race after overtaking the Frenchman, again while trailing and on the downwind leg. The second match was taking convincingly by the French team after they got too big an advantage off the start line and sailed in their own breeze for the first leg of the race, gaining an a lead we could not come back from. In the third and deciding race we didn't even have enough wind to set the sails for a majority of the race. After an even start we slowly drifted towards the top mark, not even knowing what direction the wind was coming from at times in the freezing rain. In a race that dragged on forever, we drifted around the final top mark with a 4 boat length lead, however the breeze yet again built from behind on the run to the finish and we were once again left stranded with no way of defending our lead, handing the French team the victory.
 
It was a disappointing way to end a great week of racing for us, but we are extremely happy with our 4th place here in St Moritz and realise that all of our competitors have invaluable years of experience over us. Our 4th place will help us with our ISAF World Ranking, also with our World Tour points and we are looking forward to the challenge of our next World Tour Event in Portugal at the end of the month.     
 
BlackMatch would like to send a big congratulations to Mathieu Richard and his team after they defeated Ian Williams convincingly in the final and were crowned the 2008 Kings of the Mountain in St Moritz. For all media coverage, results and photos please visit www.worldmatchracingtour.com.
 
From Adam, Dave, Tom and Nick we would again like to acknowledge our long term sponsors FedEx Express and Ross Munro from Line 7, their ongoing support is making it possible for us to be over here in our long term quest to win the World Match Racing Tour. To the RNZYS and everyone else, thank you for your support.
 
Blackmatchracing.com