A cold, windy and sporadic final day see’s us finish a disappointing 4th in the 2011 Korea Match Cup Qualifier. It was a day marred with delays as a gusty breeze pushing into the mid 20’s in the morning meant it was very trying for both crews and race committee to try and complete the full programme of racing. Eventually, with time running out, a near full programme of racing could be completed to decide the winner.

The fleet was sent out in the morning with reefed mainsails and number 2 genoas so the race committee could finally finish the round robin and the business end of the regatta could at last get underway. A win in our final round robin race saw us qualify second for the semi finals alongside Evan Walker who qualified 1st, Will Tiller and Reuben Corbett. Evan, with the difficult choice of opponent for the semis decided to race Will, leaving us with the familiar task of racing Reuben in our semi final. In breezy conditions both semis went to a deciding 3rd race, proving the calibre and competitiveness of the teams here in Korea. Ultimately Will went on to beat Evan 2-1 in his semi, and unfortunately Rueben managed to win our semi final with the same score.

Showing good boat handling and speed in the breeze, Rueben went on to win the final 2-0 over Will, winning the regatta and gaining an entry into the Korea Match Cup World Tour event. The petite final became a non-event as a crew error on Evan Walkers boat at the end of their last semi final race saw them wrap a genneker sheet around their propeller. Several attempts from the local repair team who braved the frigid water in less than appealing conditions proved unsuccessful. With time running out the petite final was abandoned leaving the final positions to be decided on count-back from the round robin results, putting Evan in 3rd and us in 4th position.

Although the weather conditions this year in Korea were a lot colder than previous years the racing in the final stages of the regatta was as hot as ever. It’s encouraging to see that the lure of a World Tour regatta entry is bringing out some of the best match racing around. With this being the 4th time this event has been run, the organization, event management and facilities continues to develop. Hopefully the World Tour event here in July can continue to grow and be as successful as past events.

The team now heads back to New Zealand to prepare for the Nations Cup Qualifier to be held in Sydney from the 11th to the 14th of May. Thanks again to Zoke for their continued support and enabling us to be able to compete in this event and our friends and family who stick by us.

Final Results

1          Reuben Corbett (NZL)
2          William Tiller (NZL)
3          Evan Walker (AUS)
4          Laurie Jury (NZL)
5          David Chapman (AUS) 
6          Natsuki Motoyoshi (JAP)
7          Koralev Nikolay (RUS)
8          Sungwook Kim (KOR)
9          Byeongki Park (KOR)
10        Bongjin Chae (KOR)

Zoke Kiwi Match is back for our third attempt at the Korea Match Cup Qualifier this week hosted at the Jeongok Marina in the Gyeonggi Province. We're hoping to emulate our success of 2 years ago and qualify for the Korea Match Cup World Tour Event to be held in June. Once again the event has attracted an impressive line-up of international teams all vying for the big prize, a shot at the World Tour.

We arrive here in Korea feeling well prepared after a 4 day training camp in Hong Kong which has really helped to bring the team together. It was a great opportunity to work hard on boat handling and manoeuvres, and we were lucky enough to have perfect weather to help in our build up.  We enjoyed the hospitality of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and the assistance of our friend and supporter Chin Yew who provided his Flying Tiger 10 for us to train on. The Flying Tiger was a good platform to base our training on as we move into the KM36 for this regatta.

7 International teams have made the trek to Korea from all over the world; 2 teams from Australia, 1 from Russia, 1 from Japan and 3 from New Zealand. 5 local teams from Korea complete the field and demonstrate the growing interest in sailing in Korea and Asia. 

The event here is run on KM36 type boats designed by New Zealander Brett Bakewell-White. They are great boats built locally here in Korea especially for the Korea Match Cup and were the first race boats to be built and sailed in the country. They are a stiff and powerful boat and are configured with a retractable bowsprit and genneker. With a large open cockpit the set-up is ideal for match racing, and even includes a cameraman spot instead of a conventional companionway, ideal for onboard footage. These are one of our favourite boats to sail on the international tour and we're looking forward to an action packed week.

More regatta information can be found on the event website www.koreamatchcup.com and we will try and update our progress on our website. Thanks again to Zoke for their ongoing support and of course all our friends and family.