posted Dec 19, 2010 10:05 AM by Nick Cherry
After two years in the wilderness watching Mark Campbell-James take home the prize we have finally put the UK national match race trophy back on top of the telly in the team's headquarters in Southampton.  This years event saw one of the strongest line-ups since the days of BT sponsorship in the late 90s with a lot of strong qualifying teams as well as women's world champion Lucy Macgregor. The same as last year though the Final saw us go head to head against Mark CJ who was teamed up with long time trimmer Dave Mason as well as his brother Paul and Nick Hutton, both fresh from a victory in the Extreme 40 world series. Just to make things interesting we managed to ut in front in races three and four until we were head to wind and dead level at the final windward mark in the decider. Somehow we built speed first and squeeze round the mark to take the gun and the series. A particularly satisfying win coming from behind against a tough opponent. |
posted May 12, 2010 11:51 PM by Nick Cherry
After a long morning of sitting around waiting for the other half of the draw to race we finally got out on the water yesterday afternoon in a wind ranging from three to six knots. Unfortunately due to a scheduling error by the race committee we changed into our boat and before we had had chance to sail upwind, get a sheeting positions marked and check the spinnaker for twists the first start was under way. We scrambled back to the line but unfortunately gained a penalty for being inside the starting area on the four minutes and another for not keeping clear as we tried to enter. Feeling a bit like Alinghi in the second race of the Americas Cup we pulled our red flag and tried our best to get back into the race. Unfortunately a combination of stable breeze, two penalties and a well practised opposition meant we were unable to get back into the race and were refused redress in the subsequent protest. Race two was a much cleaner affair although a slight edge in downwind speed and one small tactical error gave Italian Jacob Pasini the win leaving us to end the day on zero for two.
The weather this morning is not looking promising with vertical rain falling on a still lake. Off to rig the boats in hope. |
posted May 6, 2010 7:12 AM by Nick Cherry
The start of the 2010 European championships is less than a week away and our first major test of the season looks set to be a tough one. The event blog here shows a pretty tough entry list with top teams coming from all of the main match racing countries in Europe.Having competed at this event twice before we know most of the competition quite well and experience tells us that things will be close with the possibility of either winning or finishing last not ridiculous. One of the slightly unique things about this event is that they are running both the men's and women's events at the same time. Not only is this interesting logistically with two race course needed and two sets of boats and umpires etc but it will also add a pleasant and quite rare female element to the social dynamic at these usually male dominated events. Conveniently it also means we can share an apartment with Lucy, Annie and Ally who we have done quite a lot of training this season with as well as grilling their coach after racing for any extra tips.
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posted May 6, 2010 2:18 AM by Nick Cherry
From the very light forecast and with a bit of prior knowledge about the tides of Seaview and the sedate pace of the pre historic Mermaid keel boats it wasn't too hard to predict that getting through the full schedule was going to be a bit tricky. Luckily the local race officer didn't hang around and Saturday provided just enough puff to make progress, albeit slowly, against the tide for almost all of the day. This gave us chance to complete a full nine boat round robin by the end of play. The style of racing was quite different to the usual match racing cut and thrust with the starts turned into a one manoeuvre do or die affair. Once you entered the start box there would be time for one circle at most before it was vital to head heading at the line at full speed in order not to be late and around the course a lot of advanced planning was needed to minimise the number of tacks upwind and still make it round the marks.
Luckily after a bit of a slow start we figured out the conditions enough to win some tight races and end up in a three way tie for 2nd on five wins three losses. This was enough to put us up against round robin winner Ali Hall in a sudden death, first to one win semi final (made so by the lack of wind and poor forecast). A sedate but carefully executed pre start duel put us on an even start with Ali forced to split right and us heading towards more wind on the left. Coming back across at the top helming like a 19th century gent with the polished oak tiller in my hand and some rather comfortable inboard seating the nerves started to play was what was clearly and easy cross started to look more and more doubtful in my mind. In the end we were far enough ahead to make this race ours to lose and we drifted across the line to find out there was no more racing and we had finished 2nd to Robbie Allam after a round robin tie break. |
posted Apr 16, 2010 10:38 AM by Nick Cherry
Fresh from our solid victory in the sunny waters of southern Italy, this weekend Mr Organic are racing closer to
home at the mermaid match race championships in Seaview on the Isle of Wight. The mermaids are a class of boat peculiar to Seaview and their hundred year old design makes them somewhat different from the boats we usually race on the match race circuit. Although the racing may look sedate with gentlemanly inboard seating stipulated in the class rules the lack of manoeuvrability and low speeds make every decision vital as mistakes can't easily be rectified and traps can't be escaped.
Fortunately the volcano shenanigans don't seem to have stopped the strong European contingent from making their way to sunny Seaview. The line up looks quite tough with old hand Stefan Miester from Germany leading a field comprising of Ali Hall one of the UKs top match racers, and last years winner Francois Morvan. With a light and sunny forecast local knowledge of the Solent tides and sea breezes should play a big factor in the racing so hopefully we can add another bullet to the seasons tally.
More news to come as it happens. For live(ish) updates on the racing follow us on twitter at cherryracing. |
posted Mar 29, 2010 7:51 AM by Nick Cherry
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updated Apr 16, 2010 10:37 AM
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An early start for the boys on Sunday morning as the clocks going back combined with an ambitious schedule of 14 flights in one day meant getting out of bed on the right side would be crucial. Fortunately this was the case as strong Italian coffee and an early arrival at the yacht club set us off to a flying start seeing off our remain five races of the round robin with out a loss. The racing couldn't have been better positioned for spectators with all the action happening just meters away from the shore in gusty winds between 15 and 25 knots combined with clear blue skies and powerful sunshine. Leader of the Mr Organic balmy army Liz Willows commented "the racing was absolutely intense, I've never watched this much tight match racing action from such a good view point."
After a dominant display in the round robin we raced Italian local Nicola Vescia in the semi finals, which whilst being over in two straight races was jam packed full of action with the sail handling skills of both teams being put under lots of pressure on the super short course in winds nearing the upper limit for racing. This put us up against the young German team skippered by Max Gurgle who were fresh from dealing out a black flag to Fabio Mazzoni in the other semi final. A heated pre start with lots of circles right underneath the ruins of an old fort gave the Germans a small advantage off the line which they converted into the slimmest of leads at the top mark. By now our crew work was looking a lot more polished and we used a slick hoist and some aggressive tactics to gain the lead on the run whilst landing a penalty on the opposition. Some slightly over cautious manoeuvring at the bottom gave Gurgle the inside line at the leward mark putting him ahead but with an all important penalty still standing. The final run turned into a classic game of cat and mouse with neither boat hoisting spinnakers and the Germans trying to lure us into attacking and giving them a chance to offload their penalty. In the end a fumble at the committee boat left us with enough space to sneak into the finish whilst Gurgle span off his penalty turn. The second race provided slightly less drama after we edged out from a long drag race on the first beat to gain the lead and gradually extend around the course.
As well as providing some much needed ranking points, winning our first regatta of the year gives us a great confidence boost heading into our next two regattas, the Seaview Mermaid match race on the Ilse of Wight and the European Championships in Austiria.
The final Results were:
1st Mr Organic GBR 2nd Max Gurgle GER 3rd Fabio Mazzoni ITA
Thanks to Sam Goodchild for coming along last minute to sail with us, all the team at Circolo della vela Brindisi for running a great event and Liz Willows for coordinating our supporters on the shore.
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posted Mar 27, 2010 8:56 AM by Nick Cherry
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updated Mar 28, 2010 3:37 PM
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With a hectic scheduel including 15 races Mr Organic match race team are pleased to be the over night leaders at this early season international. Cloudy skies and fresh wind combined with almost no practice time gave stand in bowman and future single handed star Sam Goodchild a lot to contend with at the pointy end. After a dissapointing first race losing to a young Slovenian team due to some untidy sail handling and a short unplanned swim we finally got the gremlins out of our system to win our remaining four matches. Plans for this evening include a tasty Italian dinner, a bottle of wine and a game of cards. Perfect preparation for a chance to win our first event as Mr Organic match race team.
More news tomorrw. |
posted Mar 8, 2010 4:13 AM by Nick Cherry
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updated Mar 8, 2010 7:06 AM
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Last week we got asked to do a little early season training with Britain's world no1 ranked Lucy MacGregor in the new olympic class the Elliot 6. As well as doing our patriotic duty helping the girls in their quest for gold in Weymouth 2012 this was also an excellent opportunity for Nick and Ed get some structured training in before we head to Brindisi in Italy at the end of the month. The girls proved to be tough competition with the hours of full time sailing having not been put to waste as they had made a definite jump since the last time we raced them at the UK Nationals in October.
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posted Feb 19, 2010 7:36 AM by Nick Cherry
We are excited to announce a partnership with Mr Organic, a fresh new brand in the growing organic food market. Taking on the name Mr Organic Match Race Team gives us the platform to work with a like minded organisation to provide valuable exposure and brand development opportunities that will benefit both parties. Along side this our annual organic tomato ketchup costs are expected to drop considerably leaving more time and money to get on with the important business of winning match races.
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posted Feb 19, 2010 7:08 AM by Nick Cherry
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updated Feb 23, 2010 5:11 AM
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This is going to be a short report as an unforeseen and bitterly cold northerly mistral on the French Riviera meant no racing on the first day. Luckily some well timed football coincided with a well placed English pub to provide us with some focus for day. After an early night with everything crossed for less wind Sunday broke to the sound of whistling winds at our window which didn't fill us with confidence for getting on with the event. Unsurprisingly racing was delayed so we settled in to watch Andy Murray receive a thrashing from Federer in the Final of the Australian open, as luck would have it just as we'd got comfortable watching the first game the AP flag came down. mr organic A little bit of advice when packing for a weekends racing in the South of France in January, forget your shorts. Coldness was the theme for Sunday's racing which was made worse by a thrifty bit of Ryanair flight booking with hand luggage only meaning we couldn't pack enough warm clothes. The lads fought bravely against 30 knots of wind, a nasty chop and zero degree air temperatures but cold hands, an early swim by Sam and a little bit of winter rust left us with a score line of 3-3. Not enough to make any serious impact on the podium or scoop any serious ranking points. |
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