WMRT: Victory for Eric Monnin on Lake Ledro

Veteran Swiss match racer Eric Monnin and his Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team secured victory at the 12th edition of the OM International Ledro Match Race last weekend, Stage 6 of the World Match Racing Tour hosted by the Associazione Vela Lago Di Ledro, Italy.

With eleven teams competing from nine countries on Lake Ledro, Monnin and crew defeated local sailor Rocco Attili and his RBYS team 3-0 in the finals, with Israel’s Vladimir Lipavsky finishing in third.

One of the most experienced match racers on the World Match Racing Tour, and winner of the 2022 European Match Racing Championship, it was a family win for Monnin with his crew made up of brother Marc Monnin and his wife Ute Monnin-Wagner.

“This was our first participation in Ledro for the OM International Ledro Match Race, so we went into the race with a lot of uncertainty” commented Monnin. “After adjusting our crew work during the early matches , we improved well and Ute and Marc did an excellent job with solid manoeuvres and some good boat speed to get us to the finals. We are delighted with the win, and we thank the Associazione Vela Lago di Ledro and all its volunteers for organising such a great event.”

Travelling from the USA to compete in the event, Youth Match Racing World Champion Jeffrey Petersen and his Golden State Match Racing Team finished in a worthy fourth place after posting a 6-4 score in the Round Robin qualifying round, which advanced the team to the Semi-finals against Italy’s Rocco Attili.

A lack of breeze caused the semi-final match between Petersen and Attili to be shortened advancing Attili, the only Italian competing in the event, to the finals against veteran match racer Monnin. Jeffrey Petersen and Vladimir Lipavsky raced a challenging petite-final with Lipavsky taking the match win 2-1 and securing third place for the event.

Finishing in fifth place was French sailor Damian Michelier, winner of the 2022 OM International Ledro Match Race, followed by Robbie McCutcheon (NZL), Timothee Rossi (FRA), Mati Sepp (EST), Ruairi Finnegan (IRL), Martin Allix (FRA) and Ted Blowers (GBR).

Wrapping up the event on behalf of the organisation, President of the Lago di Ledro Sailing Association Giorgio Goggi added:

“We have been organising the OM International Ledro Match Race for twelve years now and we are proud to see it firmly included in the World Match Racing Tour calendar. It is a world-class circuit and we are very pleased to have hosted an international audience of sailing and match race enthusiasts here in Ledro.”

Overall Placings:

(SUI) Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team: Eric Monnin, Marc Monnin, Ute Wagner Monnin
(ITA) RBYS Racing: Rocco Attili, Giulio Tamburini, Ashik Crevatin
(ISR) Vladimir Lipavsky, Igor Matvienko, Evgenii Braslovets
(USA) Golden State Match Racing Team: Jeffrey Petersen, Max Mayol, Daniel Pegg
(FRA) Damian Michelier, Thomas Galliache, Hugo Roche
(NZL) Cutch Racing – Robbie McCutcheon, Harry Thurston, Dylan Whitcraft
(FRA) Sudistes Sailing Team: Timothee Rossi, Yann le Corre, Thibaut Demai
(EST) EESTI Match Race LIIT: Mati Sepp, Melcin Aasav, Janno Hool
(IRE) Craic’n Racing: Ruairi Finnegan, Wesley Bright, Andres Guerra, Ryan Fitzgerald, Dylan Whitcraft
(FRA) Sail in Blue: Martin Allix, Marius Lerouvreur, Ethan Villain
(GBR) Absolute Match Racing Team: Ted Blowers, Will Birch-Tomlinson, Amy Sparks