WMRT: quarter-finalists decided in fresh breeze

The quarter-finalists for the 2024 World Match Racing Tour Shenzhen Bao’an Final have been determined following the completion of the repechage round today. Aurélien Pierroz / Match Again by Normandy Elite Team (FRA), Ian Williams / Pindar by Manusport Logistics (GBR), Nick Egnot-Johnson / KNOTS Racing (NZL), and Cole Tapper / CYCA (AUS) now advance to join the top four teams from the round-robin stage in the quarter-finals.

A gusty northerly breeze and clear skies arrived in Shenzhen’s DaChan Bay as the repechage continued. With this being the final opportunity to secure a spot in the quarter-finals, the intensity of the racing reflected the stakes. With fresh breeze, teams had to adapt to different conditions than earlier this week.

France’s Aurélien Pierroz won the repechage, finishing with a 6-1 record and topping the leaderboard on countback over Britain’s Ian Williams, who also finished with a 6-1 score.  

“We are officially through to the quarter-finals after a really good day today. It was good training for tomorrow,” commented Pierroz. “We are happy with how we sailed and are hoping to do the same tomorrow.”

New Zealand’s Nick Egnot-Johnson welcomed the repechage, “We’re very happy as a team that we got to go through the repechage because we needed the practice, and it will only make us stronger in the quarter-finals.”

Egnot-Johnson’s KNOTS Racing finished the round-robin in seventh after admittedly not navigating the shifty conditions well on the first two days of the regatta. “The goal from here is to take what we learned from today and keep getting better,” continued Egnot-Johnson.

“It’s nice to be out here in the breeze, which makes boat handling a bit different. But, it’s good to be getting the practice in during the repechage and it’s great fun to be out here,” commented Williams on the day.

On making the quarter-finals, Tapper said, “This is only our third World Match Racing Tour Event, so we’re happy to make it to the quarter-finals again. But, we’ve never actually made it past this stage, so that’s our goal for this event - make it to the next stage.”

Following the repechage, the quarter-final draw was held in the race village, resulting in the following quarter-final pairings:

Ian Garreta (FRA) vs. Cole Tapper (AUS)
Eric Monnin (SUI) vs. Aurélien Pierroz (FRA)
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) vs. Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL)
Chris Poole (USA) vs. Ian Williams (GBR)

Quarter-finalist line-up. From left to right: Chris Poole (USA), Ian Williams (GBR), Eric Monnin (SUI), Aurélien Pierroz (FRA), Ian Garreta (FRA), Cole Tapper (AUS), Johnie Berntsson (SWE), and Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL).

The 2024 World Match Racing Tour Shenzhen Bao’an Final continues tomorrow, with quarter-final racing scheduled to begin at 1000 local time.