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10 / 11 / 2010
BMW Berlin Match Race: Sweden again wins the Title In a tight finish Björn Hansen wins over Markus Wieser
(Berlin, November 7, 2010) Markus Wieser and Björn Hansen, last year´s winner from Sweden, competed in thrilling final races of the 19th BMW Berlin Match Race.
Both highly experienced match racers sailed against each other in two of a maximum of three races. Finally the Swedish team was clearly ahead and won both flights. Thus the Swedes secured the victory and the prize of about 5.000 Euro. The 43 year old Björn Hansen won the cup for the third time and defended the title.
“We are very happy, it was a hard and exiting race. In the first flight we were even behind at the first mark. Markus Wieser is a strong competitor, I have sailed many times against him.” said the lucky winner, who is already thinking about next year´s 20th Berlin Match Race: “ We would be very happy to be invited again, the Wannsee is a tricky but exiting place to sail”. Members of the swedish team are Anders Jönson, Tactician, Philip Kai Guhle, Trimmer, and Mathias Bredin, Bowman.
Markus Wieser is highly pleased arriving second, and congratulates his opponent: “Björn Hansen very clearly dominated the race from the beginning and deserved to win. My team sailed for the first time in this constellation and had little time to practice together. So we are very glad to have reached the finals.”
Previously the 45 year old Berliner had clearly won the semi finals against the New Zealand team of Phil Robertson. While Björn Hansen and his team had defeated the portuguese Alvar Marinho, who had been his strongest opponent in the preliminaries. Finally the semi finals closed with the decision on the third and fourth place. With a great deal of sailing skill Robertson had won tightly against Marinho, and thus reached the third step on the winner´s podium.
This weekend an estimated 3000 spectators, onshore and on comfortably heated floating tribunes, followed the Berlin Match Race, hosted since 1992 by the Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee (VSaW) and the Berliner Yacht Club (BYC). Frank Butzmann, head of the organisation in the VSaW, is already looking forward to next years 20th anniversary of the Berlin Match Race. He expresses a very positive assessment for this years event: “Although the weather was not perfect on all days, we are very satisfied with the spectator´s reaction, who came despite November weather, and were granted thrilling sailing duels on the Wannsee.”
Originally conceived as a singular event back in 1992, the Berlin Match Race has developed over the years to the most important sailing event in the capital region.