Bjorn Hansen overcomes blues

Bjorn Hansen qualified for the knockout stages of the Monsoon Cup on Thursday, thereby keeping his hopes of winning a maiden world championship crown alive.

Hansen overcame an early setback to win four of the six matches in the third qualifying session and book a place in the quarterfinals in the final leg of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour.

After losing his first match of the day to Phil Robertson, Hansen managed to beat Jeremy Koo. However, he suffered another blow when New Zealand’s Adam Minoprio got the better of him. The Swede didn’t push the panic button and kept his calm and it paid off as he went on to win the following three matches, including a closely-fought one against Ian Williams.

“On the first day we said we weren’t going to panic — we’re pretty happy with the way we’re sailing. I’m feeling good. Against Ian we managed to come from behind in what could turn out to be an important win if conditions don’t improve,” said Hansen.

Earlier in the day, four-time world champion Peter Gilmour beat his son David. He tops the leaderboard with seven wins from 10 matches.

Qualifying Results:

1. Peter Gilmour (AUS/YANMAR Racing) 7-3,
2. Bjorn Hansen (SWE/Mekonomen Sailing Team) 7-4,
3. Ian Williams (GBR/GAC Pindar) 6-3,
4. Keith Swinton (AUS/Black Swan Racing) 6-3,
5. Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA/Vannes Agglo Sailing Team) 6-4