Reuben Corbett (NZL) of Black Sheep Racing, matched Eugeniy Neugodnikov (RUS) in the finals of Sails of White Nights, the National Congress Palace Cup 2010.
The team from New Zealand won the ISAF Grade 1 regatta comfortably.
The final round robin clarified who would proceed into the semi-finals. They were Damien Iehl (FRA), Eugeniy Neugodnikov (RUS), Simone Ferrarese (ITA) and Reuben Corbett (NZL). Iehl, winner of the Sails of White Nights 2009 and leader of this round robin, had a right to choose the opponent for the semi-finals and chose Corbett. But Reuben scored two points in a row, leaving Damien no chance to respond.
Thus, teams from New Zealand and Russia met in the finals. The Organizers decided to conduct the finals as the first team to score two points. Reuben Corbett did it all right, scored two wins and won the Cup!
The final press conference took place in the race village shortly after the finish of the last match. The winners shared their emotions with the public and thanked the organizers, race committee and the jury.
"We came here to participate in the qualifiers, did well and reached the finals. It was our first Grade 1 regatta ever. We are happy to have qualified for this event and even happier to have won it", said Reuben Corbett.
"It was great to compete against such strong match racers as Damien Iehl and Eugeniy Neugodnikov."
Eugeniy Neugodnikov and Damien Iehl, who took second and third respectively, were a bit dissatisfied with the results shown but admit that the best should always win. And exactly that was the case in the final.
The winner of the international match race, Sails of White Nights, National Congress Palace Cup gets a right to participate in the World Match Race Tour in Sweden from 5 to 11 July, 2010.
1. Reuben Corbett (New Zealand)
2. Eugeniy Neugodnikov (Ekaterinburg)
3. Damien Iehl (France)
4. Simone Ferrarese (Italy)
5. Sergey Musikhin (Ekaterinburg)
6. Alvaro Marinho (Portugal)
7. Keith Swinton (Australia)
8. Andrey Arbuzov (Moscow)
9. Vladimir Lipavsky (Moscow)
10. Manuel Weiller (Spain)
11. Przemek Tarnacki (Poland)
12. Alexis Littoz-Baritel (France)