10:07 AM Fri 4 Dec 2009 GMT
The Pulau Duyong Monsoon Cup match racing course is the meeting of the two Terengganu river flows, which split above the Island; the heavier right hand flow is deeper water, while the left hand flow is slower and more shallow.
On the first few days the start line was well to the right and the course was heavily biased, with the boat winning the right side drag race winning the match.
But today the start line had been moved to the left, making the course much more even.
In the first match of the quarter finals Ben Ainslie and TeamOrigin had chosen, as the round robin leader, to sail against Damien Iehl (French Team).
Ainslie controlled the left, while Iehl was very happy to go right, and the race started with a big split. Iehl gained two lengths in the heavier current, running up to five knots. But down the run Ainslie gained staying out of the adverse current.
'What a random place' was the comment Ainslie made to his dual gold medal mainsheet hand Iain Percy.
TeamOrigin headed for the right hand side having chosen the opposite side earlier. They had made one mistake, they did not make another. They sailed to an easy victory.
Dockside the triple gold medallist Ben Ainslie said 'we thought we had a pretty good handle on the course until the Committee Boat was moved to the middle.
'The left hand versus right hand river decision has become hard. Now it's become a tale of two rivers. For the first time in the week, we had a situation where either side could win. We went left but Damien Iehl had chosen best from the start, but we managed to stay close and overtake and then we led right.'
Other quarter final matches and in the Aussie battle, Peter Gilmour pushed his young Perth competitor Torvar Mirsky to the left side of the line, before heading right. Mirsky headed right, but he fell in behind Gilmour and was unable to make an impression.
Forced over the line early by Adam Minoprio, Mathieu Richard had to fight to stay in contact. At the bottom mark for the second time, Minoprio was two lengths ahead and headed right. But Richard gained rapidly in the left hand current; Minoprio was just a length ahead.
With Richard failing to keep clear in a luffing match, the Frenchman attracted one penalty then another. All Minoprio had to do was to stay clear to win.
Adam Minoprio said 'Even after Richard had the second penalty, there was still risk with the two river flows. But a good first win.'
A straight forward match for Sebastien Col (French Team) who beat Phil Robertson (Waka Racing) after winning the start.
With days of monsoon rain, fifty kilometres upstream the Kenyir Dam spillway is roaring and the Terengganu 'tale of two rivers' will continue through the balance into the finals.
by Rob Kothe
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