SEMIFINALISTS
SET AMIDST CONTROVERSY AT ACI HTmobile CUP
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Sweden's
Magnus Holmberg leads the fleet off the
start line during day four of the ACI HTmobile
Cup in Split, Croatia. Photo© Sergio
Dionisio/Swedish
Match Tour
|
SPLIT,
Croatia (May 29, 2003) – Thanks to a large
black rain cloud canceling out the sea breeze,
just two and a half flights were held today on
day four of the Swedish Match Tour’s ACI
HTmobile Cup in Split, Croatia.
Conditions
over the last two days have been tough for both
the race committee and the competitors with Principle
Race Officer Alen Kustic having to abandon the
final two races of the fifth flight of the second
round robin with just one day of racing left to
go. “This is the first time we didn’t
finish a full scheduled round robin,” commented
Kustic looking back at the competition’s
17-year history.
A
near victim of the conditions today was Swedish
skipper Magnus Holmberg. “I guess it was
quite a surprise in the last race. We cleaned
out the Croatian team in the start and there was
a lot more breeze on the left side, but the wind
started going to the right.” The 45degree
wind shift to the right put a different complexion
on the race. “All of a sudden they were
ahead of us but we just managed to get a port-starboard
on them at the top mark and get ahead and then
we reached around the course.”
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Croatia's
Frano Brate heads to the top mark during
day four of the ACI HTmobile Cup in Split,
Croatia. Photo© Sergio Dionisio/Swedish
Match Tour
|
Among
the early matches, held in a 10-12 knot southwesterly,
were some classics including a major scrap on
the final run between Poland’s Karol Jablonski
and Austrailia’s James Spithill, former
helmsman for the OneWorld Challenge. During a
luff duel on the final run, the boats tacked while
under spinnaker. “Luckily we managed to
bear off faster than Jimmy and we won by one boat
length,” said Jablonski. This may be a taste
of what we can expect in tomorrow’s final.
With
only one and a half round robins completed a lot
of calculators have been in action working out
who will make it into tomorrow’s semi-finals.
This has not been as simple as adding up all the
wins and calculating them as a percentage of the
races sailed. Instead those races where competitors
came up against each other in both round robins
count for half points, while matches from the
first round robin which were not sailed in the
second round count for a whole point. In fact
the result is the same - with the four semifinalists
being:
Karol
Jablonski – 8.5 points
James
Spithill – 7.5
Magnus
Holmberg – 7
Jesper
Radich – 6.5.
Chris
Law’s team The Outlaws were just knocked
out, scoring 6 points on this system, over which
there were small grumblings. “Because the
order in the round robins is determined by rankings
coming into the event then because we’re
in the low tier in the second round we had the
toughest matches to start with,” commented
Outlaws’ tactician Dobbs Davis. For example
The Outlaws sailed against James Spithill and
Karol Jablonski in round robin two while Jesper
Radich sailed against low rankers Allan Coutts
and Frane Brate.
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Crew
members onboard Jes Gram-Hansen's team prepare
to set the spinnaker during day four of
the ACI HTmobile Cup in Split, Croatia.
30, May 2003. Photo© Sergio Dionisio/Swedish
Match Tour
|
In
the semi-finals tomorrow Karol Jablonski has chosen
to sail against Jesper Radich leaving Magnus Holmberg
to race James Spithill. However PRO Alan Kustic
is once again nervous about the weather and the
schedule. “We are going to struggle a bit
again tomorrow,” he commented.
ACI
HTmobile Cup Leaderboard
Skipper
Points
1.Karol Jablonski, (POL/Jablonski Sailing Team)
8.5
2.James
Spithill (AUS/Team Spithill) 7.5
3.Magnus
Holmberg, (SWE/Team Holmberg) 7
4.
Jesper Radich (DEN/Team Radich) 6.5
5.
Chris Law (GBR/”The Outlaws”) 6
6.Paolo
Cian (ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team) 5
7.
Mattias Rahm (SWE/Team Stena Bulk) 4.5
8.Jes
Gram Hanson (DEN/Team Victory Lane) 4
9.Johnie
Berntsson (SWE) 3
10.Allan
Coutts (NZ/Alinghi Team) 2.5
11.Frane
Brate (CRO) .5
ACI
HTmobile Cup Round Robin Results
Flight 3
Spithill
def Cian
Law
def Jablonski
Gram
Hansen def Coutts
Holmberg
def Radich
Rahm
def Brate
Flight
4
Cian def Berntsson
Jablonski
def Spithill
Holmberg
def Gram Hansen
Coutts
def Brate
Radich
def Rahm
Flight
5
Law def Berntsson
Jablonski def Cian
Holmberg def Brate
For
all the latest news and information about the
Swedish Match Tour, visit www.swedishmatchtour.com.
About
the Swedish Match Tour
·
The Swedish Match Tour is comprised of nine of
the world's leading professional sailing events
and is proving to be the ultimate battleground
of sailing.
·
In addition to more than US$800,000 in individual
event prize money, the Swedish Match Tour awards
US$200,000 to the top eight sailors on the Swedish
Match Tour, with the first-place skipper netting
US$60,000.
·
In addition to a US$60,000 first prize, the winner
of the Swedish Match Tour receives the official
Swedish Match Tour Championship Trophy, 15"
(30 cm) high with 22 carat gold gilding, produced
by Swedish Match Tour sponsor Wedgwood. Additionally,
Wedgwood supplies runner-up prizes for second
and third places as well as commemorative plaques
to each event organizer.
·
The Swedish Match Tour produces 155 hours of television
coverage reaching more than 427 million households
worldwide.
·
Swedish Match Tour partners include Swedish Match,
Octagon and the Match Race Association.
·
Swedish Match Tour sponsors include Colorcraft,
Champagne Mumm, Musto, Selden and Wedgwood.
