Swedish Match Tour - Holmberg Gets A Clean Sweep In Stormy Copenhagen

SKOVSHOVED, Denmark (August 14, 2003) - Sweden's Magnus Holmberg of Team Stora Enso stormed through the early heats of the Danish Open today, as 12 international teams battled it out in 30-knot gusting winds off Skovshoved Harbour.

Sweden's Magnus Holmberg of Team StoraEnso leads Australian Peter Gilmour of Team Pizza La to leads the fleet on the first day of racing at the Danish Open in Skovshoved Harbour, Copenhagen, Denmark. August 14th 2003. Photo © Sergio Dionisio / Oceanfashion / Swedish Match Tour

With the Danish Open marking the beginning of Swedish Match Tour 2003/04, the America's Cup caliber racing teams were all fired up and keen to kick off the 'new year' with a bang. The highlight of the day took place in the ninth and final round of a busy day's racing. Both Holmberg and Australia's Peter Gilmour of Team Pizza La had kept a clean sheet until their final heat, so one of them was going to be disappointed.

Gilmour is known for excelling in strong breezes, but he admitted that Holmberg did a good job of sewing up their match today. "The pattern seems to be in these events that the Danes and the Swedes start out these regattas running very hot, and that we tend to come on stronger as we do more racing," he said. With that in mind, he professed himself pretty happy with a 3-1 scoreline.

Surprisingly for a sailor of his quality, the Pizza La-sponsored skipper had to sail the qualifying regatta preceding the Danish Open, but he said that winning that competition has given him valuable extra time in getting to grips with the DS37 yachts that are used for this event.

Holmberg commented: "We have been racing in light winds all this year, so this was a nice change today. We normally have our act together in the strong winds, so I was quite happy today. We seem to have had a lot of regattas where we have started badly on the first day, which really puts the pressure on, so it is nice to start off well for a change."

As for the four home teams, Jesper Bank, the double Olympic Champion, had the least successful day of all of them, winning just one of four heats. "We did what we wanted to do with our strategy today, claiming the left side of the course in the first two races, and then the right in the last two, but it didn't work out for us. I can't really work it out. In the start with Gilly [Peter Gilmour], we were leading by the full length of the line, but it still wasn't enough somehow."

By contrast, Jesper Radich, recent winner of the Swedish Match Tour 2002/03, maintained his streak of good form, with four wins from five races. Radich lives just a few hundred metres down the road from Skovshoved Harbour, and he is familiar with the boats and the waters, perhaps too much so. "I felt we overcame a hurdle today, of making sure that we saw this regatta differently from just another training day on the water. It can be hard to motivate yourself up to the 110 per cent level that's required to perform in this type of regatta, but everything fell into place today."

Denmark's Jesper Bank rides the surf on the down wind leg during the Danish Open in Skovshoved Harbour, Copenhagen, Denmark. August 14th 2003. Photo © Sergio Dionisio / Oceanfashion / Swedish Match Tour

The other two Danes, Lars Nordbjaerg and Jes Gram-Hansen, both ended the day with two wins against three losses. For Gram-Hansen this is the opportunity to put right a year that ended disastrously after such a strong early showing in last year's Swedish Match Tour. He was pretty happy with his day, considering the conditions. "The westerly wind was really tricky, and I would have preferred the more stable breezes that you get from the east here. On a day like today, you have to sail your own race, take the shifts you get, and hope that it is enough to stay ahead of your competitor."

Luc Pillot of France enjoyed a good day on the water with four wins from five races, and seemed very comfortable with the conditions. "We did well at the starts and we seemed to have good speed against Andy Beadsworth."

British skipper Beadsworth was delighted to win the last race of his day against former Olympic Soling rival Roy Heiner of the Netherlands. "It was a must-win race, otherwise we'd have gone 4:1 down." Crewman Richard Sydenham was pleased just to make it through the day. He jetted into Copenhagen late last night following a mad dash to make the event in time, after competing on the Maxi yacht Leopard in a light-wind Fastnet Race. What a contrast day one of the Danish Open turned out to be.

For all the latest news from the Danish Open visit www.swedishmatchtour.com.

Danish Open Round Robin Standings
Skipper Wins Losses
Magnus Holmberg, SWE/Team Stora Enso 4-0
Jesper Radich, DEN/Team Radich 4-1
Luc Pillot, FRA/Team Pillot 4-1
Peter Gilmour, AUS/Team Pizza La 3-1
Jes Gram-Hansen, DEN/Team Victory Lane 2-3
Andy Beadsworth, GBR/Team Henri Lloyd 2-3
Lars Nordbjaerg, Denmark 2-3
Kelvin Harrap, New Zealand 2-2
Karol Jablonski, POL/Jablonski Sailing Team 2-2
Jesper Bank, Denmark 1-3
Roy Heiner, Netherlands 1-4
Paolo Cian, ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team 0-4

Flight 1

Gram-Hansen def. Beadsworth

Pillot def. Heiner

Nordbjaerg def. Radich

Flight 2

Heiner def. Gram-Hansen

Beadsworth def. Nordbjaerg

Radich def. Pillot

Flight 3

Pillot def. Gram-Hansen

Nordbjaerg def. Heiner

Radich def. Beadsworth

Flight 4

Radich def. Heiner

Pillot def. Beadsworth

Gram-Hansen def. Nordbjaerg

Flight 5

Beadsworth def. Heiner

Radich def. Gram-Hansen

Pillot def. Nordbjaerg

Flight 6

Harrap def. Jablonski

Gilmour def. Bank

Holmberg def. Cian

Flight 7

Gilmour def. Jablonski

Harrap def. Cian

Holmberg def. Bank

Flight 8

Gilmour def. Cian

Holmberg def. Harrap

Jablonski def. Bank

Flight 9

Holmberg def. Gilmour

Bank def. Harrap

Jablonski def. Cian

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 426 million households worldwide annually.
· Swedish Match Tour partners include Swedish Match, Octagon and the Match Race Association.
· Swedish Match Tour sponsors include Colorcraft, Champagne Mumm, Musto and Wedgwood.