Swedish Match Tour - Gladitorial Combat In 38 Knots At Danish Open

SKOVSHOVED, Denmark (August 15, 2003) – Sweden’s Magnus Holmberg of Team Stora Enso and Australia’s Peter Gilmour of Team Pizza La lapped up the barnstorming breezes blustering through Copenhagen and share the leaderboard with 7 wins and 1 loss, on the second day of the Danish Open, the opening round of Swedish Match Tour 2003/04.

Equal leaders Sweden's Magnus Holmberg of Team StoraEnso and Australian Peter Gilmour of Team Pizza La in action day two of the Danish Open in Skovshoved Harbour, Copenhagen, Denmark. August 15th 2003. Photo © Sergio Dionisio / Swedish Match Tour

Even the 38-knot gusts could not unsettle these two teams who were simply better than the other 10 international teams at wrestling the DS37 yachts around the course. Holmberg was nevertheless disappointed not to be able to retain the clean sheet that he carried through from day one. While he prevailed over two Danish teams skippered by Jesper Radich and Lars Nordbjaerg, he admitted to making a mess of his match against the Netherlands' Roy Heiner.

"That was the worst part of the day. It began well as we gave him a penalty in the pre-start, but then everything seemed to go wrong after that. We hit the top mark twice, hitting it both times with the boom. It was my fault for not leaving enough space as we rounded. I was fooled by the size of the marks, thinking they are small, but actually they are not as small as they look."

Gilmour was simply happy to be back racing on the Swedish Match Tour, after a prolonged self-imposed exile on America's Cup duty. "I've been out of the Tour for a couple of years, so it's fun to be back racing again. I'm really relishing the challenge of it all. The boys have been sailing well together, and in these winds it's all about good team work."

With the wind frequently gusting to over 30 knots, the organizers decided to put in one reef on the mainsail. "This made it easier for the mainsheet trimmer, I suppose, but the boat tends to get a roll on downwind with the smaller mainsail."

Many sailors suffered some spectacular broaches and wipe-outs, much to the entertainment of the crowds onshore. Jesper Radich described a hairy moment during his heat against Italy's Paolo Cian of the Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team. "The barber-hauler on the spinnaker guy snapped, and we rolled right out of control. Then Cian gybed at us and we had to gybe to avoid a collision." The spinnaker tore apart, but Radich kept his cool. "Somehow we managed to get through the gybe without wiping out, and we managed to get across the line ahead of him."

For Radich, however, beating fellow Dane Jesper Bank was the high point of his day. "It was a great moment for me, because he is a national icon of sailing in this country. He is one of my role models."

The key to beating the double Olympic Champion was patience, according to Radich. "Bank had the favoured end of the line at the start, but we were patient and waited for a shift to go our way before we tacked and crossed, and from there we sailed a safe race." Radich now lies just behind the leaders with a 6-2 score line, the same as Frenchman Luc Pillot.

Denmark's Jes Gram-Hansen far left of Team Victory Lane leads countryman Lars Nordbjerg during day two of the Danish Open in Skovshoved Harbour, Copenhagen, Denmark. August 15th 2003. Photo © Sergio Dionisio / Swedish Match Tour

It was a better day for Jesper Bank too, with his loss to Radich marring what was an otherwise perfect day. It was just what the Danish legend needed if he was going to stay alive in this tough competition, a vast improvement on his shoddy form of day one. "Three wins and one loss - I would be happy if every day could be like this," said Bank, who still couldn't quite put his finger on what had gone wrong the day before, when it was one loss and three wins. "It's not an excuse, but I think I have just been working too hard on my business in between the sailing, answering my cell phone, talking to clients and colleagues. Luckily today the phone didn't ring too much, and tomorrow is the weekend so I shouldn't have so many distractions," he said with a smile.

Poland’s Karol Jablonski admitted that he is struggling in the conditions. "This is the first match racing event we have done in these winds, and the other teams are looking more comfortable with the boats that we are. We had three close races today but unfortunately we just came second in all of them, and second is last."

The weather is predicted to moderate somewhat, so perhaps Jablonski will get more comfortable with the boats in the lighter winds.

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 7-1

Peter Gilmour, AUS/Team Pizza La 7-1
Jesper Radich, DEN/Team Radich 6-2
Luc Pillot, FRA/Team Pillot 6-2
Jesper Bank, Denmark 4-4
Andy Beadsworth, GBR/Team Henri Lloyd 4-4
Kelvin Harrap, New Zealand 4-4
Karol Jablonski, POL/Jablonski Sailing Team 3-5
Roy Heiner, Netherlands 3-5

Jes Gram-Hansen, DEN/Team Victory Lane 2-6

Lars Nordbjaerg, Denmark 2-6
Paolo Cian, ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team 1-7

Denmark's Jesper Radich right, of Team Radich in action with his crew to take second place after racing on day two of the Danish Open in Skovshoved Harbour, Copenhagen, Denmark. August 15th 2003. Photo © Sergio Dionisio / Swedish Match Tour

Round 1, Day 2
Flight 10
Holmberg def. Jablonski

Bank def. Cian

Gilmour def. Harrap

Flight 11
Harrap def. Gram-Hansen

Gilmour def. Pillot

Beadsworth def. Jablonski

Flight 12
Pillot def. Jablonski

Beadsworth def. Harrap

Gilmour def. Gram-Hansen

Flight 13
Harrap def. Pillot

Jablonski def. Gram-Hansen

Gilmour def. Beadsworth

Flight 14
Bank def. Heiner

Holmberg def. Radich

Cian def. Nordbjaerg

Flight 15
Bank def. Nordbjaerg

Radich def. Cian

Heiner def. Holmberg

Flight 16
Holmberg def. Nordbjaerg

Radich def. Bank

Heiner 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.