Investors Guaranty™ Presents The King Edward VII Gold Cup - Qualifiers Set For Round 1 In Bermuda

HAMILTON, Bermuda (October 20, 2003) – After a taut day of racing featuring many protest flags, numerous penalties and a couple of crashes, the unseeded qualifiers for Round 1 of the Investors Guaranty Presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup, the second event on Swedish Match Tour 2003/2004, have been determined.

Bermuda's Peter Bromby leads America's Ed Baird under spinnaker during day three of the Investors Guaranty presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup 2003, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Hamilton, Bermuda. Oct, 20th. 2003 Photo © Sergio Dionisio / Oceanfashion Pictures / Swedish Match Tour

Leading the three skippers coming out Group 1, New Zealand’s Cameron Dunn, a former member of the Oracle BMW Racing America’s Cup team, scored two wins to finish 6-1 overall atop the standings. Finland’s Staffan Lindberg, also notched two wins in the morning’s racing, to wind up as the second qualifier with a scoreline of 5-2.

Meanwhile, Italy’s Paolo Cian of the Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team split his results today, but thanks to a strong showing over the weekend finished at 5-2 as well and now sees himself into the next round.

“I’m really happy we went through the round,” smiled Cian. “This event is a mix of tradition and efficiency and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club does a great job.”

New Zealand’s Cameron Appleton of Team Triangle Rigging, a former member of Team New Zealand’s afterguard, started the day in a three-way tie atop the Group 1 standings with Dunn and Cian, but lost both of his matches and failed to advance.

“We went out and tried a little too hard (today),” said Appleton. “We didn’t create any luck for ourselves and in this sport you need a little bit of luck.”

Group 2 featured the most exciting racing of the day. American Ed Baird of Team XL Capital posted a 1-1 record to protect his lead and finish at 6-1 overall.

“The (Hamilton) Harbor can be the toughest competitor sometimes,” said Baird. “You think you’re doing the right thing and it proves you wrong and sometimes it rewards poor decisions – its can be very unpredictable.”

American Bill Hardesty, competing in just his third match racing regatta, registered two wins, against fellow Swedes Mattias Rahm of Team Stena Bulk and Magnus Holmberg of Team Continental Airlines, a former Swedish Match Tour winner and America’s Cup helmsman, to move into position as the second qualifier.

Bermudian Peter Bromby overcame an 0-2 start to this regatta to win four of his last five matches including the final one which was a re-sail against Andy Green of Team Renaissance Reinsurance, all the while knowing that his fate was in his own hands, win and move on, lose and watch the rest of the week from shore.

Little did Bromby know when lining up against Green the excitement that awaited. On the second windward mark rounding, Green struck Bromby shortly after hoisting his spinnaker, momentarily impaling his bow into the hull of the Bermudian. As the boats separated, the umpires conferred and black-flagged Green, handing the match to Bromby and clearing his way into the next round.

“It’s been a while since we got our last black flag,” said Green. “The racing that we do gets so close and so tight that occasionally these type of incidents happed, but it’s a real shame.”

“It wasn’t so long ago, we were leaving Bermuda with $20,000 and a nice gold trophy (after winning the 1999 Bermuda Gold Cup), this year we’re leaving a little lighter in the wallet,” joked Green, exhibiting a bit of gallow’s humor.

Bermuda's Peter Bromby tacks way from America's Ed Baird during men's unseeded round on day three of the Investors Guaranty presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup 2003, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Hamilton, Bermuda. Oct, 20th. 2003 Photo © Sergio Dionisio / Oceanfashion Pictures / Swedish Match Tour

Losing to Bromby on countback was native Kiwi Scott Dickson now living in the United States and leading the Dickson Racing Team out of Long Beach, Calif. Dickson posted an even scoreline on the day to match Bromby’s 4-3 overall record.

“We’ve had a great time this year,” said Dickson. “Anytime you look at your scorecard and you’ve got a point against the Swedish Match Tour leader and a point against the ISAF Match Racing Champion, you’d think you’d be in pretty good shape.”

Similarly disappointed in his result this year was Holmberg. Having won the Danish Open 2003, the first event on Swedish Match Tour 2003/2004, the former Tour champion, and winningest skipper in the history of the Swedish Match Tour, with six events to his credit, always expects to be in the hunt.

“It’s been one of those weeks where things really haven’t worked out for us at all, if it hasn’t been one thing, its been another,” explained Holmberg. “If you have a bad day here it’s not good, but if you have two bad days it’s trouble.”

In the Bermuda International Women’s Match Racing Championship, Bermuda’s Paula Lewin of Team Ace Group won all three of her matches to finish the round robin portion of the regatta undefeated at 7-0. As top seed Lewin can choose her semifinal opponent from the other three qualifiers, Sweden’s Jenny Axhede of Team Panorama (5-2), American Sally Barkow (4-3) and American Elizabeth Kratzig (3-4). Kratzig advanced on countback off a three-way tie with fellow American’s Betsy Alison and Deborah Willits.

On Tuesday, the top four women’s skippers and crews will assemble off Albouy’s Point to contest the semifinals and finals of the Bermuda International Women’s Match Racing Championship beginning at 9:00 am local time. Following the ladies competition, the seeded skippers will get in some practice racing in anticipation of Round 1 on Wednesday.

Today’s Results

Unseeded Skippers – Group 1

Skipper Wins Losses
1.Cameron Dunn, New Zealand 6 1
2.Staffan Lindberg, Finland 5 2
3.Paolo Cian, ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team 5 2
4.Cameron Appleton, NZ/Team Triangle Riggins 4 3
5.Kelvin Harrap, New Zealand 4 3
6.Adam Barboza, BER/Team Bacardi 2 5
7.Matthew Gregory, USA 1 6
8.Maxim Taranov, Russia 1 6

Flight 6
Lindberg def. Gregory
Harrap def. Taranov
Dunn def. Barboza
Cian def. Appleton

Flight 7
Lindberg def. Taranov
Barboza def. Appleton
Dunn def. Cian
Harrap def. Gregory

Unseeded Skippers – Group 2

Skipper Wins Losses

1.Ed Baird, USA/Team XL Capital 6 1
2.Bill Hardesty, USA 5 2
3.Peter Bromby, BER/Team ACE Group 4 3
4.Scott Dickson, USA/Dickson Racing Team 4 3
5.Mattias Rahm, SWE/Team Stena Bulk 3 4
6.Blythe Walker, BER/Team Bacardi 2 5
7.Andy Green, GBR/Team Renaissance Reinsurance 2 5
8.Magnus Holmberg, SWE/Team Continental Airlines 2 5

Flight 6
Hardesty def. Rahm
Holmberg def. Walker
Bromby def. Green – Black flag
Dickson def. Baird

Flight 7
Rahm def. Walker
Baird def. Bromby
Green def. Dickson
Hardesty def. Holmberg

Bermuda International Women’s Match Racing Championships

Skipper Wins Losses

1.Paula Lewin, BER/Team Ace Group 7 0
2.Jenny Axhede, SWE/Team Panorama 5 2
3.Sally Barkow, USA 4 3
4.Elizabeth Kratzig, USA 3
5.Betsy Alison, USA 3 4
6.Deborah Willits, USA 3 4
7.Sandy Hayes, USA 1 6
8.Klaartje Zuiderbaan, Netherlands 2 5

Flight 5
Alison def. Hayes
Lewin def. Willits
Zuiderbaan def. Kratzig
Axhede def. Barkow

Flight 6
Kratzig def. Willits
Lewin def. Zuiderbaan
Axhede def. Hayes
Barkhow def. Alison

Flight 7
Zuiderbaan def. Willits
Alison def. Axhede
Barkow def. Hayes
Lewin def. Kratzig

For more information about Investors Guaranty’s presentation of The King Edward VII Gold Cup, contact the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club race office at +1-441-295-2214 or visit www.KingEdwardVIIGoldCup.com.

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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.

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