Swedish
Match Tour - Golden Gilmour Grabs Nippon Cup 2003
Title
Hayama, JAPAN (November 23, 2003) – Australia’s
Peter Gilmour and his Pizza-La Sailing Team defeated
Sweden’s Magnus Holmberg and the SeaLife
Rangers 3-1 today to claim his record eighth Nippon
Cup title.
Today’s
win was the fifth consecutive Nippon Cup crown
and second consecutive regatta win on the Swedish
Match Tour, following a victory at last month’s
Investors Guaranty Presentation of the King Edward
VII Gold Cup in Bermuda, for the veteran Australian
match racer and his crew of Mike Mottle, Yasuhiro
Yaji and Kazuhiko Sofuku.
“Congratulations
to my crew for their outstanding performance,”
said Gilmour. “They are a great team with
an even temperament, I go through my ups and downs,
but part of our success is that we work together
as a team.”
On
a brisk day on Shinjuku Bay, Gilmour and his crew
battled Holmberg and his long-standing team of
Stefan Rahm, Lars Linger and Magnus Augusston
in a championship bout featuring two of the premier
teams on the Swedish Match Tour.
After
the Swedes took the first match, Gilmour and his
team battened down to win the next three in a
row to remain the foremost team in the history
of this Japanese match racing classic.
“Every
race you’ve been through, whether you’ve
won or lost, you need to analyze the mistakes
and improve upon them,” said Gilmour. “Before
(the first) race was even finished, going down
the final run, we were discussing it and determining
which changes we were going to make in the next
match.”
“We
realized that in order to win we needed to start
better, start to the right of Magnus and tail
back, not lead back in the upcoming races,”
explained Gilmour.
“Winning
here is very special for us and unique in that
it’s in front of the home crowd and it really
is wonderful to win here once again,” concluded
Gilmour.
This
year’s win was especially pleasing for Gilmour’s
mainsheet trimmer Yasuhiro Yaji who has been instrumental,
and a driving force, in resurrecting and organizing
this event following a two-year hiatus and positioning
it to be a part of the Swedish Match Tour.
“Everybody
who supported me was a big help in making this
happen and created an environment that allowed
me to concentrate on sailing this week,”
said Yaji, who is also employed by event-sponsor
and team sponsor Pizza-La. “Until yesterday
all the pressure was on my shoulders, now all
the weight is gone, but I still need two weeks
off!”
In
today’s petit-finals racing Gavin Brady
of the Oracle BMW Racing Team dismissed fellow
Kiwi Dean Barker of the OMEGA Match Racing Team
3-0 to grab third place.
“We’re
a little bit disappointed, we would have liked
to have put up a better fight,” said Barker.
“At this level, as you see with Peter and
Magnus, crew work is crucial and both Gavin and
I have been changing around our crews. We sailed
well at times, but we’re also learning.
We look forward to coming back next year.”
Gilmour’s
win today further solidified his position atop
the Swedish Match Tour 2003/2004 Rankings, while
Holmberg’s runner-up finish moved the former
Swedish Match Tour champion (2000/2001) into second
place. Reigning Swedish Match Tour champion Jesper
Radich of Denmark, sixth this week, sits in third
place, while Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker
of the OMEGA Match Racing team finds himself in
the fourth spot.
The
next event on the Swedish Match Tour is the Congressional
Cup in Long Beach, Calif., April 19-24, 2004.
Final
Nippon Cup 2003 Standings
Skipper
1.Peter
Gilmour, AUS/Pizza-La Sailing Team - $15,000
2.Magnus
Holmberg, SWE/SeaLife Rangers - $9,000
3.Gavin
Brady, Oracle BMW Racing - $7,000
4.
Dean Barker, NZ/OMEGA Match Racing Team - $6,000
5.Paolo
Cian, ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team - $5,000
6.Jesper
Radich, Denmark - $4,500
7.Luc
Pillot, FRA/Team Pillot - $3,500
8.Staffan
Lindberg, FIN/Team Henri Lloyd - $3,000
9.Andy
Green, GBR/Team Racing Green - $2,500
10.Yautaka
Funazawa, Japan - $2,000
11.Eiichiro
Hamazaki, Japan - $1,500
12.Takao
Ninomiya, Japan - $1,000
Current
Swedish Match Tour 2003/2004 Rankings
Skipper Points
1.Peter
Gilmour, AUS/Pizza-La Sailing Team 65
2.Magnus
Holmberg, SWE/SeaLife Rangers 45
3.Jesper
Radich, DEN/Team Radich 35
4.Dean
Barker, NZ/Omega Match Racing Team 24
5.Jesper
Bank, Denmark 20
=Chris
Dickson, Oracle BMW Racing Team 20
7.Gavin
Brady, NZ/Oracle BMW Racing Racing 15
8.
Luc Pillot, FRA/Team Pillot 14
9.Paolo
Cian, ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team 10
=Russell
Coutts, Alinghi Team 10
=Kelvin
Harrap, New Zealand 10
Finals
Results
Flight
1
Holmberg
def. Gilmour
Flight
2
Gilmour
def. Holmberg
Flight
3
Gilmour
def. Holmberg
Flight
4
Gilmour
def. Holmberg
Petit
Finals
Flight
1
Brady
def. Barker
Flight
2
Brady
def. Barker
Flight
3
Brady
def. Barker
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.
