SWEDEN’S
HOLMBERG AND LOCAL SKIPPER CIAN ADVANCE TO SEMIFINALS
OF TOSCANA ELBA CUP – TROFEO LOCMAN
 |
Magnus
Holmberg extends lead on Karol Jablonski
at Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman. Image
© Guido Cantini
|
ISLE
of ELBA, Italy (May 14, 2003) – Former Swedish
Match Tour champion Magnus Holmberg is displaying
his old form at the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo
Locman, leading the way into the semifinals, following
the third day of the regatta.
“After
the first day we realized we needed to step up
our starts and while we were sailing well downwind,
we were struggling a little bit upwind,”
confessed Holmberg. “We had better starts
today and sailed better overall, so we’re
stepping up our game as the event is proceeding.”
Joining
Holmberg as an early qualifier for the semifinals
is former Mascalzone Latino helmsman Paolo Cian
now sailing for the Riviera di Rimini Sailing
Team. While training with Mascalzone Latino, Cian
spent 18 months sailing on the waters around Elba
and that experience has paid dividends as he upended
Swedish Match Tour leader Jes Gram-Hansen of Team
Victory Lane, who had been undefeated entering
the quarterfinals, 2-1.
“We
are getting better, with an eight member crew
we have 3-4 more crew than at other Swedish Match
Tour events, so we’ve been working on teamwork
all week,” said Cian. “Our trimmers
Pier Luigi Fornelli and Francesco de Vita have
kept the boat going very fast and that has been
the difference.”
“I
really need to congratulate Jes, his crew fought
very hard and never let up one bit,” continued
Cian. “In the light patchy conditions we
had late this afternoon its very hard to keep
a close lead, especially on the final run.”
Meanwhile,
Holmberg dispatched of Poland’s Karol Jablonski
2-0, in dominating fashion. In the first match
Jablonski caught a penalty in the dial-up to put
himself behind the eight ball against the match
racing master. After catching Holmberg on the
first downwind run, Jablonski clipped Holmberg’s
spinnaker pole at the leeward mark rounding resulting
in another penalty and forcing an immediate penalty
turn.
 |
Paolo
Cian leads downwind over Jes Gram-Hansen
in quarterfinals of Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo
Locman. Image © Guido Cantini
|
In
the second match Holmberg cleaned Jablonski out
at the start to establish a lead from which the
Polish skipper could not recover.
The
Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman is Holmberg’s
second appearance on the Swedish Match Tour following
his duties as skipper and helmsman for Sweden’s
Victory Challenge for America’s Cup 2003.
Following a fifth place finish at last month’s
Congressional Cup in Long Beach, CA, Holmberg
is feeling well and looking for more.
“We
didn’t know what to expect coming back to
the Swedish Match Tour after the America’s
Cup. If we do well at the events the results will
get us back up the Leaderboard again,” said
Holmberg. “Additionally, as we’re
currently sailing without a sponsor, the prize
money that comes along with doing well is very
important, also.”
In
the day’s other action, James Spithill of
Australia, former helmsman of the OneWorld Challenge,
defeated American Ed Baird of Team Musto 1-0,
in the third place knock-out round forcing Baird
into Quarterfinals Qualifying.
In
the Quarterfinals Qualifying, Baird turned around
his fortunes, dispatching Great Britain’s
Andy Beadsworth of Team Henri Lloyd 2-1, to stay
alive. Likewise, Luc Pillot was pushed to three
matches by Denmark’s Jesper Radich before
prevailing in a third and final match, while Chris
Law of “The Outlaws” swept past Sebastien
Destremau of Le Defi Areva.
As
a result, Radich, currently second on the Swedish
Match Tour 2002/2003 Leaderboard, has been eliminated
from the regatta without gaining any Swedish Match
Tour Rankings points.
Today
presented the best racing conditions of the week
thus far. A consistent 12 knot breeze settled
in at 8 knots in the afternoon on Portoferraio
Bay, before getting a bit shifty as the day came
to a close.
Repechage
quarterfinal action resumes tomorrow as well as
the beginning of semifinal competition.
TODAY’S
RESULTS
Third Place Knock-out Match
James Spithill (AUS/Team Spithill) def. Ed Baird
(USA/Team Musto)
Quarterfinals
Qualifiers
Match 1
Andy Beadsworth (GBR/Team Henri Lloyd) def. Baird
Baird
def. Beadsworth
Baird
def. Beadsworth
Match
2
Luc Pillot (FRA/Team Pillot) def. Jesper Radich
(DEN/Team Radich)
Radich
def. Pillot
Pillot
def. Radich
Match
3
Chris Law (GBR/”The Outlaws”) def.
Sebastien Destremau (Le Defi Areva)
Law
def. Destremau
Quarterfinal
Upper Division
Match 1
Paolo Cian (ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team)
def. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN/Team Victory Lane)
Gram-Hansen
def. Cian
Cian def. Gram-Hansen
Match
2
Magnus Holmberg (SWE/Team Holmberg) def. Karol
Jablonski (POL/Jablonski Sailing Team)
Holmberg
def. Jablonski
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.
