SEMIFINALISTS
SET AT TOSCANA ELBA CUP – TROFEO LOCMAN
ISLE
of ELBA, Italy (May 15, 2003) – Defending
event champion, American Ed Baird of Team Musto,
and Australia’s James Spithill, former helmsman
for the OneWorld Challenge, advanced through the
Quarterfinals Repechage today to round out the
semifinals of the Swedish Match Tour’s Toscana
Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman.
Baird
and Spithill join former Swedish Match Tour champion
Magnus Holmberg of Sweden and local skipper Paolo
Cian of the Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team, and
former helmsman for the Mascalzone Latino America’s
Cup challenge, who had previously qualified for
the semifinals of the sixth event on Swedish Match
Tour 2002/2003.
After
defeating Great Britain’s Chris Law of “The
Outlaws” 2-1, in a spirited series in the
Quarterfinals Lower Division, Baird swept past
current Swedish Match Tour leader Jes Gram-Hansen
of Team Victory Lane, 2-0, in the Quartfinals
Repechage round to stay alive and earn the chance
to defend his title.
“You
just try to make the right choices at the time,
we had to come from behind a couple of times today
and the team bailed me out of a couple of tough
ones,” said Baird. “All these events
have great competitors, there’s no favorites
or dark horses, everyone’s capable of winning,
and you just hope you make the right choices to
put yourself in a good position.”
Spithill,
like Baird, had an exciting battle with France’s
Luc Pillot, former helmsman for the Le Defi Areva
Challenge, before advancing, 2-1.
“It
didn’t go well against Luc. Our jib halyard
broke on the final beat of our second match, allowing
Luc to overcome a three-boat length lead and end
up winning,” said Spithill. “It was
a bit frustrating but, just one of those things.”
Spithill
then defeated Poland’s Karol Jablonski 2-1,
in the Quarterfinals Repechage to advance to the
semifinals, after encountering some additional
mechanical challenges.
“In
the third match the backstay broke off down below
as we were in the freshest part of the course.
We sailed Karol way past the mark to allow us
more time to try and fix it while going downwind,
but we couldn’t get it rigged up, causing
us to minimize our tacks on the second upwind
leg,” explained Spithill. “Luckily
we were able to hold him off and all our hard
work and good crew work paid off.”
Tomorrow
is a scheduled lay day, with all the teams participating
in a golf tournament, followed by a prize giving,
at Auquabona Golf Club near Porto Azzuro.
TODAY’S
RESULTS
Quarterfinal Lower Division
Match 1
Chris Law (GBR/”The Outlaws”) def.
Ed Baird (USA/Team Musto)
Baird
def. Law
Baird
def. Law
Match
2
Luc Pillot (FRA/Team Pillot) def. James Spithill
(AUS/Team Spithill)
Spithill
def. Pillot
Spithill
def. Pillot
Quarterfinals
Repechage
Match 1
Baird def. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN/Team Victory Lane)
Baird
def. Gram-Hansen
Match
2
Spithill def. Karol Jablonski (POL/Jablonski Sailing
Team)
Jablonski def. Spithill
Spithill 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.
