|
GILMOUR,
BAIRD: OVER 40 BUT 4-0 ON DAY 3 OF THE CONGRESSIONAL
CUP
LONG
BEACH, Calif.---The 40th Congressional Cup is a
learning experience for some of the younger sailors,
and one thing they're learning is respect for their
elders. The two oldest skippers, Peter Gilmour of
Perth, Australia, and Ed Baird, of St. Petersburg,
Fla., had the best days Thursday with four wins
in as many races.
 |
Sweden's
Mattias Rahm has Cameron Appleton's bowman,
David Blanchfield, breathing down his neck in
pre-start maneuvering. Photo
© Rich Roberts |
That
put Gilmour, 44, back in first place with an 11-2
record and Baird, 46, into strong position at 9-4
for a place in Saturday's semifinals of the Swedish
Match Tour event. Gavin Brady, 30, an Annapolis,
Md. resident from New Zealand, was 2-2 on the day
to slip out of first place, but his 10-3 record
(despite a half-point deduction for a collision
incident Wednesday) almost certainly means he'll
be in the sailoffs in quest of his third Crimson
Blazer.
After
them it's a dogfight. Terry Hutchinson of Team Annapolis
Volvo and Denmark's Jes Gram-Hansen are tied at
7-6, and only New Zealand's Allan Coutts (0-13)
is mathematically out of contention with five matches
for each team remaining. No more than four will
be run Friday, leaving the 18th flight of the double
round-robin until Saturday to give everyone a final
bow.
Baird,
for one, does not plan to coast conservatively into
the semis.
"It's
not like fleet racing," he said. "You
might end up second."
Thursday
saw the lightest wind in three days: 6-7 knots for
the first two rounds, when wind-seeking skills appeared
to outweigh the starts on the half-mile course that
was a minefield of shifts and puffs. The sea breeze
built to 10-12 knots for the last two rounds and
seemed to return the racing to form---especially
for Brady, who righted himself with two wins after
a pair of opening losses.
Brady,
already signed as on Oracle's helmsman for the 2007
America's Cup,said,
"We got our act back together. If you do enough
of this stuff and you're surrounded by winners like
the Ross Halcrows and Craig Monks, the wins will
come."
Unlike
Gilmour and Brady, Baird started the week with a
strong but mixed
 |
Gavin
Brady (right), holding the right of way, luffs
hard to force Scott Dickson off course. Photo
© Rich Roberts |
crew of friends and relative strangers. Tactician
Andy Horton and trimmer John Ziskind are regulars
and bowman Rob Myles has been an occasional crew
member, but San Diego's Eric Doyle, main trimmer,
and Brett Jones, pit, were added for this event.
"It
took us a while to get that comfort level among
us," said Baird, who was 5-4 the first two
days. "Every day of racing we do definitely
helps. The level of all the teams is so high that
if you bring your comfort level up just a little
it makes a difference."
As
Brady said, "The difference between wins and
losses is often one tiny little mistake."
To
complete his second perfect day of the week, Gilmour
waited for New Zealand's Cameron Appleton, 26, to
do just that in the day's final round. The talented
Kiwi led Gilmour near the first windward mark but
got overanxious tactically.
With
the wind swinging right, Appleton said, "We
had to make sure we would keep him out of the right
[side of the course] and looked for a chance to
cross his bow. For some strange reason, then, I
tried to tack back two lengths short of the layline
to block him out and made an error."
Appleton
not only drew a foul for tacking too closely, but
Gilmour sailed around him to his 11th win of the
week.
Gilmour,
unlike most of his rivals, has no tactician standing
behind him but has his own style of comfort level.
"I've
just found that my personality is not well suited
to having a tactician making the calls for me,"
he said. "Instead, I have two guys---Alan [Smith]
and Rod [Dawson]---watching things for me. I'll
listen to them and then make the calls."
Hutchinson
has Chris Larson, another world-class racer, as
his tactician, but they have been sailing in hard
luck this week. On Wednesday they lost a close race
to Long Beach's Scott Dickson after becoming entangled
in another match, and Thursday they lost badly to
Gilmour after some confusion with signals from the
race committee boat.
 |
The
turning point in Peter Gilmour's fourth win
Thursday was when Cameron Appleton tried top
block him out from turning to the windward mark
but managed only to foul Gilmour, who sailed
around him. Photo © Rich Roberts |
Both
were over the line early, and when Gilmour dipped
to re-start the yellow flag dropped indicating he
was clear, and the blue flag for Hutchinson started
to drop for an instant before quickly being rehoisted.
Hutchinson said he saw the blue flag dip and turned
up the course, then looked back and saw it up again.
He returned to re-start again, and Gilmour was long
gone.
Hutchinson
appealed for re-dress because of race committee
error but was denied after a hearing. He didn't
deny he jumped the start in the first place.
"We
had Peter right where we wanted him and I boned
it," he said.
Racing
continues into Saturday, starting at noon daily,
conditions permitting. There is $25,000 in prize
money, with $6,000 to the winning team.
Live
radio commentary of the racing may be heard worldwide
on www.KLBC.org or at 810 AM within a four-mile
radius of the Belmont Pier spectator site. Video
highlights of each day's racing may be replayed
each evening on the club's Web site, www.LBYC.org.
Sportshow
TV is producing a half-hour highlight video to be
aired later by the Outdoor Life Network.
Thursday's
results:
Round
10
Peter
Gilmour, Australia, def. Allan Coutts, New Zealand,
1 minute 16.seconds.
Kelvin
Harrap, New Zealand, d. Mattias Rahm, Sweden, 1:25.
Jes
Gram-Hansen, Denmark, d. Gavin Brady, New Zealand,
0:14.
Ed
Baird, St. Petersburg, Fla., d. Scott Dickson, Long
Beach, Calif., 1:08.
Terry
Hutchinson, Annapolis, Md., d. Cameron Appleton,
New Zealand, 1:16.
Round
11
Rahm
d. Brady, 0:40.
 |
Ed
Baird, who won all four of his races Thursday,
leads Kelvin Harrap around the windward mark
as the umpires signal there was no foul in a
close encounter moments earlier. Photo
© Rich Roberts |
Dickson
d. Gram-Hansen, 1:04.
Baird
d. Coutts, 1:17.
Gilmour
d. Hutchinson, 0:41.
Appleton
d. Harrap, 0:19.
Round
12
Gram-Hansen
d. Coutts, 0:37.
Baird
d. Hutchinson, 0:17.
Gilmour
d. Harrap, 0:41.
Rahm
d. Appleton, 0:46.
Brady
d. Dickson, 0:11.
Round
13
Baird
d. Harrap, 0:13.
Gilmour
d. Appleton, 0:27.
Dickson
d. Rahm, 0:06.
Brady
d. Coutts, 0:10.
Hutchinson
d. Gram-Hansen, 0:13.
Standings
(after 13 of 18 rounds): 1. Gilmour, 11-2; 2. Brady,
10-3 (9.5 points); 3. Baird, 9-4; 4. tie between
Hutchinson and Gram-Hansen, 7-6; 6. Harrap, 6-7;
7. Appleton, Rahm and Dickson, 5-8; 10. Coutts,
0-13.
Live
radio commentary of the racing may be heard worldwide
on www.KLBC.org
or at 810 AM within a four-mile radius of the Belmont
Pier spectator site. Video highlights of each day's
racing may be replayed each evening on the club's
Web site, www.LBYC.org.
Sportshow
TV is producing a half-hour highlight video to be
aired later by the Outdoor Life Network.
MORE
INFORMATION:
Long Beach Yacht Club
(562) 598-9401
www.lbyc.org
Rich
Roberts
Press Officer
(310) 835-2526
richsail@earthlink.net
SWEDISH
MATCH TOUR
www.swedishmatchtour.com |
