Swedish
Match Tour - Gilmour Aims For Fifth ACI HTmobile
Cup
The
Australian leader of the Swedish Match Tour looks
to continue his dominating run.
SPLIT,
Croatia — Can he be stopped? Can any of
the world class competitors on the Swedish Match
Tour halt or at least interrupt Peter Gilmour’s
relentless march toward the Tour Championship?
That’s
the question being asked heading into the third
to last event of the 2003-’04 Swedish Match
Tour schedule, the ACI HTmobile Cup, May 24-29,
in Split, Croatia.
Having
amassed 97 points after five events, Gilmour’s
Pizza-La Sailing Team seems destined to win the
Tour Championship. With crewmembers Rod Dawson,
Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku and Yasuhiro Yaji
slated to sail in Croatia, they hold a 48-point
lead heading into the final three events.
The
crew has placed in the top four at every event
they’ve attended, and history would suggest
that they’ll fare well in Croatia. Gilmour
is the event’s most decorated champion with
four titles to his credit (1993, ’94, ’95
and ’97).
Featuring
a prize purse of $40,000, and $12,000 for the
winner, the ACI HTmobile Cup is one of the oldest
events on Tour. Founded in 1987, the event is
full of repeat winners.
The
organizing authorities are the Yacht Club Croatia
– Opatija and the Adriatic Croatia International
Club of Opatija. This year marks the 18th edition
of the event, but the list of winners is just
10 names long. Five skippers have won it a total
of 12 times.
“I
remember the local people really enjoying participation
by everybody during the event,” Gilmour
said. “I remember their genuine warmth and
hospitality.”
Gilmour’s
goal of a fifth title won’t be easy. Sweden’s
Magnus Holmberg and the SeaLife Rangers crew,
placed second on the Tour, and New Zealand’s
Gavin Brady of the Oracle BMW Racing crew, who
is placed third, are looking to close some ground
on the Tour leader. They trail Gilmour by 48 and
52 points, respectively.
The
lineup features Denmark’s Jes Gram-Hansen,
(third overall on last year’s Tour), Team
New Zealand’s Kelvin Harrap (looking to
add a top finish to his pair of fifths on the
Tour), and Italian Paolo Cian (who is lined up
with the fledgling Italian Challenge for America’s
Cup 2007).
France
will be well represented by Bertrand Pacé
(the 2000 Swedish Match Tour champion), and Mathieu
Richard (fourth at last year’s match-racing
world championship).
Sweden’s
Mattias Rahm (eighth at the Congressional Cup)
and Finland’s Staffan Lindberg (eighth at
the Nippon Cup last November) also will be on
hand.
A
pair of Croatians, Franco Brate and Mate Arapov,
plan to defend the locals’ honor against
the foreigners.
Racing
will be conducted in Jeanneau One-Design 35s,
designed in the early 1990s by Daniel Andreiu
for Jeanneau Yachts. Racing will consist of a
double round-robin, followed by semifinals, final
and petit final.
“We’re
looking forward to going there,” said Gilmour.
“The ACI Marina is what the event is all
about. They’re a fabulous conglomerate of
marinas along the Adriatic coast. They really
give you a great sense of what Mediterranean sailing
is about.”
Gilmour
and Brady recently have been the two most active
skippers on Tour. Both competed in the Congressional
Cup last month and the Toscana Elba Cup –
Trofeo Locman two weeks ago.
Gilmour
placed fourth and second, respectively, and has
a combined 32-10 record in those events. Brady
scored a pair of thirds and a combined 30-12 record.
Head-to-head,
Brady owns a 3-1 advantage, including two straight
dating back to the Petit Final of the Congressional
Cup.
After
Croatia, the Swedish Match Tour rolls into Germany
for the penultimate event to the 2003-’04
schedule, Match Race Germany, June 8-14, on Lake
Constance in Langenargen, Germany.
For
more information on the Swedish Match Tour, its
skippers and events please visit www.SwedishMatchTour.com.
