Swedish
Match Tour - Gilmour Streaks To 7-0 Lead: Another
Regatta, Another Early Lead For Australian Peter
Gilmour And The Pizza-La Sailing Team
SPLIT,
Croatia — Peter Gilmour of Australia and
the Pizza-La Sailing Team of mixed nationalities
streaked to the early overall lead today at the
ACI HTmobile Cup, an event of the Swedish Match
Tour.
 |
Mathieu
Richard (6) and Kelvin Harrap split the
line during the start of thier race in Flight
4 at racing in Split, Croatia. Photo ©
Bob Grieser/Outside Images
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Gilmour
and crew Rod Dawson (NZL), Mike Mottl (AUS), Kazuhiko
Sofuku
(JPN) and Yasuhiro Yaji (JPN) – the runaway
leaders of the Swedish Match Tour Championship
Leaderboard – won all of their races today
enroute to a 7-0 record after the first eight
flights of the 18th annual event off Split Harbor.
Frenchman
Bertrand Pacé and Team France trailed close
behind at 6-1, and there was a tie for third between
Sweden’s Magnus Holmberg and the SeaLife
Rangers crew and Team Denmark’s Jes Gram-Hansen,
both at 5-2.
“It
was beautiful sailing conditions today,”
said Gram-Hansen, who has placed fifth at this
event twice before. “Our team was working
well and we had some luck, which you need.”
New
Zealand’s Gavin Brady and the Oracle BMW
Racing team stand fifth at 5-3, and are followed
by Mathieu Richard (FRA, 4-3), Mattias Rahm (SWE,
3-4), Kelvin Harrap (NZL, 2-5), Frano Brate (CRO,
2-6), Mate Arapov (CRO, 1-7) and Sweden’s
Daniel Wallberg, who filled in for injured Staffan
Lindberg of Finland, but was 0-7 on the day.
After
a 68-minute postponement this morning due to light
winds, the race committee took an aggressive approach
to conducting racing.
The
southwesterly breeze started at 6 knots for Flight
1, but by Flight 2 it had increased to 10 knots.
The wind would gust up to 16 knots throughout
the afternoon, and the race committee ran eight
flights, 40 matches overall in a bit more than
seven hours, over the standard windward/leeward,
twice-around course.
“I
think it was very clever of them to get that much
racing in,” said Gilmour. “I’ve
been at these events where they knock off at 5:00
and then there’s nothing later in the week.”
“For
us it’s like this 65 to 75 days a year,”
said Event Director Emil Tomasevic, who this morning
predicted a classic seabreeze, one that builds
in strength and veers right after a windless morning.
He was spot on.
The
conditions were in stark contrast to yesterday’s
blustery northeasterly for practice and crew training
in the Jeanneau One-Design 35. The wind topped
out around 20 knots, and took its toll on two
Scandinavian skippers.
Sweden’s
Rahm and Finland’s Lindberg both suffered
injuries during practice. Rahm suffered a cut
on his head that required a trip to the hospital
for cleaning and dressage, but Lindberg’s
injury was more serious.
This
morning the 6-foot, 5-inch tall skipper underwent
surgery to repair his orbital bone and cheek bone
under his right eye. The injury occurred during
a practice jibe.
“I
was pulling the boom across and he didn’t
stand back far enough,” said Lindberg’s
mainsail trimmer Wallberg, 24, of Marstrand, Sweden.
“The boom hit him under the eye.”
Rahm
also suffered his injury during a jibe. The 6-foot
tall Swede didn’t duck low enough during
a jibe and the boom swept across his head. He
reported having a scrape on his head, but not
one that kept him from racing today.
Rahm
said that both his and Lindberg’s crews
practiced last week for this event on DS 37 Match-Racers
in Sweden, the boat used at the Swedish Match
Cup and the Danish Open.
“The
boom on that boat isn’t as long as the one
on this boat,” said Rahm, comparing the
practice boat to the race boat.
Wallberg
will fill in for Lindberg on the helm until he
is ready to return. Wallberg, who has crewed for
Lindberg the past year, began match-racing in
2000. Also joining the crew is local Croatian
Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic.
The
International Jury, headed by Chief Umpire Bo
Samuelsson, has cleared the way for Lindberg to
return to the helm when, and if, he feels ready.
“We
took the opinion of the skippers at the umpires’
meeting and they were in favor of us granting
Lindberg the permission to return,” said
Samuelsson.
Pressed
into service at the last minute, Wallberg, who
sailed a Soling briefly in 2000 before match-racing
was removed from the Olympics, had a rough day
on the helm and left the water with a 0-7 record.
“Next
time I’d want to have some more practice,”
Wallberg said at the end of the day with a laugh.
“It got better as the day went on. At least
we figured out where the start line was.”
Racing
is scheduled to continue tomorrow with an attention
signal slated for 10:50 a.m.
For
more detail on today’s racing, results by
flight, complete crew lists and the upcoming schedule,
please visit www.SwedishMatchTour.com.
ACI HTmobile Cup Standings
(After eight of 22 scheduled flights)
1. Peter Gilmour/AUS, Pizza-La Sailing Team 7-0
2. Bertrand Pacé/FRA, Team France 6-1
3. Magnus Holmberg/SWE, SeaLife Rangers 5-2
= Jes Gram-Hansen/DEN, Team Denmark 5-2
5. Gavin Brady/NZL, Oracle BMW Racing 5-3
6. Mathieu Richard/FRA 4-3
7. Mattias Rahm/SWE, Team Stena Bulk 3-4
8. Kelvin Harrap/NZL, Team New Zealand 2-5
9. Frano Brate/CRO 2-6
10. Mate Arapov/CRO 1-7
11. Staffan Lindberg/SWE 0-7
For
more information on the Swedish Match Tour, its
skippers and events please visit www.SwedishMatchTour.com.
