To Win A Line 7 Squadron Jacket
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2 - 7 September
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| MATCH RACE GERMANY FIELDS GRITTY LINEUP |
The Pizza-La Sailing Team, led by skipper Peter Gilmour, leads Team Denmark and skipper Jes Gram-Hansen upwind in the race for the Mercedes Benz. (Guido Cantini/Sea&See)
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Bertrand Pacé keeps an eye on Eric Monin’s bow and his bowman, Jean Claude Monin, during their Flight 1 start in Round Robin C at Match Race Germany. (Guido Cantini/Sea&See)
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Mathieu Richard (red spinnaker) nearly loses control coming into the leeward mark of his match with Luc Pillot. (Guido Cantini/Sea&See)
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LANGENARGEN, Germany (Apr. 21, 2005) — Three days after the completion of Stage 5 of the 2004-’05 Swedish Match Tour, the global professional sailing series continues its May swing through Europe with the 25,000 Euro Match Race Germany in Langenargen, Germany, May 11-16.
Much like Stage 5 in Porto Azzurro, Italy, the lineup for Germany is loaded with America’s Cup Class helmsmen and talented match-racers. Four of the skippers in Elba – Ben Ainslie (GBR), Ian Ainslie (RSA), Ed Baird (USA) and Peter Gilmour (AUS) – will trek straight to Germany.
Perhaps no other venue on the Swedish Match Tour is as stunning as Match Race Germany, hosted on Lake Constance which is bordered by Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Measuring 40 miles in length and 8.5 miles in width, Lake Constance, also called Bodensee, covers 220 square miles, making it central Europe’s second largest freshwater lake. Match Race Germany takes place along the promenade of Langenargen at Lake Constance. With a large beer tent, many food vendors and bands playing everything from Dixieland to reggae, Match Race Germany offers a slice of Oktoberfest in early summer.
The Tour’s spotlight in Germany will remain focused on Baird, representing Switzerland’s Team Alinghi for the America’s Cup. Baird, who leads the Swedish Match Tour standings with 65 points, could clinch the Tour championship – featuring a BMW 545i Touring from Tour Partner and Official Car BMW and a $60,000 cash bonus from the Tour – in Germany if he’s able to place in the top three in Italy.
Baird finds Lake Constance one of the most difficult venues on the Tour due to its light winds. He also didn’t enjoy sailing the 24-footers previously used, but a new class of boat introduced last year, the Bavaria 35 Match, helped add life to the event when the winds were light. Last year’s event was split about 50-50 between super light winds and nice match-racing conditions.
Gilmour, the reigning champion of the Swedish Match Tour and Match Race Germany, will have a second straight opportunity to push Baird back in the standings while advancing his own cause. Gilmour, who has five career victories on the Swedish Match Tour, has 42 points after four of the eight stages and trails Baird by 23 points.
Others entered in the event include America’s Cup hopefuls Ben Ainslie (GBR) of Emirates Team New Zealand, Ian Ainslie (RSA) of the Shosholoza Challenge, Jesper Bank (DEN) of Germany’s aspiring Cup challenger Fresh 17, Sébastien Col (FRA) of France’s K-Challenge and Bertrand Pacé (FRA) of BMW Oracle Racing.
The field also includes talented match-racers such as Staffan Lindberg (FIN), fifth in the Swedish Match Tour standings, Luc Pillot (FRA), Mathieu Richard (FRA), seventh in the standings, and Ian Williams (GBR), who’s making his Tour debut.
A 12th entrant will be decided at this weekend’s German Invitational Match Race. Among the favorites are Sten Mohr of Denmark, who’s trying to make a comeback in match-racing, and Eric Monin of Switzerland, who placed seventh at Match Race Germany last year.
Swedish Match Tour partners include Swedish Match, BMW and the Match Race Association. Swedish Match Tour Official Sponsors include Musto, Sebago, Travel Places, Trident Studio and Wedgwood.
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Match Race Germany Fields Gritty Lineup
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE SWEDISH MATCH TOUR
Sean McNeill
Swedish Match Tour
Director of Public Relations
Tel: +1 401 846 8812
E-mail: smcneill@f10marketing.com
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT MATCH RACE GERMANY
Tatjana Pokorny
E-mail: 101533.3471@compuserve.com
SWEDISH MATCH TOUR STANDINGS
(After 4 of 8 stages)
1. Ed Baird (USA) 65 points
2. Russell Coutts (NZL) 45 points
T. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) 45 points
4. Peter Gilmour (AUS) 40 points
5. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) 26 points
6. Philippe Presti (FRA) 24 points
7. Mathieu Richard (FRA) 21 points
8. Kelvin Harrap (NZL) 20 points
T. James Spithill (AUS) 20 points
(View full standings)
MATCH RACE GERMANY ENTRANTS (as of Apr. 20, 2005)
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand – Two-time Olympic Gold medalist
Ian Ainslie (RSA) Shosholoza Challenge – Three-time Olympian in Finn class
Ed Baird (USA) Team Alinghi – Leads Swedish Match Tour standings
Jesper Bank (DEN) Fresh 17 – Potential skipper for first German AC Challenge
Sébastien Col (FRA) K-Challenge – Tactician for France’s K-Challenge
Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team – Reigning Match Race Germany champion
Staffan Lindberg (FIN) – Sixth on Swedish Match Tour leaderboard
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) BMW Oracle Racing – Runner-up at Match Race Germany ’04
Luc Pillot (FRA) – Ranked 20th on ISAF Match Race Ranking List
Mathieu Richard (FRA) – Seventh on Swedish Match Tour leaderboard
Ian Williams (GBR) – Making Swedish Match Tour debut
UPCOMING SWEDISH MATCH TOUR SCHEDULE
May 3-8: Toscana Elba Cup -- Trofeo Locman (Porto Azzurro, Italy)
May 11-16: Match Race Germany (Langenargen, Germany)
May 23-28: ACI HTmobile Cup (Split, Croatia)
July 4-10: Swedish Match Cup (Marstrand, Sweden)
ABOUT THE SWEDISH MATCH TOUR
• The Swedish Match Tour is the leading professional sailing series in the world.
• The Tour offers $1 million in overall prize money, with $200,000 divided among the top eight teams in the overall Tour Championship points race.
• The Tour champion wins a BMW 545i Touring, a $60,000 bonus and the official Swedish Match Tour Championship Trophy, produced by Swedish Match Tour sponsor Wedgwood.
• Swedish Match Tour events take place in venues with virtual on-the-water stadiums, which allow general public spectators to follow the races shoreside.
• Swedish Match Tour television programs and highlights reach nearly 500 million households in 190 countries around the world.
• Swedish Match Tour partners include Swedish Match, BMW and the Match Race Association. Swedish Match Tour Official Sponsors include Musto, Sebago, Travel Places, Trident Studio and Wedgwood.
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