TOSCANA ELBA CUP UPDATE ARCHIVE
TOSCANA ELBA CUP
Porto Azzurro, Elba Island
May 3-8, 2005

UPDATE ARCHIVE

UPDATE 16 // May 7, 2005, 1450 hours
The two old warhorses known as Russell Coutts and Peter Gilmour will square off for the championship of the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman.

The Coutts Racing team defeated James Spithill (AUS), of Luna Rossa Challenge, 3-2 in a thrilling semifinal match. Coutts only won when Spithill earned his second penalty of the match for a port-starboard incident as he was completing his first penalty turn.

Gilmour’s Pizza-La Sailing Team overcame Magnus Holmberg’s Victory Challenge from Sweden, 3-1. Holmberg and Spithill will race each other for third and fourth place.

The first flight of the Final and Petit Final is scheduled for this afternoon. The crews are expected to leave the dock around 1530 hours, with the attention signal scheduled for 1608 hours.

UPDATE 15 // May 7, 2005, 1225 hours
The two semifinal matches are tied at 1-1. James Spithill and Peter Gilmour won the first flights, while Russell Coutts and Magnus Holmberg won the second flights. The wind is around 8 knots from the east/southeast, the seas are flat and the sun is brilliant.

UPDATE 14 // May 7, 2005, 0950 hours
The Semifinal Round of the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman, Stage 5 of the 2004-’05 Swedish Match Tour, is on tap for the fourth day of the event. The pairings feature Russell Coutts (NZL), of Coutts Racing, versus James Spithill (AUS), of Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge. This match is intriguing because it is a continuation of the final in the King Edward VII Gold Cup last October. Coutts opened a 2-1 lead in the first to 5 points series and won the event when it was canceled on the final day due to strong winds.

The other matchup features a pair of Swedish Match Tour champions, Peter Gilmour (AUS), of Pizza-La Sailing Team, versus Magnus Holmberg (SWE), of Sweden’s Victory Challenge. Gilmour is the reigning Swedish Match Tour champion, having won last year in record-setting style, while Holmberg won the 2001-’02 Tour championship. What’s more, Holmberg is the Tour’s career victories leader with six wins, while Gilmour (and Coutts) each have five victories.

The warning signal is scheduled for 1100 hours. An easterly wind between 8 and 10 is blowing this morning, but is forecast to switch to the northwest and increase.

(Note: In honor of the highly superstitious Francesco de Angelis, there’s no Update 13.)

UPDATE 12 // May 6, 2005, 1455 hours
The Semifinal Round is set at the Swedish Match Tour event in Porto Azzurro, Italy. Peter Gilmour (AUS), of Pizza-La Sailing Team, will square off against Magnus Holmberg (SWE), of Victory Challenge, in the bottom half of the ladder. Gilmour defeated Ian Ainslie (RSA), of Team Shosholoza, 2-0 in their quarterfinal match. Holmberg needed three races to overcome Iain Percy (GBR), of Italy’s +39 Challenge.

The winner of the Gilmour-Holmberg match will square off against the winner of the Russell Coutts-James Spithill match in the final. Coutts and Spithill made the semis after their quarterfinal matches this morning.

The semis are scheduled for tomorrow, and each match will be a first-to-3 points series. This afternoon there will be a sail-off for 5th through 8th places involving Ainslie, Percy, Ed Baird (USA), of Team Alinghi, and Gavin Brady (NZL), of BMW Oracle Racing.

UPDATE 11 // May 6, 2005, 1245 hours
Russell Coutts (NZL) and James Spithill (AUS) will meet each other in the top half of the Semifinal Round of the Toscana Elba Cup. Spithill advanced after beating Gavin Brady (NZL) 2-0 in their Quartefinal match, while Coutts beat Ed Baird (USA) 2-1 in their match. Coutts, leading the match around the first lap, came from behind on the run to the finish to claim the win.

The bottom half of the Quarterfinal Round is about to begin.

UPDATE 10 // May 6, 2005, 1030 hours
Ian Aisnlie (RSA), of Team Shosholoza, and Russell Coutts (NZL), of Coutts Racing, have advanced to the Quarterfinal Round of the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman, Stage 5 of the 2004-’05 Swedish Match Tour. Ainslie defeated Francesco de Angelis (ITA), of Luna Rossa Challenge, while Coutts defeated Hamish Pepper (NZL), of Italy’s Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team to advance.

Quarterfinal round matches pit Ed Baird (USA), of Team Alinghi, against Coutts, the former Team Alinghi skipper, and James Spithill (AUS), of Luna Rossa Challenge, against Gavin Brady (NZL), of BMW Oracle Racing.

In the bottom half of the ladder, Magnus Holmberg (SWE), of Victory Challenge, races Iain Percy (GBR), of Italy’s +39 Challenge, while Ainslie races reigning Swedish Mathc Tour champion Peter Gilmour (AUS), of Pizza-La Sailing Team. Each match is a first-to-2 points series.

UPDATE 9 // May 6, 2005, 1000 hours
The four crews remaining in the repechage round – led by skippers Ian Ainslie (RSA) versus Francesco de Angelis (ITA) and Russell Coutts (NZL) versus Hamish Pepper (NZL) – have left the dock and are set to race. The two winners advance to the quarterfinals. The Mistral is again blowing from the northwest between 15 and 18 knots, with gusts up to 20 knots.

UPDATE 8 // May 5, 2005, 1850 hours
Racing is finished for the day. Flight 1 of the repechage round was completed with Ian Ainslie (RSA), Francesco de Angelis (ITA), Russell Coutts (NZL) and Hamish Pepper (NZL) winning their matches. Full report to follow.

UPDATE 7 // May 5, 2005, 1630 hours
Group A has completed its round robin. Ed Baird (USA), Magnus Holmberg (SWE) and James Spithill (AUS) have advanced to the quarterfinals. The three skippers along with Ben Ainslie (GBR) were all tied at 4-2, but the tie-breaker put Ainslie in the repechage round along with Hamish Pepper (NZL), 3-3, Francesco de Angelis (ITA), 2-4, and Peter Holmberg (ISV), 0-6.

The sailors in the repechage round are heading back to the Bay of Porto Azzurro for the knock-out repechage round.

UPDATE 6 // May 5, 2005, 1320 hours
Group B has completed its round robin. Peter Gilmour (AUS), Gavin Brady (NZL) and Iain Percy (GBR) have advanced to the quarterfinal round. Gilmour won the group at 5-1, Brady finished 4-2 and Percy 3-3. Percy advanced from a three-way tie with Russell Coutts (NZL) and Thierry Peponnet (FRA) by virtue of his victory against Gilmour on the opening day.

Group A is switching into the Swedish Match 40s and is scheduled to complete its round robin this afternoon.

The wind has shifted a full 180 degrees to the west and is blowing around 15 knots with gusts up to 18 knots.

UPDATE 5 // May 5, 2005, 0930 hours
The plan for Day 2 of the Swedish Match Tour event, the Toscana Elba Cup, calls for Group B to head to the water first and complete its three flights in the round robin. Group A is scheduled to complete its round robin in the afternoon. Each group completed the first four flights yesterday. Time and wind permitting, the repechage round could follow. At 9:30 a.m., one-half hour before the first warning signal, the winds are light from the east.

UPDATE 4 // May 4, 1730 hours
Racing is done for the day. Group B has completed it four flights about 20 minutes ago. Full report to follow.

UPDATE 3 // May 4, 1515 hours
Group B has completed its first two flights. The wind has dropped to less than 5 knots, mostly from the east.

UPDATE 2 // May 4, 1415 hours
Group A has completed its four scheduled flights. Group B is on the water and beginning to race.

UPDATE 1 // May 4, 1155 hours
The plan for Day 1 of the Toscana Elba Cup is for Group A and B to sail four flights each.

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