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| HOLMBERG HEADLINES GROUP A |
Helmsman Peter Holmberg ducks under the boom while headsail trimmer Lorenzo Mazza tends to the winch during Day 1 racing. (©Swedish Match Tour/Stephanie Lamy)
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A pair of Aussies: Michael Dunstan (blue spinnaker) chases Peter Gilmour on a light-air run. (©Swedish Match Tour/Stephanie Lamy)
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Bowman Frederico Cerveira makes the spinnaker pole on the mast rounding the windward mark. (©Swedish Match Tour/Stephanie Lamy)
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Peter Holmberg’s Alinghi crew crosses tacks with Staffan Lindberg and Team Finland during their Flight 4 match, won by Holmberg. (©Swedish Match Tour/Stephanie Lamy)
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CASCAIS, Portugal (July 20, 2005) — The 7th season of the Swedish Match Tour got underway today with the beginning of the €100,000 (approximately $120,000) PTPortugal Match Cup in Cascais, Portugal.
The six crews in Group A completed their round robin with Peter Holmberg (ISV), of Alinghi, coming out on top at 4-1. He advances to the Quarterfinal Round along with Staffan Lindberg (FIN), Team Finland, and Peter Gilmour (AUS), Pizza-La Sailing Team. Lindberg and Gilmour both finished 3-2, but Lindberg won the tiebreaker to place second and Gilmour third.
The other three teams in the group – led by skippers Chris Law (GBR), The Outlaws, Michael Dunstan (AUS) and Hamish Pepper (NZL), Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team – advanced to the Repechage Round. Law finished 3-2, Dunstan 2-3 and Pepper 0-5.
Racing was dominated by a light northwesterly wind between 3 and 8 knots. The breeze blows off the land in that direction and is very streaky, making tacticians sweat over their decisions.
“You form an overall strategy and monitor it 10 minutes before the start,” said Murray Jones, tactician for Holmberg. “Some streaks hit the water and some don’t. You try to sail what you see, but you don’t want to tack off a good lift. You have to sail the closer angle to the mark. It’s more strategy than connecting the dots, but it’s not easy.”
Holmberg and Jones were left shaking their heads at the last Tour event, the Swedish Match Cup. Tied 2-2 in their semifinal series against Magnus Holmberg, they led by about 20 seconds in the fifth and deciding race. But on the third lap Magnus Holmberg was able to close up at the windward mark and eventually won the race, leaving Peter Holmberg in disbelief.
“We were anxious to get back out here,” said the Alinghi helmsman from the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Murray and I talked last week about what happened in Sweden. We knew the mistakes we made and wanted to correct them.”
The past Swedish Match Tour champion (2002-’03) looked smooth today, leading most of the day. His only hiccup came in the fifth race against Law when he admittedly messed up the start.
“We had control and got lazy,” said Peter Holmberg. “We didn’t want to hook him so we slowed down. Then he jibed away and hooked me. We just got lazy. He did a great job.”
Lindberg, who was a disappointing 15th in Sweden, enjoyed a fine day. The tall Finn defeated Law, Pepper and Gilmour, the last one giving him the tiebreaker advantage.
“I like it when it’s shifty and tricky,” said Lindberg. “I got better at starting later in the day, and the guys took me around the course.”
Gilmour is sailing his first match-race regatta in years without regular crewmembers Rod Dawson, Mike Mottl and Kazuhiko Sofuku, who man the critical positions of mainsheet, headsails and foredeck. In their stead are Fred Guilman, Thierry Fouchier and Frederico Cerveira, respectively, who join long-time crewman Yasuhiro Yaji.
The two Frenchmen trimming the sails are veteran match-racers, but Cerveira is a local bowman who’s 19 years old. He’s competed with Portuguese crews at match-race events before, but never at the level he’s at now.
“He’s just a teenager,” said Gilmour, 45 years old. “His dad’s as old as I am. He’s enjoying himself. All the locals are coming by saying hi. He has to pinch himself out there.”
“I feel very good and happy,” said Cerveira, who joined Gilmour’s crew through event organizers. “Everything is calm onboard. It’s a very good team and they’re always trying to help me.”
Group B is scheduled to sail its round robin beginning tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m.
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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Holmberg Headlines Group A
RELATED CONTENT
Portugal Match Cup Summary
Portugal Match Cup 2005 Photo Gallery
Portugal Match Cup 2004 Photo Gallery
Portugal Match Cup 2005 Updates
Seventh Season Begins in Portugal (July 14, 2005)
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE SWEDISH MATCH TOUR
Sean McNeill
Director of Public Relations
Mobile: +1 401 662 1501
E-mail: smcneill@f10marketing.com
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE PTPORTUGAL MATCH CUP
Ana Lima
Director of Public Relations
Mobile: +351 91 777 60 18
E-mail: alc@alcomunicacao.pt
PTPORTUGAL MATCH CUP STANDINGS
Group A (after 5 of 5 scheduled flights)
1. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 4-1
Crew Rodney Ardern, Murray Jones, Lorenzo Mazza, Matthew Mitchell
2. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Team Finland, 3-2
Crew Nils Bjerkas, Niklas Carlzon, Carl-Johan Uckelstam, Daniel Wallberg
3.Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team, 3-2
Crew Frederico Cerveira, Thierry Fouchier, Fred Guilmin, Yasuhiro Yaji
4. Chris Law (GBR) The Outlaws, 3-2
Crew Andy Oliver, Shamn Pammenter, Diogo Pereira, Mark Sadler
5. Michael Dunstan (AUS), 2-3
Crew James Fox, Andrew Hutchinson, Ben Morrison-Jack, Nick Wilcox
6. Hamish Pepper (NZL) Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia Team, 0-5
Crew Marco Constant, Cameron Dunn, Pietro Mantovani, Jon Ziskind
Go to flight-by-flight results
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Newsletter - September 2008
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