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| BAIRD UP, BRITS TIED AT ALLIANZ CUP |
Ben Ainslie squeaks inside Ian Williams and the pin end of the finish line to win the second race and even their semifinal series, 1-1. (Allianz Cup/Bob Grieser photo)
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Ed Baird (left) gets close aboard Chris Dickson in a pre-start during their quarterfinal match, won by Baird. (Allianz Cup/Bob Grieser photo)
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Peter Holmberg is in position to roll Jesper Bank in the fifth and final race of their quarterfinal match, but couldn`t pull off the victory. Bank won, 3-2. (Allianz Cup/Paul Todd photo)
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SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 28, 2006) — America’s veteran match racer is up 2-0 and England’s wunderkinds are tied 1-1 in the Semifinal Round of the Allianz Cup Presented by Oracle, Stage 5 of the 2005-’06 World Match Racing Tour.
Ed Baird (St. Petersburg, Fla.) leads Denmark’s Jesper Bank 2-0 in one semifinal match. Baird staged a come from behind victory in their first race and then dominated the second race for the lead.
“We got an opportunity at the first windward mark,” Baird said of his first race. “He dialed us down hard on starboard. It was close whether we could cross behind him but were able to.”
Once around the windward mark, Baird’s crew snapped off a maneuver quicker than Bank’s.
“We had a much better jibe and that was the race,” said Baird.
In the other half of the semifinal bracket 29-year-old Ian Williams, the match racing world championship points leader, is tied with triple Olympic medalist Ben Ainslie, also 29.
Williams won the first race after unloading a penalty. Ainslie won the second when he nipped Williams at the finish of a 5-minute run that saw the lead change hands three times.
“We were sailing nicely and fast,” said Williams. “But we made a mistake and gave him a get out of jail card. We had two opportunities to jump on him, but didn’t take advantage.”
The semifinals were suspended late this evening with the setting sun. The wind shifted to the west for the semifinal races and blew around 10 knots. The conditions were much more suitable for racing than the light northerlies that the quarterfinals were sailed in and have dominated the regatta, but there were still pratfalls on the racecourse.
“The breeze was more solid at the end,” said Williams. “We were sailing up and down with the current but it brings new challenges, like time and distance in the pre-start.”
Baird noticed differences in the ebb current from the shoreside to the middle of the bay.
“It was a little softer on the shore, we were surprised by that,” said Baird. “The beats were short so you had to start to the right.”
The quarterfinals were held earlier in the day. Baird defeated Chris Dickson, skipper and CEO of BMW ORACLE Racing, 3-1. Bank needed five races to defeat Peter Holmberg, Baird’s teammate at Alinghi.
Williams beat old nemesis Peter Gilmour, 3-1, to knock a chip off his shoulder. Williams has beaten Gilmour plenty in round robin racing on the tour, but has lost to him in three knockout rounds.
“It felt good to get that one,” said Williams. “He seems to be our nemesis in final rounds. For the tour standings it’s a big deal.”
Ainslie defeated Paolo Cian in the last quarterfinal match, also by 3-1. Ainslie won the first two, dropped the third and then won the fourth. Cian aided Ainslie by getting a penalty and being over the start line early. Despite all that Cian led towards the finish line, but saddled with the penalty Ainslie was able to steam past for the win.
In racing for 5th through 8th places this evening, Cian defeated Dickson and then Gilmour to place 5th and Gilmour 6th. Dickson placed 7th when he passed Holmberg on the final run to the finish, relegating Holmberg to 8th.
Racing is scheduled to resume tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. and will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.Sail.tv. The Webcast is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m., weather permitting.
The event Web site can be found at www.AllianzCup.com and the World Tour Web site at www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com. For free video content about Allianz Cup, please log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/allianz to preview and request video. You can receive broadcast-standard video digitally or by tape from this site. Registration and video is free to the media.
For editorial free hi res images of racing please visit the Allianz Cup gallery at the World Match Racing Tour Web site, Allianz Cup Gallery.
The Allianz Cup is sponsored by Allianz. The Presenting Sponsor is Oracle and the Main Partners are Allianz U.S. entities Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty, and Allianz Life. Fellow Partners include BMW, NetApp, Pindar Graphics and AlphaGraphics.
Allianz Group is one of the largest and most renowned financial services providers in the world. Representing an international network of strong brands with first-class products, Allianz brings together the expertise of specialists in the fields of property and casualty insurance, life and health insurance, asset management and banking. Founded in 1890 in Berlin, Allianz is now present in more than 70 countries with over 177,000 employees. For more details on Allianz sponsorship please visit: http://sponsoring.allianz.com/en/home.html.
The World Match Racing Tour is the world’s leading professional sailing series. The events of the World Tour determine the ISAF Match Racing World Champion, who will be crowned in December 2007. A total of 15 events comprise the 2006-’07 World Tour schedule.
The World Tour is sanctioned by ISAF, sailing’s world governing body. The World Tour Partner and Official Car is BMW (Munich, Germany). World Tour sponsors include Sebago (Rockford, Mich.), the Official Footwear Supplier, Travel Places (West Sussex, England), the Official Travel Partner, and Wedgwood (Stoke-on-Trent, England), the Official Trophy Sponsor.
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Baird Up, Brits Tied at Allianz Cup
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FOR INFORMATOIN ABOUT THE WORLD TOUR
Sean McNeill
Director of Public Relations
Tel: +1 401 662 1501
E-mail: smcneill@f10marketing.com
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE ALLIANZ CUP
Ben Barker / Paul Turner
Team Allianz Sailing Press Office
Tel: +44 (0) 207 413 5984 / +1 415 281 7146
E-mail: ben.barker@hillandknowlton.com / paul.turner@hillandknowlton.com
FOR INFORMATION IN SAN FRANCISCO
Richard Matthews / Dean Church
Matthews Communications
Tel: +1 203 853 7095 / +1 415 336 3879
E-mail: Richard@mattmedia.com / dpchurch@pacbell.net
SEMIFINAL STANDINGS
(First to 3 points wins)
Match 1
Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 2
(Crew: Mike Drummond, Nils Frei, Piet Van Nieuwenhuyzen, Craig Satterthwaite)
Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 0
(Crew: Henrik Blaksjaer, Thomas Jacobsen, Mike Mottl, Jan Schoepe)
Match 2
Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar, 1
(Crew: Bill Hardesty, Gerry Mitchell, Chresten Plinius, Mark Williams)
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand, 1
(Crew: James Dagg, Terry Hutchinson, Jeremy Lomas, Tony Rae)
5th – 8th PLACES
5. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Viano Mercedes Benz – Shosholoza, 2-0
(Crew: Ian Ainslie, Nando Colaninno, Pierluigi Fornelli, Nello Pavoni)
6. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 1-1
(Crew: Bill Colombo, Keith Love, Sean Svendsen, Yasuhiro Yaji)
7. Chris Dickson (NZL) BMW ORACLE Racing, 1-1
(Crew: Zach Hurst, Jann Neegaard, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Paul Westlake)
8. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 0-2
(Crew: Rodney Ardern, Curtis Blewett, Peter Evans, Lorenzo Mazza)
QUARTERFINAL ROUND
Williams 3 – Gilmour 1
Ainslie 3 – Cian 1
Bank 3 – Holmberg 2
Baird 3 – Dickson 1
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Newsletter - September 2008
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