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| AINSLIE WINS ALLIANZ CUP OVER BAIRD |
The Emirates Team New Zealand crew (from left): Terry Hutchinson, Jeremy Lomas, James Dagg, skipper Ben Ainslie and Tony Rae. At right is Bjoern Widemann of Allianz. (Allianz Cup/Bob Grieser photo)
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Ben Ainslie comes off the start line of Final Flight 3 to leeward and ahead of Ed Baird at the Allianz Cup. (Allianz Cup/Bob Grieser photo)
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Skipper Ben Ainslie gets dragged in the water by Terry Hutchinson. (Allianz Cup/Paul Todd photo)
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SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 29, 2006) — The immensely talented British sailor Ben Ainslie became the fifth first-time winner on the World Match Racing Tour when he won the Allianz Cup Presented by Oracle.
The 29-year-old Ainslie, a helmsman for Emirates Team New Zealand, defeated Ed Baird of Alinghi, 3-1, to win his first World Tour event. Ainslie’s crew included James Dagg, Terry Hutchinson, Jeremy Lomas and Tony Rae. They finished with a 14-5 record and won $25,000 of the $100,000 purse.
“It was a tough day, really windy and shifty, plus the tide, our team did a good job dealing with all the conditions,” said Ainslie. “The first start we didn’t have a great one to be honest, the next three we nailed them. Terry did a great job nailing the shifts.”
AUDIO: Listen to a dockside interview with Ben Ainslie (2m:49s // 3.6 megs)
Baird sailed with Mike Drummond, Nils Frei, Craig Satterthwaite and Piet Van Nieuwenhuyzen. They finished with a 13-5 record and won $15,000.
“I didn’t do a good job on the line,” said Baird. “Compared to the rest of the week I wasn’t as strong off the starts at all. That was the difference. You let him start ahead of you and it’s really hard to pass, especially on this type of racecourse.”
In the Petite Final Jesper Bank defeated Ian Williams, 2-0, to place third. Williams finished fourth in the event, but it was good enough to keep him in the lead of the Match Racing World Championship standings. Williams leads Baird by 7 points.
“Our goal coming into the event was to be leading the tour going out, so we’re please with that,” said Williams. “That’ll be our goal at the Monsoon Cup, to come out that still leading the Toru and if we can put in another top four result that should be ok.”
After the first race of the Final it looked as if Baird was going to run away with the regatta. A fairly even start saw both boats come off the line on starboard tack with Baird to windward. The two rode starboard tack to the seawall at St. Francis Yacht Club before tacking. When they did, Baird opened a two-boatlength lead.
Ainslie made it close at the top of the leg and got positioned to leeward of Baird. He luffed Baird, but then the pair drifted into the two-boatlength zone at the windward mark and the umpires penalized Ainslie when he didn’t fall off soon enough to allow Baird buoy room.
Ainslie received a second penalty moments later when he tacked to port and fouled Baird on starboard tack. Baird regained control of the match as Ainslie did one of his penalty turns and went on for the 1-0 lead.
Then Baird’s troubles in the start box began. In the second race Ainslie shut Baird out at the committee boat end, taking a two-boatlength advantage onto the racecourse and sailing to a resounding win to even the score line, 1-1.
In Race 3 Ainslie started to leeward and ahead for another commanding win to go up 2-1.
AUDIO: Listen to a dockside interview with Ed Baird (2m:56s // 3.7 megs)
Ainslie took another commanding lead onto the racecourse in the fourth and clinching race. With about 50 seconds to go Baird got a leeward hook on Ainslie. Ainslie tacked away to port with about 20 seconds to go, but Baird was stuck. He’d lost way and when he called for port tack to chase Ainslie couldn’t get the boat going immediately. When the start gun sounded Baird was crossing two lengths behind Ainslie on port tack.
“We probably were slightly slower than I thought,” said Baird. “When I called for port tack there was a little hesitation. If we had gone right on to port tack we probably would’ve been a little stronger, but not strong enough to win the start.
“Those guys have been sailing well,” said Baird. “They do a lot of practice in these size boats. I fully expected them to be tough and they were. The thing that surprised me was me. I was disappointed that I didn’t have stronger starts.”
“The last three starts we shut him out in one, got him late and the last one we wanted the left and got that,” Ainslie said. “Ed and his team are bloody good. It was a real challenge to us. It was great to beat someone of that caliber.”
The World Match Racing Tour resumes next month with Stage 6, the Monsoon Cup in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, Nov. 29-Dec. 3.
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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Allianz Cup Gallery
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Cian Grabs Early Lead in Group B at Allianz Cup (Oct. 26, 2006)
Williams Wins Group at Allianz Cup (Oct. 25, 2006)
Larry Ellison Enters Allianz Cup (Oct. 18, 2006)
Oracle Named Presenting Sponsor of Allianz Cup (Oct. 2, 2006)
World Tour to Visit San Francisco Bay (Aug. 30, 2006)
as a Word document
Ainslie Wins Allianz Cup Over Baird
FOR INFORMATION 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
MATCH RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
(After Stage 5 of 15)
1. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar, 47 points
2. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 40 points
3. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Viano Mercedes Benz, 35 points
T. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 35 points
5. Chris Dickson (NZL) BMW ORACLE Racing, 31 points
6. Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team, 30 points
7. Sébastian Col (FRA) Areva Challenge, 29 points
8. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia, 27 points
ALLIANZ CUP PRESENTED BY ORACLE FINAL RESULTS
Prize Purse: $100,000
Skipper (Country) Team, Record, Prize Money
1. Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand, 14-5, $25,000
(Crew: James Dagg, Terry Hutchinson, Jeremy Lomas, Tony Rae)
2. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 13-5, $15,000
(Crew: Mike Drummond, Nils Frei, Piet Van Nieuwenhuyzen, Craig Satterthwaite)
3. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 10-7, $14,000
(Crew: Henrik Blaksjaer, Thomas Jacobsen, Mike Mottl, Jan Schoepe)
4. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar, $11,000
(Crew: Bill Hardesty, Gerry Mitchell, Chresten Plinius, Mark Williams)
5. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Viano Mercedes Benz – Shosholoza, 9-4, $9,500
(Crew: Ian Ainslie, Nando Colaninno, Pierluigi Fornelli, Nello Pavoni)
6. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 6-7, $9,000
(Crew: Bill Colombo, Keith Love, Sean Svendsen, Yasuhiro Yaji)
7. Chris Dickson (NZL) BMW ORACLE Racing, 6-7, $8,500
(Crew: Zach Hurst, Jann Neegaard, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Paul Westlake)
8. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 7-7, $8,000
(Crew: Rodney Ardern, Curtis Blewett, Peter Evans, Lorenzo Mazza)
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