HAMILTON, BERMUDA-(20-10-2004) The first day of the Championship Round at the King
Edward VII Gold Cup, the third stage of the Swedish Match Tour 2004-'05, is
one of the hardest days of match-racing at any regatta in the world.
Eight seeded skippers, who begin racing with minimal practice, are paired
against eight qualifiers, who have had up to three days of practice in the
tricky International One-Design sloops. The lack of practice for the seeds,
among the best sailors in the world, sets the stage for upsets, and today
was no exception.
Klaartje Zuiderbaan of the Netherlands, winner of the Cicada International
Women's Match Racing Championship last weekend, pulled off an inconceivable
upset with a 3-1 defeat American Dennis Conner, the No. 8 seed and the
four-time America's Cup winner.
Anthony Kotoun of the U.S. Virgin Islands, who advanced to the championship
round with a 5-2 record, narrowly pulled off an equally stunning upset
against reigning Swedish Match Tour champion and event defending champion
Peter Gilmour of Australia. Kotoun stretched to a 2-0 lead before succumbing
to Gilmour, the No. 3 seed, 3-2.
Another qualifier, Scott Dickson of Long Beach, Calif., defeated Björn
Hansen of Sweden. Dickson lost the first match, but then rallied for three
straight to knock out No. 6 seed Hansen.
Today's tricky wind conditions were the key factor in giving the qualifiers
a chance for victory, if not the upset. The breeze blew generally from the
southwest, but oscillated through a huge arc. When asked if it was a
50-degree range, Charlie McKee, tactician for James Spithill, said, `At
least!` The wind was also light, in the 4- to 7-knot range.
Zuiderbaan said that her victory over Conner was easily the biggest win of
the 32-year-old's career. `We were tenser today than over the weekend, but
we knew what we had to do. We were still nervous. I think we won most of the
starts.`
The one race Zuiderbaan didn't win was the second, when they were penalized
for a port-starboard incident in the pre-start. But Conner still gave props
to the women's team.
`The conditions were difficult today, but all in all we got beat fair and
square,` said the 62-year-old San Diegan, who is the world No. 1-ranked
skipper in the Etchells class.
Kotoun, who leaned on fellow St. Thomas resident Peter Holmberg for some
advice about racing on Hamilton Harbor, sailed loose and free to take a 2-0
lead against Gilmour.
`We won every start with an advantage, but he was sailing so well and so
loose,` said Gilmour. `He passed us on the right side in the first race and
on the left side in the second race. It got to the point where I said to the
guys, 'Let's win just one race.'`
Kotoun, though, lost his composure a bit in the Race 4 pre-start. Leading
2-1, Kotoun tried turning up his aggression in the 4-minute sequence, but it
backfired. Kotoun was penalized for altering course as the right-of-way boat
in a port-starboard situation. Moments later, the umpires missed a call that
likely would've gone against Gilmour when his bow hit Kotoun's transom.
`We were in a knife fight with the best guy in the world,` said Kotoun, who
turned 29 years old on Oct. 17. `But we came out bruised and cut.`
`I think he lost his composure in that pre-start,` said Gilmour. `He doesn't
have the experience to get back the poise to sail loose, and that was the
difference.`
Dickson, who won his qualifying group with a 6-1 record, also noted the
light and shifty conditions as being problematic. `It was incredibly tough
for all the teams, it put a premium on the starts,` Dickson said.
Up 2-1 and in the fourth pre-start, Hansen got the better of the start. He
led back at the committee boat end, with Dickson about 7 seconds behind.
Dickson worked the right side of the beat to close up to Hansen's transom at
the windward mark, and then found his passing lane.
`He jibed to starboard and basically into a hole,` said Dickson's tactician
Dave Ridley. `When he jibed we gained one and a half boatlengths
immediately. We knew we were in a better puff.`
While the other five matches sailed today were each decided by a 3-0 score,
they were hardly one-sided. There were 10 individual recalls, numerous lead
swaps and at least eight come-from-behind wins.
Skippers advancing with 3-0 records include No. 1 seed Ed Baird of the U.S.
over Chris Larson of the U.S., No. 2 seed Mathieu Richard of France over
Cameron Dunn of New Zealand, No. 4 seed Spithill of Australia over Cameron
Appleton of New Zealand, No. 5 seed Staffan Lindberg of Finland over college
student Brian Angel of the U.S., and No. 7 seed Russell Coutts of New
Zealand over Jenny Axhede of Sweden, runner-up in the women's regatta.
Racing in the Championship Round resumes on Friday with quarterfinal action.
Baird races Zuiderbaan, Lindberg faces Spithill, Gilmour squaring off
against Dickson and Coutts sailing Richard.
For complete results and a crew list, please visit the official Swedish
Match Tour Web site, www.SwedishMatchTour.com.
Round 1 Results (Wednesday, Oct. 20)
No. 1 Ed Baird (USA) Team XL Capital d. Chris Larson (USA) Team Annapolis
YC, 3-0 Klaartje Zuiderbaan (NED) d. No. 8 Dennis Conner (USA) Team Dennis
Conner, 3-1 No. 5 Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Team Henri Lloyd d. Brian Angel
(USA) King Harbor Match Race Team, 3-0 No. 4 James Spithill (AUS) Luna Rossa
Challenge d. Cameron Appleton (NZL) Triangle Rigging, 3-0 No. 3 Peter
Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team d. Anthony Kotoun (USA), 3-2 Scott
Dickson (NZL) Dickson Racing Team d. No. 6 Björn Hansen (SWE), 3-1 No. 7
Russell Coutts (NZL) Team Colorcraft d. Jenny Axhede (SWE) Team Panorama,
3-0 No. 2 Mathieu Richard (FRA) d. Cameron Dunn (NZL), 3-0
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