Argo Group Gold Cup - Hurricane Gonzalo delays start

by Talbot Wilson on 16 Oct 2014 In a meeting today [Wednesday Oct. 15] Argo Group Gold Cup organizers at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) took a close look at Hurricane Gonzalo's predicted track and intensity and decided to delay the event schedule by one day to allow crews the opportunity to reschedule flights to arrive after the storm has passed and the airport is reopened. Practice will now be held on Tuesday Oct 21 and racing will be scheduled to start Wednesday morning Oct 22.

Bermuda, host island to the Argo Group Gold Cup— stage six of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour— had a brush with Hurricane Fay last Sunday, Oct. 12. Now less than a week later Bermuda expects for a relatively direct hit from dangerous Hurricane Gonzalo. The Cat.4 storm is now predicted to pass within 42 miles to the west of Bermuda on Friday. All of Bermuda is hoping for the best, bracing for the worst.

Because of the one-day delay to the start of racing, the remainder of the schedule will be compressed and organizers will take advantage of the fine weather predicted after the storm to get the full event in for the competitors and spectators. The winner of the King Edward VII Gold Cup Trophy takes home $50,000 of the $100,000 prize purse.

Argo Group Gold Cup Chairman Brian Billings said, 'We have three areas of concern. First, will the island open for business in time after the storm passes. Second, has the fleet of IOD's come through the storm well so we have boats to sail. And third will the airport reopen quickly so the teams can get here on time. We will know the answers by Friday night or Saturday morning.'

The Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup will remain on its original schedule Oct. 23-26. The juniors sail up to five races a day in the Great Sound for three days. The final day they race one last race on Hamilton Harbour doing the halftime break in the Argo Group Gold Cup finals.

The Family Festival of Sail, the initial event of Argo Group Gold Cup Week, was originally scheduled for Sunday Oct 19 in Barr's Bay Park adjacent to RBYC. The festival will be rescheduled to October 26 and be part of the finals celebration.

Thirteen countries are represented in the 2014 Argo Group Gold Cup. The matches will be sailed with the same 20-team format used in 2013. This Argo Group Gold Cup format is unique on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. It allows for two 10-team groups. Skippers in each group are ranked and divided by Alpari World Match Racing Tour officials and the organizers at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

Rankings in the groups are based on AWMRT and ISAF rankings and other performance factors. Each group will sail a 10-team round-robin. Each group's top four teams move directly to the Quarter Finals. Rankings are updated to Oct. 15.

Skipper	ISAF Rank	Nation	Racing Team
Canfield, Taylor	1	ISV	US One
Williams, Ian	2	GBR	GAC Pindar
Richard, Mathieu	3	FRA	Luna Jets
Hansen, Bjorn	4	SWE	Hansen Sailing Team
Robertson, Phil	5	NZL	WAKA Racing
Monnin, Eric	6	SUI	Swiss Match Race Team
Swinton, Keith	9	AUS	Team Alpari FX
Gilmour, David	10	AUS	Team Gilmour
Linberg, Staffan	11	FIN	Alandia Sailing Team
Morvan, Pierre-Antoine	12	FRA	Vannes Agglo Sailing Team
Berntsson, Johnie	16	SWE	Stena Sailing Team
Poole, Chris	19	USA	Riptide Racing
Herreman, Arthur	20	FRA	MATCH THE WORLD
Stanczyk, Marek	32	POL	www.470sailing.org.pl
Bruni, Francesco	37	ITA	Luna Rossa
Korpershoek, Dirk-Jan	42	NED	Opportunity Team
Storrs, David	43	USA	Pequot Racing Team
Fraser, Lance	64	BER	Digicel Bermuda
Nathan Outteridge		SWE	Artemis Racing
Kempe, Somers		BER	Raymarine/Ocean Electronics

 
2014 Alpari World Match Racing Tour Standings after Stage 5
1 Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar  94pts
2 Taylor Canfield (ISV) US One 88pts 
3 Mathieu Richard (FRA) LunaJets 76pts
4 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Sailing 63pts
5 Keith Swinton (AUS) Team Alpari FX 58pts
6 Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing 56pts
7 David Gilmour (AUS) Team Gilmour 39pts
8 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa 20pts
 

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