Gilmour and Spithill into Toscana semi’s

by Sean McNeill on 7 May 2005 The Semi-final Round of the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman, Stage 5 of the 2004-’05 Swedish Match Tour, features three of the most victorious skippers in the history of the Tour and another who in time could easily join their ranks.

One semi-final match pits three-time America’s Cup winning skipper Russell Coutts (NZL) and his Coutts Racing team against James Spithill (AUS), of Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge for the America’s Cup.

The other match-up has Magnus Holmberg (SWE), skipper of Sweden’s Victory Challenge for the Cup, squaring off against Peter Gilmour (AUS), skipper of the Pizza-La Sailing Team and the reigning Swedish Match Tour champion.

Holmberg is the Tour’s all-time winning skipper with six career victories. Coutts and Gilmour each have five career victories. Spithill has one Tour victory and three second-place finishes in his career, but has put in far less time than the three veterans. He’s only 25 years old while the others are somewhere north of 40 years old.

The semi-final pairings are as impressive as the event has been. The Toscana Elba Cup featured 14 teams, 12 of them representing syndicates entered in the 32nd America’s Cup. Boat handling and tactical experience has proved invaluable in the blustery conditions. Each of tomorrow’s matches is a first to three points series.

The four advanced to the semis after victories in the Quarter final Round. In a match up of former and current Team Alinghi helmsmen, Coutts defeated Ed Baird (USA) 2-1, which was the same final score for the match between Holmberg and upstart Iain Percy (GBR), of Italy’s +39 Challenge for the America’s Cup.

Gilmour and Spithill both won their series 2-0. Gilmour defeated Ian Ainslie (RSA), of Team Shosholoza, while Spithill beat Gavin Brady (NZL) of BMW Oracle Racing.

The northwesterly Mistral blew for the second straight day with similar force, between 15 and 18 knots with gusts up to 20 knots. With racing held in the Bay of Porto Azzurro, the waters remained flat but the conditions were streaky with big shifts in the direction.

The Coutts-Baird match was first up and carried as much intrigue as you could want. Not only is Baird a member of Coutts’ former Cup team, but the two have won three of the first four events of the 2004-’05 Tour. Heightening the suspense, Coutts won the first match and Baird the second to set up a sudden death final match.

In that match, Coutts got a late hook on Baird with about 30 seconds to the start. In doing so, he forced Baird to tack to port. Coutts followed, and drove the pair away from the starting line before tacking and leading back to the line.

When the starting gun sounded, Coutts was still about three boat lengths from the start line, but it didn’t matter. In match-racing the goal is to crush your opponent, and Coutts seemed on his way to that goal.

Coutts led around the first lap of the twice around racecourse, and began the second lap with a lead roughly equal to the one he had at the start. But Baird sailed a blazing second beat and overtook Coutts halfway up the leg. Baird led around the windward mark the second time, but Coutts was right on his transom.

Baird’s crew had a clean set while Coutts’ was slightly slower. Baird still led halfway down the run when Coutts jibed back to port. He found a big puff that allowed him to sail low and fast down the course, and he simply sailed around Baird to win by no more than a boat length.

‘Ninety percent of the runs have favored starboard gybe,’ Baird said. ‘We thought we’d consolidate on that jibe. But he got a puff that allowed him to sail low and fast.’

The Holmberg-Percy match also came down to a sudden death finale, but it was over much sooner than the Coutts-Baird match. Holmberg started to windward close aboard of Percy, and kept him covered up the first beat.

Percy never really had a chance as Holmberg led by about three boat lengths at the first windward mark and extended to the finish.

‘We got the start a bit wrong in that one,’ said Percy, who made his debut on the Swedish Match Tour this week. ‘A day like today was one where the rich get richer.’

While the other two matches were 2-0, they were hardly walkovers. Gilmour got the best of Ainslie despite the South African, also sailing in his first Swedish Match Tour event, putting forth a huge effort. Gilmour won the first match at the finish line, when Ainslie couldn’t cancel out a penalty he was carrying.

Spithill won the first match against Brady, but trailed in the second match at the second windward mark. Brady had inside position at the mark rounding but was penalized when he tacked to port from starboard his transom hit Spithill’s.

Spithill rounded the mark right behind Brady who tried to luff the Aussie to unload the penalty, but Spithill avoided the incident and sailed over the top and onto victory.

Earlier this morning Coutts and Ainslie won their final repechage round matches against Hamish Pepper (NZL), of Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, and Francesco de Angelis (ITA), of Luna Rossa Challenge, respectively, to advance to the quarter finals.

In racing this afternoon for fifth through eighth, Baird beat Percy for fifth, and Brady beat Ainslie for seventh.

Percy, the 2000 gold medalist in the Finn class and now the helmsman for the +39 Challenge, finished sixth for the week, a very respectable finish for someone making his match-racing debut.

‘This was definitely a confidence boost for us,’ said Percy. ‘We learned too many things to mention. We came here to watch the top guys, but came away with a finish beyond our expectations and experience.’

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.

For more flight-by-flight results, information on the Toscana Elba Cup and Swedish Match Tour, and a link to the Tour’s broadband TV channel, please visit the official Tour website:
www.SwedishMatchTour.com.