Gilmour leads Locman Cup – Elba Island Day 1

by Sean McNeill on 13 Jul 2006 The eighth and final stage of the 2005-’06 World Match Racing Tour season, the Locman Cup – Elba Island, opened today with aggression on the racecourse and ideal sailing conditions.

Peter Gilmour (AUS), skipper of PST, won all of his opening matches and leads the standings with 4 points on a 4-0 record. Ian Williams (GBR), Williams Sail Racing, Cameron Dunn (NZL), Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia Team, are each are 1 point behind with 3-1 records, but Williams holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against Dunn.

Ian Ainslie (RSA), Team Shosholoza, also has 3 points, but on a 3-2 record.

The day opened with light winds from the southeast, but as Elba Island heated the wind swung around to the southwest and blew around 12 knots with gusts topping 15 knots. The professional sailors gave the Solaris 36 ODs a vigorous workout, with a few collisions resulting.

Williams beat Dunn in their Flight 1 match when the wind died and shifted to the southwest. Dunn got left so far behind that he was ruled DNF for not finishing within 5 minutes of Williams. It would be Dunn’s only loss of the day.

When the wind built later in the day one collision between Williams and Staffan Lindberg (FIN), Alandia Sailing Team, resulted in the Finnish skipper receiving a .5-point penalty after winning the match.

Lindberg led around the windward mark in the match but was caught downwind by Williams. Both crews were on starboard approaching the leeward mark with Williams to windward.

Williams bore off sharply across Lindberg’s bow, apparently believing he had buoy room. Lindberg then took a bite out of Williams’ port quarter when he rammed into Williams, about 2 meters forward of the stern.

In a post-race hearing the jury docked Lindberg a half point for failing to avoid a collision. The jury decided that he could’ve bore off to avoid contact. The jury also decided the costs for repairs should be split 50/50 between Lindberg and Williams.

The 100,000€ (approximately $125,000) event runs through Sunday. The winner will be awarded the Locman Cup and the top team will be awarded the Elba Cup.

For more information on the World Match Racing Tour, its competitors and events, please visit the official World Tour Web site, www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com.