WMRT Argo Group Gold Cup day 2 – Fast and furious

by Talbot Wilson on 6 Oct 2011 Argo Group Gold Cup is the seventh stage of the World Match Racing Tour and is being held from 5th to 9th October 2011 at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, on Hamilton Harbor.

While day one was a drifter, day two in the 2011 Argo Group Gold Cup was a mad, day-long dash. From 9:00 until after 6:00 in the evening, the race committee got off sixteen races for Group Two, sixteen races for Group Three and twelve for Group One for a total of forty-four on the day.

Sailors in this penultimate event on the Tour have now completed forty-eight races and have three more flights in each group scheduled for today to complete Stage One, the qualifying round-robin matches. The top two skippers in each group following Stage One automatically qualify for the Quarter Finals. The third and fourth ranked skippers in each group move into the Stage Two Repechage round-robin, also scheduled for today.

The top story Wednesday was the excellent performance for many of the WMRT Tour Card holders and the quality performance of Taylor Canfield. Of the non-Tour Card Holders, Candfield had the most impressive day in Group Two defeating number nine ranked Tour Card holder Johnie Berntsson (SWE), number three ranked Torvar Mirsky (AUS), and Peter Gilmour ranked number four. His only loss on the day was to Tour Cardholder number ten ranked Phil Robertson (NZL). Non-Tour Card holder Eric Monnin (SWI) was impressive in Group Three and ended the day at 3-1.

In Group One, Tour Card holders Francesco Bruni (ITA), Jesper Radich (DEN) and Staffan Lindberg (FIN) were all 4-0. In Group Three Tour Card holders Ian Williams (GBR), Mathieu Richard (FRA), and Damien Iehl were also all 4-0.

Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and Peter Gilmour (AUS) didn’t fare so well and both lost two matches to stand at 2-2, Johnie Berntsson (SWE) is one step ahead of them at 3-1.

Today, the Tour Card holders will begin to match up. Group One will see matches between Lindberg and Bruni, Radich and Hansen, Radich and Bruni, Lindberg and Hansen, Lindberg and Radich, and Hansen vs Bruni. Group Two features Robertson and Mirsky, Berntsson and Gilmour, Robertson and Berntsson, and Gilmour vs Mirsky. Group Three leaders who match up are Monnin and Williams, Richard and Iehl, Richard and Williams, Monnin and Iehl, Monnin and Richard, and Iehl vs Williams.

Canfield, who had some of his toughest matches on Wednesday, is looking good in Group Two. He meets Lance Fraser (BER), Sam Pearson (GBR), and Ruben Corbett (NZL) in the final three flights. Canfield is back in Bermuda for his second year in a row. In 2010 he went 5-1 in Stage 1 and lost to Eric Monnin in the Quarter Finals.

There will be plenty of action on Hamilton Harbor today. Winds are expected to be 12-15kts so sailing should be fast and furious. The first start is scheduled a half hour earlier, 8:30 ADT to get all the racing schedule finished. Exciting live coverage of Argo Group Gold Cup action is available daily online. The ‘WMRT Morning Show’ and ‘WMRT Today Show’ with Hannah White are also shown on WMRT website, providing a preview and wrap up of the racing each day from Hamilton Harbour.

Results after Qualifying Session Two on Wednesday

Group One:
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing 4-0
Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team 4-0
Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners 4-0
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekononmen Sailing Team 3-1
Blythe Walker (BER) Team RenRe 1-3
Jakub Pawluk (POL) Henri Lloyd Racing 0-4
Jordan Reece (AUS) True Blue Racing 0-4
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing 0-4

Group Two:
Johnie Berntsson Sailing Team 3-1
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing 3-1
Taylor Canfield (ISV) Team ISV 3-1
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat 2-2
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 2-2
Reuben Corbett NZL) AON Racing Team 1-3
Lance Fraser (BER) Freelance-Digicel 1-3
Sam Pearson (GBR) Team Wight Match 1-3

Group Three:
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar sponsored by Argo group 4-0
Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 4-0
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 4-0
Eric Monnin (SUI) Oklays Corum Sailing Team 3-1
Simone Ferrarese (ITA) Ferrarese Racing Team 1-3
Laurie Jury (NZL) ZOKE Kiwi Match 0-4
Terry McLaughlin (CAN) Team Commonwealth 0-4
Peter Miller (BER) 0-4

Argo Group Gold Cup website
WMRT website