King Edward VII Gold Cup groupings announced

by Talbot Wilson on 4 Oct 2008 The three groupings for Stage 1 of the 2008 King Edward VII Gold Cup presented by Argo Group were announced Friday.

Mathieu Richard (FRA) standing first in the ISAF Match Racing rankings and third in the World Match Racing Tour tops Group 1. Ian Williams (GBR), second on the ISAF list and first on the Tour, heads up Group 2. Last week’s winner of the Troia Portugal Match Cup, Sebastian Col (FRA), ranked seventh by ISAF but holding second on the Tour, tops Group 3. Group details are available at http://www.bermudagoldcup.com/ under Skippers.

Racing on Bermuda’s Hamilton Harbour starts on Tuesday October 7. The first stage will see round robin competition within the three groups. Round robin Flights 1-3 will sail Tuesday, round robin Flights 4-6 are scheduled for Wednesday and the final flight is Thursday morning.

The two top teams from each group move on to the Quarter finals and the other teams sail off in a 'repecharge' round robin on Thursday afternoon for their second chance to win one of the last two Quarter final slots. Following the Quarter finals on Friday, winners move into the semi finals on Saturday and the top two go to the finals on Sunday. There is a $100,000 prize purse with $50,000 going to the winner, $20,000 for second and $10,000 for third. Fourth through eighth divide the remainder.

Winners in the Gold Cup will earn valuable points toward the World Match Racing Tour Championship. Sebastian Col (FRA) and his French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge have closed to within only 4 points of current leader and reigning World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) and his Team Pindar. The series counts the highest-scoring five events plus scores from the Monsoon Cup towards this year’s World Championship crown. The World Tour will award the ISAF Match Racing World Championship Trophy supplied by Wedgwood to the winner at the 2008 Monsoon Cup in Malaysia.

Also scheduled during the week are the Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup for international Optimist Dinghy sailors, a Pro-Am Regatta for skippers and sponsors and the first annual Festival of Sail in Barr’s Park adjacent to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. It will be a busy week for all of the club volunteers who make this fantastic event possible.

October seventh will mark the sixtieth time the King Edward VII Gold Cup trophy has been contested. For 2008, Argo Group, the Bermuda based international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market, will sponsor the competition. In addition to Argo Group, the new title sponsor, the Bermuda Department of Tourism continues as the Host Sponsor, the Max Capital Group, Renaissance Reinsurance and Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC are aboard as associate presenting sponsors. Renaissance Reinsurance is also the sponsor of the Junior Gold Cup.

Entry List
Seb Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/K Challenge
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team/Team French Spirit
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Alandia Sailing Team
Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing
Damien Iehl (FRA French Match Racing Team
Mattias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin
Pierre Antoine Morvan (FRA)
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team
Eric Monnin (SUI) Search.ch
Keith Swinton (AUS)
Christopher Van Tol (USA)
Rasmus Viltoft (DEN)
Takumi Nakamura (JPN)
David Perry (USA)
Andrew Horton (USA)
Brian Angel (USA)
Jon Singsen (USA)
Blythe Walker (BER)
Donald Wilson (USA)
Erik Koppernaes (CAN)
Sally Barkow (USA)