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PAST
WINNERS
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2002 - PHILIPPE
PRESTI
2001 - (FRA)
2001 - DEAN BARKER
2001 - (NZL)
2000 - DEAN BARKER
2001 - (NZL)
1999 - STEN MOHR
2001 - (DEN)
1998 - ANDY BEADSWORTH
2001 -
(GBR)
1997 - PETER GILMOUR
2001 - (AUS)
1996 - RUSSEL COUTTS
2001 - (NZL)
1995 - PETER GILMOUR
2001 - (AUS)
1994 - PETER GILMOUR
2001 - (AUS)
1993 - PETER GILMOUR
2001 - (AUS)
1992 - CHRIS DICKSON
2001 - (NZL)
1991 - RUSSEL COUTTS
2001 - (NZL)
1990 - PAUL CAYARD
2001 - (USA)
1989 - PAUL CAYARD
2001 - (USA)
1988 - CHRIS DICKSON
2001 - (NZL)
1987 - HAROLD CUDMORE
2001 -
(GBR)
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Another lively day of racing on day two
of the Swedish Match Tour’s ACI HTmobile Cup,
saw injuries mount, another squall upset the
racing schedule and, finally, leaders begin
to emerge from the chaos that has marked the
regatta’s opening round.
Just as the wind picked up from 10 to 20 knots
prior to the first starts of the day, Jesper
Radich’s trimmer Chresten Plinius received a
blow to the skull by the boom of his Jeanneau
One Design 35. Plinius was rushed to hospital
where he received four stitches but was back
on board in time to compete in the second flight.
Another injury was sustained by Jes Gram Hansen’s
crewman Peter Blakskjaer on the practice day
on Monday. Blakskjaer, who does bow for the
Swedish Match Tour leader, slipped on the coach
roof of his boat and landed directly on his
finger, breaking it. For the ACI HTmobile Cup
he has been replaced by local Croatian Edi Pilav.
Today racing was as difficult for the competitors
as it was for the race committee, although it
allowed all but one of the flights in the first
round robin to be sailed. The wind shifted constantly
throughout the day.
The biggest incidents came as a squall, known
locally as a ‘Dirty Bora’ (because its wind
direction varies) passed over the fleet during
the first flight. At one point Kustic says it
was blowing 35 knots at sea level, and probably
40 knots at the masthead.
As the gust hit a number of boats were laid
flat and were pinned for around 30 seconds,
their crew helpless. To add to the frustration
of the race committee the weather mark dragged
anchor in the gust.
Worst affected by the conditions was Gram Hansen
whose boat broached while he was locked in a
downwind luffing match with Sweden’s Magnus
Holmberg. This was the start of a bad day for
the Swedish Match Tour leader, losing four races
and winning just one.
Making the best of the conditions was Australian
America’s Cup helmsman James Spithill with his
crew, all of whom sailed with him on the OneWorld
race boat in the America’s Cup. He has dropped
just two of the eight races he has sailed in
this first flight. Twice today he won after
coming from behind.
To add to the complications caused by the ‘Dirty
Bora’ was the northwesterly flowing current
that in the light winds that prevailed this
afternoon caused several boats to collide with
marks and pick up penalties as a result. This
fooled even old hands like Holmberg, narrowly
the regatta leader after today’s racing.
Tomorrow the wind conditions look like they
will be equally awkward with a northwest breeze
established offshore and a northeasterly onshore.
Leaderboard (Skipper/Wins/Losses)
1. Magnus Holmberg, (SWE/Victory Challenge),
7/2
2. Karol Jablonski, (POL/Polska 1 2007), 6/2
2. James Spithill
(AUS/OneWorld) , 6/2
4. Jesper Radich (DEN/), 5/2
5. Jes Gram Hansen (DEN), 4/4
5. Paolo Cian (ITA/Mascalzone
Latino) , 4/4
5. Chris Law (GBR),
4/4
8. Mattias Rahm (SWE), 3/4
9. Allan Coutts (NZL/Alinghi), 3/5
10. Johnie Berntsson (SWE), 2/6
11. Frane Brate (CRO), 0/9
Round Robin One - Results
Flight 4 : Berntsson def. Cian - Jablonski def.
Spithill - Holmberg def. Gram-Hansen - Coutts
def. Brate - Rahm def. Radich
Flight 5 : Law def. Berntsson - Cian def. Jablonski
- Holmberg def. Brate - Rahm def. Coutts - Radich
def. Gram-Hansen
Flight 6 : Spithill def. Gram-Hansen - Rahm
def. Law - Cian def. Coutts - Berntsson def.
Brate - Jablonski def. Holmberg
Flight 7 : Spithill def. Radich - Gram-Hansen
def. Law - Cian def. Brate - Jablonski def.
Coutts - Holmberg def. Berntsson
Flight 8 : Radich def. Law - Spithill def. Rahm
- Jablonski def. Brate - Holmberg def. Cian
- Coutts def. Berntsson
Flight 9 : Holmberg def. Spithill - Law def.
Brate - Jablonski def. Gram Hansen - Radich
def. Berntsson - Cian def. Rahm |
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Brilliant Mediterranean sunshine greeted
the 11 skippers taking part in the first day
of the Swedish Match Tour’s ACI HTmobile Cup
in Split on Croatia's Dalmatian coast.
After the first day of racing, Swedish Match
Tour leader Jes Gram-Hansen of Team Victory
Lane and Australia’s James Spithill, former
helmsman for the OneWorld Challenge, top the
leaderboard with unblemished records of 3-0.
As competitors and race committee waited for
the sea breeze to fill in the first flight got
underway in 12-knot winds from the southwest.
The liveliest matches of the day came from Chris
Law's team, “The Outlaws.” In their first match
they were dispatched by young Australian America's
Cup helm, James Spithill, after a neck and neck
match. During this, Law's team caught a penalty
due to an overlap infringement.
They were luckier in the second flight when
they picked up a small gust to roll past Italy's
Paolo Cian of the Riviera di Rimini Sailing
Team on the first run.
A surprise result in the second flight, held
in much the same conditions as the first, came
when Allan Coutts dispatched former Swedish
Match Tour winner and victor at the last Swedish
Match Tour event in Elba, Magnus Holmberg. Coutts,
who has a famous uncle in Alinghi skipper and
triple America's Cup winner, Russell Coutts,
is representing Alinghi and four of his five
crew were part of the winning America's Cup
team. The fifth, Bruce Curson, campaigned a
49er with Coutts during the Sydney Olympics.
The third and final flight today saw a massive
windshift as an ugly black squall passed over
the fleet doubling the wind strength in a matter
of seconds. In his match against Swedish Match
Tour leader Jes Gram Hansen of Team Victory
Lane, Coutts said that they had been behind
off the line and when the shift came through
it became a case of "following my leader".
The two teams showing form at the end of the
first day of the ACI HTmobile Cup are James
Spithill and Jes Gram-Hansen, neither of whom
have dropped a match. Gram-Hansen is looking
particularly confident. In the second flight
against Sweden's Mattias Rahm he was almost
a leg ahead at the finish after he had driven
Rahm into a windless zone beneath the cliffs
here off Split.
At 17:26 local time the race committee decided
to finish racing for the day.
The weather for tomorrow looks set to be light,
once again relying on the sea breeze to provide
enough wind for racing.
Leaderboard (Skipper/Wins/Losses)
James Spithill (AUS, OneWorld), 3-0
Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN), 3-0
Jesper Radich (DEN), 2-1
Chris Law (GBR), 2-1
Magnus Holmberg (SWE, Victory Challenge), 2-1
Karol Jablonski (POL, Polska 1 2007), 1-2
Allan Coutts (NZL, Alinghi), 1-2
Mattias Rahm (SWE), 1-2
Paolo Cian (ITA, Mascalzone Latino), 0-2
Johnie Berntsson (SWE), 0-2
Frane Brate (CRO), 0-3
Round Robin One - Results
Flight 1 : Karol Jablonski def. Johnie Berntsson
- James Spithill def. Chris Law - Jesper Radich
def. Allan Coutts - Magnus Holmberg def. Mattias
Rahm - Jes Gram-Hansen def. Frane Brate
Flight 2 : James Spithill def Johnie Berntsson
- Chris Law def Paolo Cian - Allan Coutts def
Magnus Holmberg - Jes Gram-Hansen def Mattias
Rahm - Jesper Radich def Frane Brate
Flight 3 : James Spithill def Paolo Cian - Chris
Law def Karol Jablonski - Jes Gram-Hansen def
Allan Coutts - Magnus Holmberg def Jesper Radich
- Mattias Rahm def Frane Brate |
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Coutts
prepares for ACI Cup
(05/25/03)
(source
:
NZoom)
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Allan Coutts, the nephew of Alinghi skipper
(as also a member of the victorious America's
Cup syndicate as a grinder on the back-up boat),
is the sole New Zealand skipper invited to compete
in the ACI HT mobile Cup in Split, Croatia starting
on Wednesday, the eighth regatta on the Swedish
Match Tour.
The 28-year-old is up against a number of fellow
America's Cup sailors, including Victory Challenge's
Magnus Holmberg, former OneWorld helmsman James
Spithill of Australia and Mascalzone Latino's
Paolo Cian.
The regatta is sailed in Jeanneau One Design
35 boats with a crew of five and a total prize
pool is $68,500.
Leading the Swedish Match Tour at the moment
is Jes Gram-Hansen, with James Spithill in second,
Jesper Radich in third and Ed Baird in fourth.
Chris Law, Paolo Cian, Magnus Holmberg and Ken
Read complete the leaderboard.
The regatta involves two round robins, quarterfinals,
semifinals and a final to be held on Sunday.
Entry list :
Karol Jablonski (POL, Polska 1 2007)
Jepser Radich (DEN)
Jes Gram Hansen (DEN)
Paolo Cian (ITA, Mascalzone Latino)
Johnie Berntsson (SWE)
Mattias Rahm (SWE)
Magnus Holmberg (SWE, Victory Challenge)
James Spithill (AUS, OneWorld)
Chris Law (GBR)
Allan Coutts (NZL, Alinghi)
Frano Brate (CRO) |
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