In a superband exciting final, swedish Magnus Holmberg, former skipper and helmsman of the Victory Challenge, defeated australian James Spithill, former helmsman for the OneWorld Challenge, to remport the Trofeo Locman for a straight 3-2 final score.

The last race, on 2-2 score, will be probably recorded as one of the most spectacular match race of the last months. Holmberg and Spithill overlap and pass each other several times, and on the arrival line the swedish won by only 3 seconds, the smallest delta of the final at the Elba Cup Trofeo Locman 2003.

Yesterday, Magnus Holmberg defeated local skipper Paolo Cian of the Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team 2-0, to advance directly into the finals.

Meanwhile, James Spithill won a tight contest over American Ed Baird, 2-1, to move on to face Cian in the Semifinals Repechage.

In the repechage round Spithill dispatched of Cian 2-0, to earn the opportunity for his second win on Swedish Match Tour 2002/2003, having previously won the Trombini Match Race last July in Ravenna, Italy.

The runner-up result allowed Spithill to move into second place overall on the Swedish Match Tour 2002/2003 Rankings, 14 points behind Swedish Match Tour leader Jes Gram-Hansen of Team Victory Lane, who finished sixth here this week, and currently has 80 points.

The next event on the Swedish Match Tour is the ACI Ht mobile Cup in Split, Croatia, May 27 – June 2.

Finals

James Spithill def. Magnus Holmlberg - Holmberg def. Spithill - Spithill def. Holmberg - Holmberg def. Spithill - Spithill def. Holmberg

Semifinals

Semifinal Upper Division : Magnus Holmberg def. Paolo Cian - Holmberg def. Cian

Semifinal Lower Division : Ed Baird def. James Spithill - Spithill def. Baird ot

Semifinals Repechage : Spithill def. Cian - Spithill def. Cian

Defending event champion, American Ed Baird of Team Musto, and Australia’s James Spithill, former helmsman for the OneWorld Challenge, advanced through the Quarterfinals Repechage round today to round out the semifinals of the Swedish Match Tour’s Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman.

Baird and Spithill join former Swedish Match Tour champion Magnus Holmberg of Sweden and local skipper Paolo Cian of the Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team, former helmsman for the Mascalzone Latino America’s Cup challenge, who had previously qualified for the semifinals of the sixth event on Swedish Match Tour 2002/2003.

After defeating Great Britain’s Chris Law of "The Outlaws" 2-1, in a spirited series in the Quarterfinals Lower Division, Baird swept past current Swedish Match Tour leader Jes Gram-Hansen of Team Victory Lane, 2-0, in the Quartfinals Repechage round to stay alive and earn the chance to defend his title.

Spithill, like Baird, had an exciting battle with France’s Luc Pillot, former helmsman for the Le Defi Areva Challenge, before advancing, 2-1. Then, he defeated Poland’s Karol Jablonski 2-1, in the Quarterfinals Repechage to advance to the semifinals, after encountering some additional mechanical challenges.

Tomorrow is a scheduled lay day, with a all the teams participating in golf tournament at Auquabona Golf Club near Porto Azzuro.

Quarterfinal Lower Division

Match 1 : Chris Law def. Ed Baird - Baird def. Law - Baird def. Law

Match 2 : Luc Pillot def. James Spithill - Spithill def. Pillot - Spithill def. Pillot

Quarterfinals Repechage

Match 1 : Baird def. Jes Gram-Hansen - Baird def. Gram-Hansen

Match 2 : Spithill def. Karol Jablonski - Jablonski def. Spithill - Spithill def. Jablonski

Paolo Cian and Magnus Holmberg advanced to the semifinals at the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman as Sebastien Destremeau, Andy Beadsworth and Jesper Radich are eliminated.

Former Swedish Match Tour champion Magnus Holmberg is displaying his old form, leading the way into the semifinals after defeated Karol Jablonski 2-0 in the quarter finals match.

Joining Holmberg as an early qualifier for the semifinals is former Mascalzone Latino helmsman Paolo Cian. While training with Onorato's Team, Cian spent 18 months sailing on the waters around Elba and that experience has paid dividends as he upended Swedish Match Tour leader Jes Gram-Hansen, who had been undefeated entering the quarterfinals, 2-1.

In the day’s other action, James Spithill of Australia, former helmsman of the OneWorld Challenge, defeated American Ed Baird of Team Musto 1-0, in the third place knock-out round forcing Baird into Quarterfinals Qualifying.

In the Quarterfinals Qualifying, Baird turned around his fortunes, dispatching Great Britain’s Andy Beadsworth of Team Henri Lloyd 2-1, to stay alive. Likewise, Luc Pillot was pushed to three matches by Denmark’s Jesper Radich before prevailing in a third and final match, while Chris Law of "The Outlaws" swept past Sebastien Destremau of Le Défi Areva.

As a result, Radich, currently second on the Swedish Match Tour 2002/2003 Leaderboard, has been eliminated from the regatta without gaining any Swedish Match Tour Rankings points. Sebastien Destremeau are Andy Beadsworth elimated too.

Repechage quarterfinal action resumes tomorrow as well as the beginning of semifinal competition.

Third Place Knock-out Match

James Spithill def. Ed Baird (Ed Baird is forced into quaterfinals qualifying)

Quarterfinals Qualifiers

Match 1 : Andy Beadsworth def. Baird - Baird def. Beadsworth - Baird def. Beadsworth (Andy Beadsworth is eliminated)

Match 2 : Luc Pillot def. Jesper Radich - Radich def. Pillot - Pillot def. Radich (Radich is eliminated)

Match 3 : Chris Law def. Sébastien Destremau - Law def. Destremau (Sébastien Destremau is eliminated)

Quarterfinal Upper Division

Match 1 : Paolo Cian def. Jes Gram-Hansen - Gram-Hansen def. Cian - Cian def. Gram-Hansen (Jes Gram-Hansen is forced into quaterfinals repechage against Baird or Law)

Match 2 : Magnus Holmberg def. Karol Jablonski - Holmberg def. Jablonski (Jes Karol Jablonski is forced into quaterfinals repechage against Pillot or Spithill)