American Ed Baird, skipper of Team Musto, regained the overall lead in the Swedish Match Tour championship when he won the Pizza-La Red Lobster Nippon Cup.

Baird notched his third career victory on the Swedish Match Tour when he and crew Andy Horton, Piet Van Nieuwenhuyzen and Jon Ziskind won the final of the Nippon Cup, 3-0, over Jes Gram-Hansen.

Gram-Hansen and his Danish crew Morten Helkier, Christian Kamp and Rasmus Kostner held leads in all three races of the final, but light and shifty winds thwarted their bid for victory.

Baird’s third career victory happens to be his third of this year. Previously, he won the Swedish Match Tour stages in Long Beach, Calif., and Cascais, Portugal.

Baird leads the Tour championship with the high score of 65 points after four events. He’s 20 points ahead of Russell Coutts (NZL) and Gram-Hansen (DEN), who each have 45 points.

Australian Peter Gilmour, the Tour’s reigning champion, is fourth with 42 points as the Tour reaches the halfway point of its sixth season.

In the Petit Final, Dean Barker of Team New Zealand overcame a red flag penalty in the third and deciding race to beat Gilmour and the Pizza-La crew, 2-1.


Final Results

Ed Baird def. Jes Gram-Hansen
Ed Baird def. Jes Gram-Hansen
Ed Baird def. Jes Gram-Hansen

Petit Final

Dean Barker def. Peter Gilmour
Peter Gilmour def. Dean Barker
Dean Barker def. Peter Gilmour