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Sailing very shifty winds, the 2004-’05 Swedish
Match Tour officially began today when racing began
at the Portugal Match Cup.
The inaugural Tour event saw Ed Baird (USA), skipper
of Team Musto, race to a 5-0 record aboard the new
Swedish Match 40s. Baird, who won his third match-racing
world championship last week, said luck played a
part in his undefeated day.
Baird and Gilmour (AUS), the reigning Tour champion
and skipper of the Pizza-La Sailing Team, and Jesper
Radich (DEN), Team Denmark, all advanced to the quarterfinal
round of the Portugal Match Cup by placing 1-2-3 in
the Group A round robin.
While Baird was undefeated, Gilmour and Radich advanced
with 3-2 records. Philippe Presti (FRA), le Défi
Français, also had a 3-2 record, but wound
up in the repechage round when he lost the tiebreaker
with Gilmour and Radich.
Geoff Meek (RSA), Shosholoza Challenge, and Michael
Dunstan (AUS), OzBoyz Challenge, joined Presti in
the repechage round. Meek, sailing in his first match-race
regatta as skipper of the South African America’s
Cup challenger, finished with a 1-4 mark, while Dunstan
was 0-5.
While Group A has completed its initial round robin
Group B takes to the water tomorrow for their five
flight series. Group B features crews led by skippers
Russell Coutts (NZL), Peter Holmberg (USV), Chris
Law (GBR), Staffan Lindberg (FIN), Francisco Neto
(POR) and Bertrand Pacé (FRA).
The top three will join Baird, Gilmour and Radich
in the quarters, while the bottom three move on
to the repechage round and another chance to advance
to the quarterfinals.
GROUP A RESULTS
Flight 1 : Jesper Radich (DEN) def. Michael Dunstan
(AUS) - Ed Baird (USA) def. Geoff Meek (RSA) - Philippe
Presti (FRA) def. Peter Gilmour (AUS)
Flight 2 : Ed Baird (USA) def. Michael Dunstan (AUS)
- Peter Gilmour (AUS) def. Geoff Meek (RSA) - Jesper
Radich (DEN) def. Philippe Presti (FRA)
Flight 3 : Ed Baird (USA) def. Peter Gilmour (AUS)
- Jesper Radich (DEN) def. Geoff Meek (RSA) - Philippe
Presti (FRA) def. Michael Dunstan (AUS)
Flight 4 : Philippe Presti (FRA) def. Geoff Meek
(RSA) - Peter Gilmour (AUS) def. Michael Dunstan
(AUS) - Ed Baird (USA) def. Jesper Radich (DEN)
Flight 5 : Geoff Meek (RSA) def. Michael Dunstan
(AUS) - Ed Baird (USA) def. Philippe Presti (FRA)
- Peter Gilmour (AUS) def. Jesper Radich (DEN)
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