Ian Williams of Great Britain today won the 58th annual King Edward VII Gold Cup with a 3-1 defeat of Frenchman Mathieu Richard.

Williams won the first two races, dropped the third and then closed out the series in the fourth race with a one boatlength victory.

He and crew Bill Hardesty (bow and tactics), Gerry Mitchell (headsails) and Mark Nicholls (mainsail) finished with a 13-6 record and won $25,000 of the $100,000 prize purse.

The win moves Williams into first place in the Match Racing World Championship standings with 35 points. He leads Richard by 5 points.

In the Petite Final, Bermudian Blythe Walker gave the hometown crowd a reason for celebration when he defeated Eric Monnin of Switzerland, 3-2, to finish third overall. .

Finals

Flight 1 : Ian Williams def. Mathieu Richard - Blythe Walker def. Eric Monnin

Flight 2 : Ian Williams def. Mathieu Richard - Blythe Walker def. Eric Monnin

Flight 3 : Mathieu RichardF def. Ian Williams - Eric Monnin def. Blythe Walker

Flight 4 : Ian Williams def. Mathieu Richard - Blythe Walker def. Eric Monnin