Sea, Sail & Surf newsSteinlager/Line 7 regatta
Davis, Holmberg, Gram-Hansen and Cian into semi finals
samedi 23 mars 2002 –
The quarter-finals really produced the excitement of the day, with so many cliff-hanger matches it is impossible to choose a match of the day, though probably the skipper of the day is Denmark’s Jes Gram-Hansen.
The young Dane, the only non-America’s Cup America's Cup #AmericasCup skipper to make the quarter-finals, scraped his way into the semis after a come from behind win in the third and deciding race against Luc Pillot of France.
Gram-Hansen and his crew came off the starting line behind Pillot, and with two penalties against him, he took one immediately, then set out to catch and overtake his opponent, and opened up a big enough gap to take his second turn, and grab victory from the jaws of defeat.
An elated Gram-Hansen said, "we feel like winners already," when he came ashore, "this is the first time we have made the semi-finals of a Swedish Match Tour event, and against a line up like this," said the self-funded skipper.
The only skipper to go through the quarter-finals in two straight races was the "old-warhorse" of the series Rod Davis, who seemed to have little trouble in despatching Magnus Holmberg, current leader of the Swedish Match Tour.
"I’m still alive, the pacemaker’s still got some charge left in it," joked Davis, "we knew we had to up our game against Magnus, and now we’ve got to up it again for whoever we face, because they’ll be just as tough."
Ken Read, skipper for Team Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes, pushed rival America’s Cup America's Cup #AmericasCup team Oracle, skippered by Peter Holmberg, all the way, but couldn’t quite complete a penalty in time to prevent Holmberg from grabbing the gun in the deciding race.
The other quarter-final match was a battle of the Italian teams, with Gavin Brady of Prada facing Paolo Cian of the Mascalzone Latino Challenge, who you would have to describe as the underdog.
Cian, who is sailing his first Swedish Match Tour event, has shown this week that he will be a force to be reckoned with when the Louis Vuitton Cup starts in October, and beating Gavin Brady is a feather in his cap.
After a frustrating day on Friday, when lack of wind prevented racing, Peter Carr, the principal race officer of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, described Saturday as "a very satisfactory day."
SEMI-FINALS : first to win three races.
Rod Davis vs Peter Holmberg
Jes Gram-Hansen vs Paolo Cian
QUARTER FINAL RESULTS :
Rod Davis bt Magnus Holmberg 2 - 0
Peter Holmberg bt Ken Read 2 - 1
Jes Gram-Hansen bt Luc Pillot 2 - 1
Paolo Cian bt Gavin Brady 2 - 1
RESULTS at the end of the round robin.
1. Magnus Holmberg - Sweden, Victory Challenge 8 wins 3 losses
2. Gavin Brady - Italy, Prada Challenge 7 4
3. Luc Pillot - France, Le Defi Areva 7 4
4. Ken Read - U.S.A., Team Dennis Conner 6 5
5. Peter Holmberg - U.S.A., Oracle Challenge 6 5
6. Jes Gram-Hansen - Denmark 6 5
7. Paolo Cian - Italy, Mascalzone Latino Challenge 5 6
8. Rod Davis - Italy, Prada Challenge 5 6
9. Dean Barker - New Zealand, Team New Zealand 5 6
10 Ed Baird - U.S.A. 5 6
11 Ian Walker - Britain, GBR Challenge 4 7
12 Andy Green - Britain, GBR Challenge 2 9
Information John Roberson http://www.steinlagerline7cup.co.nz
Dans la même rubrique
Steinlager/Line 7 Cup : A restless calm on the Waitemata harbour
Steinlager/Line 7 Regatta : Luc Pillot still leads after day two
Steinlager/Line 7 Regatta : French skipper Luc Pillot leads after day 1
Steinlager/Line 7 Regatta : "There are no easy matches"
