Peter Holmberg carved his name into the Bermuda Gold Cup in convincing fashion last weekend, winning 12 matches and losing only one.
Holmberg, a member of the Oracle Racing afterguard, was nearly flawless during the week of racing, sweeping Scott Dickson, Ken Read, and finally Gavin Brady en route to the championship. Only former No. 1-ranked match racer Ed Baird was able to take a race off Holmberg. Second in the Gold Cup event was Pradas Brady while Baird finished third and Swedish Match tour defending overall champion, Magnus Holmberg, finished fourth.
“Gavin was a good opponent,” Peter Holmberg said after the finals on Oct. 21. “We made a game plan for today. Thats what Bermuda is all about-you look at the conditions, you look at your opponent, and I think in our team we had a good group that could come up with a good game plan and it paid off for us.”
Perhaps the most crucial part of the Peter Holmbergs team was Paul Cayard, who ran the bow and called tactics. Together, Cayard and Holmberg gave Brady fits, forcing him into four penalty flags in three races. The second race was a classic example of how well things went for Peter Holmberg in Bermuda. Brady was able to tag the Oracle team with a pre-start penalty, but was then just seconds early for the start. While he re-rounded the line, Peter Holmberg took off and built a commanding lead. He was eventually able to make his penalty turn without losing his lead.
In the petit finals, Baird blitzed Magnus Holmberg 2-0. However, the skipper for the Swedish Victory Americas Cup Challenge won the first two events on the Swedish Match Tour and is still in first place in the overall tour standings with 62 points. Peter Holmberg is 7 points behind while Brady moved up to third, with 32 points, courtesy of his strong second place finish.
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