Today was an off day for the match racers competing in the Colorcraft Bermuda Gold Cup. The Tyco Pro Am, a fleet race in the International One-Designs used for the event, was sailed this afternoon. But yesterday the was no shortage of action as eight sailors were eliminated from the Gold Cup tournament, including Dennis Conner, who was quickly bounced to the sidelines by local Peter Bromby, 3-0. Though unseeded and ranked only 844th in the world match-race rankings, Bromby shouldnt be taken lightly. Hes a three-time IOD world champion and the defending Bacardi Cup champion. This is his sixth Gold Cup event, though hes never made it past the quarterfinals.
“We started this effort about three weeks ago,” said Bromby. “And a couple of weeks ago (at the Bermuda National Match Racing Championships), we were looking a little untidy. The guys put in some effort without any cooperation from the weather. Consequently, we were able to overcome Dennis. I thought he took it easy on us a little bit.”
In the quarterfinals, Bromby will be paired with reigning Swedish Match tour champion Magnus Holmberg, who knocked off American Andy Horton on Wednesday 3-1. Another interesting quarterfinal match-up pairs Americas Cup rivals Peter Holmberg and Ken Read. Neither had much trouble in the opening round. Peter Holmberg dispatched Kiwi ex-patriot Scott Dickson 3-0 while Read sent German Marcus Wieser packing 3-1. Other sailors advancing to the quarterfinals include illbruck match-racing coach Morten Henriksen, Pradas Gavin Brady, Ed Baird of St. Petersburg, Fla., and third seed Jes Gram-Hansen of Denmark. Outside of Conner, the only seeder skipper to fall was Andy Green, the starting helmsman for the British Americas Cup challenge.
The quarterfinals will be completed tomorrow, weather permitting, with the semis slated for Saturday and the finals for Sunday.
