Swedish Match Cup MARSTRAND, Sweden (July 10, 2005) — Peter Gilmour and the Pizza-La Sailing Team added a sixth Swedish Match Cup championship to their meaty resume with a 3-2 victory over Magnus Holmberg and the Victory Challenge crew. Gilmour and crew Rod Dawson, Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku and Yasuhiro Yaji took a 1-0 lead in the final then fell behind 2-1 before rallying with two straight wins. Holmberg’s crew included Anders Dahlsjo, Lars Linger, Oskar Ljung and Mattias Rahm. It was a banner weekend for the Pizza-La crew. On Saturday they became the first crew to repeat as champions of the Swedish Match Tour. For their efforts they won $60,000 and a BMW 545i Touring, valued at $85,000. In winning the Swedish Match Cup they won approximately $35,000, raising their total for the weekend to $180,000. “Today was a very, very tight series,” said Gilmour. “This is without a doubt the best event on the Swedish Match Tour. As sailors we enjoy seeing people come down and watch the sport.” Another large crowd numbering between 30,000 and 35,000 turned out for the sixth and final day of the 12th Swedish Match Cup. They were treated to more fantastic match-racing. Like yesterday’s quarterfinals round, the semifinal round and final went the distance before the winner was determined. Gilmour and Holmberg advanced to the final after winning their semifinal matches 3-2. Gilmour beat Dean Barker (NZL), of Emirates Team New Zealand, and Holmberg defeated Peter Holmberg (ISV), of Alinghi. In the Petite Final, Barker defeated Peter Holmberg 2-0. Ed Baird (USA), of Alinghi, placed fifth overall and second in the Swedish Match Tour championship. He was tied with Gilmour coming into the event, but lost his opportunity at the championship when Gilmour beat him 2-1 in yesterday’s quarterfinals. Baird won $40,000 bonus from the Tour for placing second and approximately $7,200 from the event for finishing fifth www.swedishmatchtour.com First 34 of 75 Boats Start a Special Transpac LONG BEACH, Calif. (July 10, 2005) — The 43rd biennial Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii unfolds in the first of three colorful phases when 34 of the 75 entries set sail today. It’s the Centennial Transpac with an entry list exceeded only by 80 in 1979, celebrating their bold predecessors who first contested the 2,225 nautical miles in 1906, There are eight boats from five foreign countries, most of whom joined in the traditional Aloha skippers meeting and sendoff dinner attended by 650 competitors, family and friends in Huntington Beach Saturday night. The first starters will be Division 5, Aloha A and B and 14 Cal 40s. They’ll be followed Friday by 20 boats in Divisions III and IV and on Sunday by the 20 top-rated boats, including a few that are the fastest ever to sail the race. In slightly revised ratings, a pair of canting-keel maxZ86s—Roy Disney’s Pyewacket and Hasso Plattner’s Morning Glory—are now the scratch boats, each giving only 23 seconds for the race to Randall Pittman’s slightly depowered 90-foot Genuine Risk as they attack Disney’s elapsed time record for monohulls of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds. http://www.transpacificyc.org/ Aussies Win 29er Worlds SAN FRANCISCO (June 10, 2005) — Australia’s Jacqui Bonnitcha is the first woman to win the 29er World Championship with crew Euan McNicol after a week of sailing on San Francisco Bay, USA. Countrymen David O’Connor and Scott Babbage (AUS) made it an Australian one-two while local heroes John Heineken and Matt Noble claimed the final podium spot. The overall fleet included sailors from almost a dozen nations around the world including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Finland, China, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. 40 races were conducted over the course of the week long competition. After a qualifying series of 16 races (eight for each competitor) which concluded on Thursday 7 July, the fleet was divided into gold, silver and bronze fleets with the top 25 boats competing in the gold class. The final series consisted of ten additional races for the gold class (eight for the silver and six for the bronze). In fourth place overall, Justin Visser and Simon Wheeler (GBR) claimed the Junior World Championship crown with the Girls’ Junior World Championship going to Ashley Simpson and Nina Veggi (USA). http://www.stfyc.com/default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&PageId=202051&b=1&sl=1&vnf=&ssid=100&dpageid=201727&bhcp=1 Dutch Dominate J/22 Worlds MEDEMBLOIK, The Netherlands (July 7, 2005) — The Dutch team of Tjarco Timmermans, Jurjen Feitsma, Fanny van Leeuwen and Ivan Peule coasted to victory in 84-boat Gaastra J/22 World Champion in Medemblik, The Netherlands. With top five finishes in each of the first seven races in the Gold Fleet, the team sat out the final race – using it as their discard. It was much tougher for the Silver and Bronze spots, where John den Engelsman edged out Nic Bol in the final few meters of race eight to take second with a three-point edge. The top 14 boats were all from the Netherlands. The top American finishers were Sean Fidler, Eric Wulff, Gret Koski aboard USA 1037 in 16th. http://www.j22.nl Volvo ISAF World Youth Championships Take Place This Week BUSAN, Korea (July 11, 2005) — The two single-handed dingy events in the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Busan, Korea will once again see the two fleets covering the breadth of the world of youth sailing. The events’ strength in depth will see some of the sport’s brightest lights competing on Suyong Bay together with competitors from sailing’s developing nations. A total of 37 nations makes the Laser boys’ fleet the most competitive of the Championship. The Laser Radial girls’ fleet does not fall far short of that figure either, with 32 nations taking part Railey Aims For Second Title Amongst the girls, Paige Railey (USA) will be appearing at her fourth ISAF Youth Worlds. Her greatest success came in 2003 when she won a closely fought contest against Krystal Weir (AUS) to take the gold medal. Last year in Gdynia, Poland, Railey was less successful and in Busan the American will be aiming to end her career at the ISAF Youth Worlds on a high note. Given that the Laser Radial event at the Championship carries an ISAF Grade 2 rating, victory could see Railey claim the top spot in the next release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings on 3 August. After winning the ISAF Grade 1 Miami OCR in USA at the start of the year and finishing second in the recent ISAF Grade 1 Kieler Woche in Kiel, Germany, Railey will enter the racing in Busan knowing she has what it takes to succeed at the highest level. Railey is not the only girl who will be in Busan with experience of the senior circuit. Over a third of the Laser Radial entrants already have positions on the Rankings with Lucia Reyes Sanchez (ESP), Janika Puls (GER), Tina Miheliae (CRO) and Olivia Powrie (NZL) all featuring in the top fifty. The event also sees entrants from some of sailing’s developing nations with Alyson Myers from the Bahamas, Tania Zimmerman from Peru and the Seychelles’ Beth Gertrude all in Busan with funding from the ISAF Athlete Participation Programme (APP). U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship NEWPORT, R.I. (July 11, 2005) – The two days of racing for the 90 competitors of the U.S. Jr. Women’s Doublehanded Championship for the Ida Lewis Trophy ended Saturday. The Race Committee got in four races with two short courses in the morning and then longer courses as the breeze began to fill in. Last year’s third place winner, Rebecca Dellenbaugh, sailing this year with Leigh Hammel took home the top podium spot. Emily Maxwell and Avery Field were in second finished second with Shannon Heausler and Kathleen Gallagher in third. 1 41/ 41 Hammel, Leigh Dellenbaugh, Rebecca [4] 3 4 3 4 1 1 16.00 2 33/ 33 Maxwell, Emily Field, Avery 1 9 3 [13] 2 4 6 25.00 3 15/ 15 Heausler, Shannon Gallagher, Kathleen 2 1 10 [21] 1 10 4 28.00 4 31/ 31 Watters, Sara Murray, Christina 6 2 2 8 [13] 2 10 30.00 5 24/ 24 Babbitt, Emily Taylor, Alexandra 7 [17] 8 1 9 11 8 44.00 http://www.idalewisregattas.org/ Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race (MARBLEHEAD, Mass.) — As of 9 a.m. this morning, Tom Hill’s Titan XII has a 20-mile lead in the race for monohull line honors in the centennial MHOR. But the 75-foot Reichel/Pugh sled still has 150 miles left to sail, over 40 percent of the 360-mile track, and has a pack of four fellow competitors for IRC-1 honors sitting between 169 and 173 miles from the finish. Two of those boats, the Merchant Marine Academy’s maxi Hercules and Sam Bynre’s 78-foot Captivity, have similar IRC numbers and won’t be a corrected-time concern for Titan, but both the Transpac 52 Bright Star and the Farr 60 Hissar should have the position to give Hill’s crew a run for the top corrected-time prize in IRC-1. The 127-boat fleet started the race on Sunday afternoon. Other leaders include: IRC-2, Goshawk; PHRF-1, Nirvana; IRC-3, Dreamcatcher; Classic Yachts-1, Ticonderoga; PHRF-2, Beausoleil; PHRF-3, Zoe; PHRF-4, Gold Watch; PHRF-5, Puritan, PHRF-Cruising-1, Campbell’s Sloop; PHRF-6, Narada. For fleet tracking information, www.marbleheadtohalifax.com F-18 North Americans HAMPTON, Virginia (July 11, 2005) — This is event will be taking place August 8-12 at Buckroe Beach, in Hampton, Va. It will also serve as the qualifying event to select the US Multihull Representative to the 2006 ISAF World Sailing Games on May 10-20, 2006 in Austria. There are currently 36 registered teams with another 8 expected, making it the largest F-18 event ever to take place in North America. Additionally, Reynolds Sailing and SailMax headline the live web cast for Formula 18 North Americans. For teaser videos on the R33 and the F18NAs, visit www.F18NAOnline.com. For more on the F-18 NA’s, visit Chicago YC Race to Mackinac 2005 CHICAGO (July 11, 2005) – With just 5 days to go until the start of the Chicago-Mac Race, the 298 entries are making final preparations. Planning the 2005 Chicago-Mac began immediately after last year’s race. There are a few changes to this year’s race including a new entry process, collaboration with US SAILING to enhance Americap II handicapping, and more timely results and more race news reporting during the event. To follow the race and get more information on the Chicago-Mac Race, visit Jobson to Chair Centennial Newport-Bermuda Race NEW YORK, N.Y. (July 5, 2005) – Gary Jobson has been selected as the Honorary Chair of the 100th Newport to Bermuda Race in 2006. Jobson will sail in the event on the 94-foot sloop Keturah, owned by past Bermuda Race winner Llwyd Ecclestone (West Palm Beach, Fla.). He has sailed the event seven times. The Newport to Bermuda Race is the world’s oldest regularly scheduled ocean race.
