Overall

Peter Gilmour and his Pizza La Team, representing the OneWorld America's Cup challenge, has won the Sun Microsystems Australia Cup for a record fifth time. The Perth born and bred skipper made it look easy, as he demolished Gavin Brady sailing for Italy's Prada Challenge, in two straight races. He has produced the most dominant performance by any skipper in the eighteen year history of the event, winning 25 races from 26 starts, over the five days. "It feels as good as the first win," Gilmour admitted after stepping ashore, "we were sailing, obviously, particularly well this week, and it's nice to be able to keep that going all the way through to the finals. As the finals come, a little bit more heat gets into the oven, and you wonder how things are going to go, but we seemed to be going just as strong in the semi-finals and finals, so I was really delighted with the way the team was going." Gilmour, whose One World Challenge is based out of Seattle, took the first encounter by 24 seconds. In the second race he forced Brady into two infringements, and by the time the young Kiwi-turned-Italian had completed his penalty turns, Gilmour's winning margin had stretched to 42 seconds. This is the second time in two weeks that Brady has lost a final, going down to Frenchman Bertrand Pace in Auckland's Steinlager Line 7 regatta just a week ago. He had fought his way through to the final after a tough semi-final with Sweden's Magnus Holmberg, and was philosophical about his loss. He said, "we came here to sail against the best in the world, and this week Peter Gilmour is the best in the world, it's all part of our training for the America's Cup." Ken Read, from Team Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes challenge, sailing his first grade one event, took third place after a shoot out with Magnus Holmberg, who finishes fourth for the second week in a row. However, Magnus Holmberg can take consolation from the fact that he still heads the leaderboard in the Swedish Match Grand Prix leaderboard, with three events left to sail. Semi-finals Peter Gilmour (USA) bt Ken Read (USA) 2 - 0 Gavin Brady (ITA) bt Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 2 - 1 Finals Peter Gilmour (USA) bt Gavin Brady (ITA) 2 - 0 Petit finals Ken Read (USA) bt Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 2 - 1

Day 4

Being beaten this morning by American Ken Read,< Peter Gilmour claimed his place in the final by beating the same, 2 - 0 in the semi-finals. Peter Gilmour, who won the double round robin series, with 21 wins and only one loss, had the privilege of choosing his semi-finals opponent from the other three to make the cut. Surprisingly he chose Ken Read, the only person to take a race off him in four days. This leaves Gavin Brady to face Magnus Holmberg in the other semi-final. When these two met in the round robins, they won one race each, so a tight contest can be expected. The semi-final remains in the balance overnight, with Gavin Brady and Magnus Holmberg tied on one win each. Semi-finals: Peter Gilmour (USA) bt Ken Read (USA) 2 - 0 Gavin Brady (ITA) and Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 1 - 1 Round Robin - Final results : Peter Gilmour (USA) 21 - 1 Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 17 - 5 Gavin Brady (ITA) 15 - 7 Ken Read (USA) 13 - 9 Luc Pillot (FRA) 12 - 10 Chris Dickson (USA) 10 - 12 Jes-Gram Hansen (DEN) 9 - 13 Neville Wittey (AUS) 8 - 14 Jesper Radich (DEN) 7 - 15 Andy Beadsworth (GBR) 7 - 15 James Spithill (USA) 7 - 15 Nicola Celon (ITA) 6 - 16 Results (Round Robin 2-Day 2) : Flight 12: Gavin Brady bt Nicola Celon Peter Gilmour bt Andy Beadsworth Neville Wittey bt Jes Gram-Hansen Luc Pillot bt Jesper Radich Flight 13: Jes Gram-Hansen bt Andy Beadsworth Peter Gilmour bt Neville Wittey Ken Read bt Jesper Radich Luc Pillot bt Magnus Holmberg Flight 14: Neville Wittey bt Jesper Radich Ken Read bt Peter Gilmour Magnus Holmberg bt Chris Dickson James Spithill bt Luc Pillot Flight 15: Peter Gilmour bt Magnus Holmberg Nicola Celon bt Luc Pillot Gavin Brady bt James Spithill Flight 16: Ken Read bt Nicola Celon Jes Gram-Hansen bt Gavin Brady Andy Beadsworth bt Chris Dickson Flight 17: Chris Dickson bt Gavin Brady Nicola Celon bt James Spithill Andy Beadsworth bt Neville Wittey Jesper Radich bt Jes Gram-Hansen Resail of race 3, flight 13, round robin 1: Ken Read bt Jesper Radich

Day 3

The day started with a gusty, shifty, south easterly breeze, that caused some gear breakages, before the Fremantle Doctor seabreeze established itself, making life easier for the race organisers. Peter Gilmour and his Pizza La crew continue to chalk up win after win, the team working like a well oiled machine. With eighteen wins, and no losses on the scoreboard by the end of the day, they were assured their place in the semi-finals. Gilmour attributed some of their success to the fact that every member of his crew has won this event before, "all of us have won the event before," he said. "Each of us has been here before and won with somebody. "Ben (Ainslie) won with Chris Law, Mike Mottl won with Rod Davis and the other three of us have won together, that adds to the knowledge and understanding." However he also points out that winning the round robin is no guarantee of taking the trophy, or even making the final. "Obviously we're looking pretty good to get into the semi-finals," he said in a minor understatement, "but it's a whole new regatta when that starts." Magnus Holmberg and his Enso Stora Team have gone through today with only one loss, and hold a three point margin over third placed Gavin Brady. Making a strong comeback, after a poor performance of the first day, is Kiwi Gavin Brady, now sailing for the Prada America's Cup team. He has moved up the ladder to third place, and has got a mean look in his eye, and a determined look on his face. He is now looking strong for a semi-finals place, and will be keen to go one better than his second place in Auckland's Steinlager Line 7 regatta, last week. The fight for the fourth place in the semi-finals is developing into a three way fight between Ken Read of Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes challenge, Chris Dickson and his Oracle Sailing Team, and Frenchman Luc Pillot, the best of the non-America's Cup skippers. Scores after day 3 : Peter Gilmour (USA) 18 - 0 Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 16 - 3 Gavin Brady (ITA) 13 - 5 Luc Pillot (FRA) 10 - 8 Ken Read (USA) 9 - 9 Chris Dickson (USA) 9 - 10 Jes-Gram Hansen (DEN) 6 - 12 Neville Wittey (AUS) 6 - 12 Jesper Radich (DEN) 6 - 11 James Spithill (USA) 5 - 13 Andy Beadsworth (GBR) 5 - 13 Nicola Celon (ITA) 4 - 13 Results (Round Robin 2-Day 1) : Flight 1: Peter Gimour bt Luc Pillot Magnus Holmber bt Jes-Gram Hansen Ken Read bt Neville Wittey Jasper Radich bt Nicola Celon Flight 2: Magnus Holmberg bt Neville Wittey Jes-Gram Hansen bt Ken Read Chris Dickson bt Nicola Celon Jasper Radich bt James Spithill Fight 3: Jasper radich bt Chris Dickson Jes-Gram Hansen bt James spithill Nicola Celon bt Andy Beadsworth Gavin Brady bt Ken Read Flight 4: Jes-Gram Hansen bt Nicola Celon Ken read bt Andy Beadworth peter Gilmour bt James Spithill Gavin Brady bt Luc Pillot Flight 5: James Spithill bt Ken Read peter Gilmour bt Gavin Brady Luc Pillot bt Neville wittey Magnus Homberg bt Andy Beadsworth Flight 6: Gavin Brady bt Neville Wittey Luc Pillot bt Andy Beadsworth Magnus Holmberg bt Jesper Radich Peter Gilmour bt Chris Dickson Flight 7: Jesper Radich bt Andy Beadsworth Chris Dickson bt Luc Pillot Magnus Holmberg bt Nicola Celon Peter Gilmour bt Jes Gram-Hansen Flight 8: Peter Gilmour bt Nicola Celon Jes Gram-Hansen bt Chris Dickson Ken Read bt Luc Pillot Magnus Holmberg bt James Spithill Flight 9: Luc Pillot bt Jes Gram-Hansen Chris Dickson bt Ken Read Gavin Brady bt Magnus Holmberg James Spithill bt Neville Wittey Flight 10: Magnus Holmberg bt Ken Read Chris Dickson bt Neville Wittey James Spithill bt Andy Beadsworth Gavin Brady bt Jesper Radich Flight 11: Chris Dickson bt James Spithill Gavin Brady bt Andy Beadsworth Neville Wittey bt Nicola Celon Peter Gilmour bt Jesper Radich

Day 2

Today it was a slow start to the day, with the teams waiting on the lawns of the Royal Perth Yacht Club until mid-morning, for the wind to ruffle a glassey Swan River. However when the legendary Fremantle Doctor seabreeze did arrive, it did so with some gusto, building rapidly to 20 knots at lunchtime, then 25 knots by the middle of the afternoon. The home town hero, Peter Gilmour, is the sole occupant of the top spot on the leaderboard, at the end of the second day of the Sun Microsystems Australia Cup. Gilmour, who heads the OneWorld challenge, and is still sailing with his Pizza La Team, is undefeated at the halfway stage of the double round robin elimination series. Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie was given a lot of credit as a great tactician. Sweden's Magnus Holmberg, and his Enso Stora Team, who had shared the top of the leaderboard with Gilmour overnight, started the day well, chalking up a string of wins. However his day went wrong, when the veteran Chris Dickson and the Oracle Sailing Team, inflicted the first defeat of the regatta on the Swede. After that the Swedish America's Cup skipper came up against Peter Gilmour, and suffered his second defeat of the day, in a race that Gilmour controlled from start to finish. Luc Pillot of France has climbed into third place after a consistant but unspectacular day on the water. American Ken Read, who had such a good first day, has struggled a bit in today's stronger breezes. Gavin Brady of Italy's Prada America's Cup team, climbed the scoreboard after a bad first day, and is now in fifth place. Scores after day 2 : Peter Gilmour (USA) 11 - 0 Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 9 - 2 Luc Pillot (FRA) 7 - 4 Gavin Brady (ITA) 7 - 4 Ken Read (USA) 6 - 4 Neville Wittey (AUS) 5 - 6 Andy Beadsworth (GBR) 5 - 6 Chris Dickson (USA) 4 - 7 Jes-Gram Hansen (DEN) 3 - 8 James Spithill (USA) 3 - 8 Nicola Celon (ITA) 3 - 8 Jesper Radich (DEN) 2 - 8 Results (Round Robin 1-Day 2) : Flight 9: Luc Pillot bt Jes-Gram Hansen Ken Read bt Chris Dickson Magnus Holmberg bt Gavin Brady Neville Wittey bt James Spithill Flight 10: Magnus Holmberg bt Ken Read Chris Dickson bt Neville Wittey Andy Beadsworth bt James Spithill Gavin Brady bt Jesper Radich Flight 11: James Spithill bt Chris Dickson Gavin Brady bt Andy Beadsworth Neville Wittey bt Nicola Celon Peter Gilmour bt Jasper Radich Flight 12: Gavin Brady bt Nicola Celon Peter Gilmour bt Andy Beadsworth Neville Wittey bt Jes-Gram Hansen Luc Pillot bt Jasper Radich Flight 13: Andy Beadsworth bt Jes Gram-Hansen Peter Gilmour bt Neville Wittey Magnus Holmberg bt Luc Pillot Flight 14: Neville Wittey bt Jesper Radich Peter Gilmour bt Ken Read Chris Dickson bt Magnus Holmberg Luc Pillot bt James Spithill Flight 15: Peter Gilmour bt Magnus Holmberg Luc Pillot bt Nicola Celon Gavin Brady bt James Spithill Flight 16: Nicola Celon bt Ken Read Gavin Brady bt Jes Gram-Hansen Chris Dickson bt Andy Beadsworth Flight 17: Gavin Brady bt Chris Dickson James Spithill bt Nicola Celon Andy Beadsworth bt Neville Wittey Jesper Radich bt Jes Gram-Hansen

Day 1

The Sun Microsystems Australia Cup started out with a strong south easterly breeze, which was eventually overcome by the legendary Fremantle Doctor seabreeze. Peter Gilmour (OneWorld)and Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge)head the leaderboard at the end of the first day of the Sun Microsystems Australia Cup. Both skippers are undefeated, with five wins on the board, after a long tough day on the water. Gilmour is defending the trophy he won last year, and has bought out the big guns, with Olympic gold and silver medallist Ben Ainslie in his crew. Magnus Holmberg is the current leader of the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour, as the second year of the Tour goes past the half way stage. Hanging in close behind these two is American skipper Ken Read, sailing for Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes Cup campaign through the New York Yacht Club. This is a particularly impressive performance from Read, who is competing in his first grand prix match racing event. Explaining his success, he praised his tactician, "Terry Hutchinson is awesome at seeing the water, so we feel like in shifty conditions that we have a strength," he said. "When ever you're confident you sail better, and when you sail well, you win." Sharing fourth place are two non-Cup skippers, Frenchman Luc Pillot, and Denmark's Jes Gram-Hansen, both with three wins and three losses. The competition on the water has been fearsome, and it is an indication of the depth of talent in this field, that big names like Chris Dickson and Gavin Brady are on the bottom half of the ladder. The Sun Microsystems Australia Cup runs from Wednesday 21st March to Sunday 25th March, with twelve top international crews competing on the Swan River's Matilda Bay. Scores after day one : Magnus Holmberg SWE 6 - 0 Peter Gilmour USA 6 - 0 Ken Read USA 5 - 1 Luc Pillot FRA 3 - 3 Jes-Gram Hansen DEN 3 - 3 Andy Beadsworth GBR 2 - 3 Nicola Celon ITA 2 - 4 Chris Dickson USA 1 - 4 Neville Wittey AUS 1 - 3 James Spithill USA 1 - 4 Gavin Brady ITA 1 - 3 Jesper Radich DEN 1 - 4 (Round Robin 1-Day 1) : Flight 1: Peter Gilmour bt Luc Pillot Magnus Holmberg bt Jes Gram-Hansen Ken Read bt Neville Wittey Nicola Celon bt Jesper Radich Flight 2: Magnus Holmberg bt Neville Wittey Ken Read bt Jes-Gram Hansen Nicola Celon bt Chris Dickson James Spithill bt Jasper Radich Flight 3: Chris Dickson bt Jasper Radich Jes-Gram Haansen bt James Spithill Andy Beadsworth bt Nicola Celon Ken Read bt Gavin Brady Flight 4: Jes-Gram Hansen bt Nicola Celon Andy Beadsworth bt Ken Read Petre Gilmour bt James Spithill Luc Pillot bt Gavin Brady Flight 5: Ken Read bt James Spithill Peter Gilmour bt Gavin Brady Neville Wittey bt Luc Pillot Magnus Holmberg bt Andy Beadsworth Flight 6: Gavin Brady bt Neville Wittey Luc Pillot bt Andy Beadsworth Magnus Holmberg bt Jesper Radich Peter Gilmour bt Chris Dickson Flight 7: Jesper Radich bt Andy Beadsworth Luc Pillot bt Chris Dickson Magnus Holmberg bt Nicola Celon Peter Gilmour bt Jes Gram-Hansen Flight 8: Peter Gilmour bt Nicola Celon Jes Gram-Hansen bt Chris Dickson Ken Read bt Luc Pillot Magnus Holmberg bt James Spithill