Colorcraft King Edward VII Gold Cup




1	PETER HOLMBERG (USA)
2	GAVIN BRADY (ITA)
3	ED BAIRD (USA)
4	MAGNUS HOLMBERG (SWE)
5	JES GRAM HANSEN (DEN)
6	MORTEN HENRIKSEN (GER)
7	PETER BRONDBY (BER)
8	KEN READ (USA)

DAY 7 & OVERALL
(Source: bermudagoldcup.com)

Peter Holmberg (and his "crewman" Paul Cayard), representing the Oracle Racing America's Cup challenge, defeated Prada Challenge's Gavin Brady 3-0 to claim the Swedish Match Tour's Colorcraft King Edward VII Gold Cup. The win was Holmberg's second on a Grade 1 Event while Brady's runner-up finish was his fourth in 2001.

In the first match Peter Holmberg benefited from Brady getting tangled up in the petit final match at the leeward match. The Italian skipper got the better of the start but when he came to the top mark he had to tack twice to avoid a starboard tack by petit finalist Ed Baird. This affected his momentum and allowed his opponent to close what to that point had been a three-boat length deficit.

In the second match Brady crossed the line early providing Holmberg a six boat length lead as a result of the unforced error and squandering some beautiful work his crew had done against Holmberg. Brady subsequently lodged a protest with the race committee contending the start gun went off two seconds late. However, no infraction was found, his protest was declined and Holmberg moved to match point.

In the third and final match, Brady picked up three penalties, two of them in the start sequence. One of the penalties in the start was for obstruction and the other was for contact. As a result of the second penalty in the pre-start, Brady was forced to execute a penalty turn at the start of the race creating a comfortable cushion for Holmberg.

The loss continues Brady's run as a bridesmaid on the Swedish Match Tour in 2001. Previously Brady had finished second to Team New Zealand's Bertrand Pace at the Steinlager/Line 7 Cup, OneWorld Challenge's Peter Gilmour at the SunMicrosystems Australia Cup and Team New Zealand's Dean Barker at the ACI Cup.

Ed Baird, sailing for Team XL Capital, took third place, going 2-0 over the Swedish Magnus Holmberg.

Finals (final & Petit Final) :

Peter Holmberg def. Gavin Brady, 3-1
Ed Baird def. Magnus Holmberg, 2-0

DAY 6
(Source: bermudagoldcup.com)

Teams from Italy's Prada Challenge and the USA's Oracle Challenge, two of the top contending syndicates for the next America's Cup, will face off in the finals of the Colorcraft Gold Cup on Hamilton Harbor tomorrow.

Gavin Brady, the New Zealand skipper who sails for Prada, today beat world match racing champion Magnus Holmberg 3-0, while Peter Holmberg, afterguard member of the Oracle Racing Challenge defeated Ed Baird, the skipper of the Young America challenge at the last America's Cup, 3-1.

Magnus Holmberg, who has been second twice in the Gold Cup and who first sailed in the event ten years ago, was expected to provide some stiff opposition for Brady, but the New Zealander and his crew have been improving all week and won with relative ease. Holmberg, who heads the Swedish Victory Challenge for the next America's Cup, looked strongest in his first race against Brady. He led for three legs only to lose when the Kiwi drew close at the last weather mark and then overtook on a tense run to the finish.

Peter Holmberg won his first two races against Ed Baird and controlled at the start of the third, only to lose ground in a big wind shift and drop steadily behind. He came back to win the fourth race.

Brady, who with two of his crew members, Carter Perrin and Sean Clarkson, sailed for Cayard in the AmericaOne Syndicate at the last America's Cup had the last word about the impending confrontation tomorrow. "I'm sure it is going to be a very tough battle," he said. "We're watching our old boss standing there on the bow of Peter's boat and it's almost like he's standing on the bow of our boat. So we're looking forward to going out there against the old boss and trying to give him one."

Semi-finals (winner was best of five) :

Gavin Brady def. Magnus Holmberg, 3-0
Peter Holmberg def. Ed Baird, 3-1

DAY 5
(Source: bermudagoldcup.com)

Despite a tough drawn-out fight, hometown favorite Peter Bromby lost to Magnus Holmberg of Sweden at the Colorcraft Gold Cup today, setting up a Semi-Final Round tomorrow featuring four America's Cup stars.

Holmberg, the number one-ranked match racer in the world and the skipper of Sweden's Victory Syndicate challenger for the America's Cup will sail against New Zealander Gavin Brady, a helmsman for Italy's Prada America's Cup Challenge. In the other match, Ed Baird from St Petersburg, Florida, the skipper of the Young America challenge at the last America's Cup, will meet Peter Holmberg who sails for the Oracle Racing Challenge out of San Francisco, California.

Bromby went down fighting to Holmberg today 3-1.5. Bromby staged a dramatic come-from-behind victory in his first race against Holmberg but was docked the half point by on-the-water umpires for a collision on the starting line. Holmberg won his second race while the Bermudian won the third. One of the two still needed to win two races and Holmberg won the next two to go through to the Semi-Finals.

Gavin Brady, who now sails for Italian's Prada Syndicate challenger for the next America's Cup, went through to the final four after a drawn-out, five race, 3-2 victory over German Morten Henriksen, match race skipper and coach for the illbruck Challenge for the America's Cup. "We were battling it out pretty well and leading 2-1 before the lunch break and we didn't manage to do anything after the break," Henriksen said. "However we had a lot of chances in race number four we were ahead a few times but Gavin and his guys just kept coming back and we found it hard to keep them behind us."

Billed as the confrontation between the two competing American challengers for the America's Cup, Peter Holmberg's Oracle Racing team, which included syndicate skipper Paul Cayard sailing on the bow and calling tactics, trounced Ken Read, skipper for the Stars & Stripes syndicate 3-0.

Ed Baird, former skipper of the american's Young America 2000, defeated young Danish skipper Jes Gram-Hansen in a match that went 3-0 to become the fourth Quarter-Finalist.

Quarterfinals (winner was best of five) :

Peter Holmberg def. Ken Read, 3.0
Ed Baird def. Jes Gram-Hansen, 3-0
Gavin Brady def. Morten Henrikson, 3-2
Magnus Holmberg def. Peter Bromby, 3-1.5

DAY 4
(Source: bermudagoldcup.com)

The Colorcraft Gold Cup Second stage begins today and takes the form of a knock-out competition involving 8 Seeded Skippers and the top 8 Skippers from the Qualifying Series.

Hometown favorite Peter Bromby prevailed against fellow Etchells sailor and America's Cup winner Dennis Conner, beating the American 3-0 in the opening championship round of the Colorcraft Gold Cup.

The win boosted Bromby through to the quarter-finals to be sailed Friday at the host Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, and knocked Conner out of the competition. The America's Cup champion did not go without a fight. Twice he fought back to lead Bromby only to see his advantage evaporate in the puffy six to 12 knot winds on Hamilton Harbor.

In a series of tough, hard-fought matches, punctuated by lead changes, protests and at least two collisions, seven other international skippers advanced today to the quarter-finals of the Colorcraft Gold Cup, third event on the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour.

World number one-ranked match racer Magnus Holmberg from Sweden won 3-1 against young American Andy Horton. Gavin Brady, the New Zealander who is helmsman for Italy's Prada Challenge for the America's Cup prevailed against Briton Andy Green, starting helmsman for Britain's GBR Challenge for the Cup in a protracted, incident and protest-filled series that went to 3-2. German skipper Morten Henricksen, match racing coach for the illbruck Challenge for the America's Cup won 3-1 against 21-year-old Briton Mark Campbell-James.

Fellow Danes Jes Gram-Hansen and Lars Nordjberg raced each other and Gram-Hansen won, 3-2. Ed Baird, from St Petersburg, Florida, who skippered the USA's Young America challenger at the last America's Cup beat veteran British skipper Chris Law 3-1.5 in another series filled with protest flags and changed places. Law was docked the half point by umpires after his boat hit Baird's while crossing tacks.

American Ken Read, who skippers for Dennis Conner's Team Stars & Stripes won 3-1 against German match racer Markus Wieser. Peter Holmberg, afterguard for the Oracle Racing Challenge for the America's Cup from San Francisco, defeated Kiwi Scott Dickson, who lives in Long Beach, California, 3-0.

In the quarter finals on Friday, Magnus Holmberg will meet Bromby, Brady will race Henrickson, Gram-Hansen will start against Baird and the two American America's Cup rivals Read and Peter Homberg will be matched.

Scores after the morning matches (winner was best of five) :

Magnus Holmberg def. Andy Horton, 3-1
Peter Bromby def. Dennis Conner,3-0
Gavin Brady def. Andy Green, 3-2
Morten Henriksen def. Mark Campbell-Jones, 3-1

Scores after the afternoon matches :

Jes Gram-Hansen def. Lars Nordjberg, 3-2
Ed Baird def. Chris Law, 3-1,5
Ken Read def. Markus Wieser, 3-1
Peter Holmberg def. Scott Dickson, 3-0

DAY 3
(Source: bermudagoldcup.com)

Britain's Andy Green, from that country's GBR Challenge for the America's Cup and winner of the 1999 Colorcraft Gold Cup, won the top prize money at today's Renaissance Reinsurance Challenge Cup.

The $10,000 tournament served as a warmup day for the eight seeded skippers in this year's Colorcraft Gold Cup, plus an opportunity for guest sponsor crew members selected by Renaissance Reinsurance to join the top international crews match racing on Hamilton Harbor. The Colorcraft Gold Cup is the third event on this year's Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour

The Colorcraft Gold Cup Championship Round One begins on Wednesday morning. In Group 1 action Team Stora Enso's Magnus Holmberg from Sweden, and the world's number one seeded match racer, faces American Andy Horton; Team Stars & Stripes' Dennis Conner matches up against native Bermudian Peter Bromby; Green faces Kiwi Gavin Brady sailing for Italy's Prada Challenge for the America's Cup; while Morten Henriksen of Germany's illbruck Challenge for the America's Cup locks horns with Briton Mark Campbell-James, at 21 years of age the event's youngest competitor.

Group 2 features Gram-Hansen and his Team Marienlyst against fellow Dane Lars Nordjberg; American Ed Baird battling Great Britain's Chris Law; Markus Wieser of Germany going toe-to-toe with Ken Read of Team Stars & Stripes; and Oracle Racing's Peter Holmberg squaring off against Kiwi Scott Dickson who now lives in California.

Wins-Losses - Renaissance Reinsurance Challenge

1. Andy Green (GBR/GBR Challenge) 5-1
2. Magnus Holmberg (SWE/Team Stora Enso) 4-2
3. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN/Team Marienlyst) 4-2 $
4. Peter Holmberg (USA/Oracle Racing) 3-3
5. Dennis Conner (USA/Team Stars & Stripes) 2-4
6. Ed Baird (USA/Team XL Capital) 2-4
7. Morten Henriksen (GER/illbruck Challenge) 1-5

DAY 2
(Source: bermudagoldcup.com)

Bermudian skipper Peter Bromby, and American skipper Ken Read from Newport, Rhode Island, each finished with six wins and no losses today after two intense days of match race sailing on Hamilton Harbor. They head the group of eight unseeded skippers going through to the championship round of the Colorcraft Gold Cup that starts here on Wednesday.

Today's group of eight will join seven seeded skippers already guaranteed places in the championship round of the annual match racing championship hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The event is the third regatta on this year's Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour.

Against Marten Hedlund, the German Markus Wieser won 2-0 the sail-off for the wildcard place for advancing Unseeded Skippers , each of skippers have finished fifth in their groups.

RESULTS

GROUP 1

Flight 5 : Markus Wieser def. Thomas Kozyn - Gavin Brady def. Andy Horton - Peter Bromby def. Mark Campbell-James (Bye Dave Juleff)

Flight 6 : Peter Bromby def. Andy Horton - Gavin Brady def. Mark Campbell-James - Markus Wieser def. Dave Juleff (Bye Thomas Kozyn)

Flight 7 : Peter Bromby def. Gavin Brady - Dave Juleff def. Thomas Kozyn - Mark Campbell-James def. Andy Horton (Bye Markus Wieser)

GROUP 2

Flight 4 : Ken Read def. Marten Hedlund - Lars Nordjberg def. Scott Dickson - Chris Carroll def. Nicky Lewin (Bye Chris Law)

Flight 5 : Ken Read def. Lars Nordjberg - Chris Law def. Chris Carroll - Scott Dickson def Mårten Hedlund (Bye Nicky Lewin)

Flight 6 : Chris Law def. Scott Dickson - Marten Hedlund def. Chris Carroll - Ken Read def. Nicky Lewin (Bye Lars Nordjberg)

Flight 7 : Scott Dickson def. Chris Carroll - Lars Nordjberg def. Nicky Lewin - Marten Hedlund def. Chris Law (Bye Ken Read)

LEADERBORD (Skipper / Wins / Losses)

GROUP 1

Peter Bromby, 6-0
Gavin Brady, 5-1
Mark Campbell-James, 4-2
Andy Horton, 3-3
Marcus Wieser, 2-4
Dave Juleff, 1-5
Thomas Kozyn, 0-6

GROUP 2

Ken Read, 6-0
Chris Law, 4-2
Lars Nordjberg, 4-2
Scott Dickson, 3-3
Marten Hedlund, 3-3
Chris Carroll, 1-5
Nicky Lewin 0-6

DAY 1
(Source: bermudagoldcup.com)

All the America's Cuppers are undefeated following the first day of the Swedish Match Tour's Colorcraft King Edward VII Gold Cup unseeded skippers match-racing regatta in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Unseeded Skippers was divided into two groups. In each group, all skippers will sail a Round Robin where each skipper sails each other skipper once. The four highest scoring skippers from each group shall qualify for the next stage.

On the morning, Ken Read, skipper of the Stars & Stripes Challenge for the 2003 America's Cup, posted a record of 3 wins and 0 defeats in hard sailing conditions (gusty and shifty west to south west winds that ranged from 15 knots) to lead Group 2. Read who lost one start to veteran British match racer Chris Law but then sailed around him on a wind shift, was quick to acknowledge the part that luck played in the day' s racing.

Among the notches in Read's belt on Day One were the British Chris Law and the Swedish Lars Nordjberg, with two wins and one loss apiece.

After Group 1 action, things are very simple. Sharing first place are four skippers who are undefeated with three wins apiece (local skipper Peter Brondby, Gavin Brady of the Prada Challenge, Andy Horton and Mark Campbell-James).

The three others (Dave Juleff, Thomas Kozyn and Marcus Wieser) are on the bottom without a win (and with four losses).

The second day of racing for unseeded entries will be sailed Monday morning. The top four skippers from the two groups will then go forward to meet seven seeded skippers in the Colorcraft Gold Cup Championship Round, plus an eighth seed who will be the winner of a best-of-three series between the fifth place winners in each group.

In the seeded ranks, three top America's Cup skippers withdrew from the event after the commencement of American military action in Afghanistan. Frenchman Bertrand Pace who now sails for Team New Zealand, was subject to a blanket freeze on overseas travel imposed by the Kiwi America' s Cup defense syndicate. Australian skipper Peter Gilmour, skipper for the OneWorld Challenge in Seattle, Washington, stayed in Washington to allay the fears of his young family. Australian James Spithill had last minute crew problems.

RESULTS

GROUP 2

Flight 1 : Lars Nordjberg def. Marten Hedlund - Chris Law def. Nicky Lewin - Ken Read def. Scott Dickson (Bye Chris Carroll)

Flight 2 : Marten Hedlund def. Nicky Lewin - Ken Read def. Chris Carroll - Chris Law def. Lars Nordjberg (Bye Scott Dickson)

Flight 3 : Scott Dickson def. Nicky Lewin - Ken Read def. Chris Law - Lars Nordjberg def. Chris Carroll (Bye Marten Hedlund)

GROUP 1

Flight 1 : Mark Campbell-James def. Thomas Kozyn - Andy Horton def. Dave Juleff - Peter Bromby def. Markus Wieser (Bye Gavin Brady)

Flight 2 : Mark Campbell-James def. Dave Juleff - Gavin Brady def. Markus Wieser - Andy Horton def. Thomas Kozyn (Bye Peter Bromby)

Flight 3 : Peter Bromby def. Dave Juleff - Andy Horton def. Markus Wieser - Gavin Brady def Thomas Kozyn (Bye Mark Campbell-James)

Flight 4 : Mark Campbell-James def Markus Wieser - Peter Bromby def Thomas Kozyn - Gavin Brady def. Dave Juleff (Bye Andy Horton)

PREVIEW
(Source: bermudagoldcup.com)

The Swedish Match Tour's Colorcraft Gold Cup match-racing regatta to be raced in Bermuda October 14-21 this year has again attracted an outstanding field of international skippers representing the defender and many of the challengers for the next America's Cup in New Zealand.

The Bermuda regatta, the oldest match-racing event in the world other than the America's Cup, is also the third venue of the nine-event, year-long Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour.

The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club has announced the names of the 16 unseeded skippers who will match race in preliminary rounds on Hamilton Harbour on October 14th and 15th :

>	New Zealander Gavin Brady now makes his home in Italy where he sails for that country's Team Prada challenger ;
>	Bermudian Peter Bromby has competed in six Gold Cup regattas, advancing once to the Quarter Finals, the highest-ever reached by a local sailor ;
>	British Mark Campbell-James, 21, won last year the Coca-Cola Cup for the World Youth Match Racing Championships in Auckland ;
>	Australian sailor Christopher Carroll is 23 years match racer, sailing aboard his country's Young Australia 2000 America's Cup team ;
>	New Zealander Scott Dickson (now makes his home in the USA) divides his sailing time between skippering in match racing events and sailing as a tactician or crew on ocean racers ;
>	Swedish Mårten Hedlund last sailed in the Colorcraft Gold Cup two years ago when he finished sixth ;
>	Danish Morten Henriksen now makes his home in Germany where he manages and coaches Ilbruck Match Race Team in preparation for America's Cup ;
>	American Andy Horton was a three-time collegiate All American and earned his place in the unseeded ranks with a victory in Canada's York Cup ;
>	Bermudian Dave Juleff has raced in previous national match racing events and the Colorcraft Gold Cup as crew with Bermuda's Glen Astwood ;
>	From the US Virgin Islands, Thomas Kozyn, 37, is a relatively late comer to match racing ;
>	Britain's Chris Law, a highly successful fleet and match race skipper, was helmsman of Britain's last challenge for the America's Cup in 1986-87 ;
>	Bermudian Nigel "Nicky" Lewin, 72, had never match raced until placing fourth in this year's Bermuda National Match Racing Championships ;
>	Denmark's Lars Nordbjerg is a relatively new comer to match racing but this year He won the Danish Open Qualifier before finishing third in the TNT Cup ;
>	American Ken Read is now helmsman for Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes, representing the New York Yacht Club's 2003 challenge ;
>	Australian sailing prodigy James Spithill skippered Australia's Young Australia 2000 entry in the last America's Cup and now He has moved to Seattle to sail with fellow Aussie Peter Gilmour in OneWorld Challenge ;
>	Markus Wieser has been Germany's most successful match racer for the past ten years (in June, he won Match Race Lake Constance) ;

The eight top qualifiers from this unseeded group will meet eight seeded entrants in the first round of the Colorcraft Gold Cup competition on Wednesday, October 17th :

>	Swedish Magnus Holmberg, 40, represents Sweden's Victory Challenge for the America's Cup (Holmberg won the second year of the Swedish Match Tour and he now has a 30-point lead in the Year Three Championship standings) ;
>	Australian Peter Gilmour is sailing under the American flag as the skipper and sailing director of the OneWorld Challenge and was three-time World Match Racing Champion (he won the Gold Cup in Bermuda '95 and '97) and the skipper of Japan's Nippon Challenge 2000 ;
>	Peter Holmberg, 40, from the US Virgin Islands, has signed with Larry Ellison's Oracle Racing Challenge for the next America's Cup and is a regular Swedish Match Sailing Tour competitor (this year he won his third Congressional Cup in four years) ;
>	Frenchman Bertrand Pacé makes his home in New Zealand where he is a helmsman for Cup defender Team NZ and has sailed in every French challenge for the America's Cup since 1986 and skippered the French Le Défi challenge 2000 (he was the first winner of the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour) ;
>	Denmark's Jes Gram-Hansen has been a regular competitor on the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour and was fourth at the Colorcraft Gold Cup last year after winning entry to the event as an unseeded skipper ;
>	British match racer Andy Green is now sailing for Britain's GBR Challenge for the America's Cup as starting helmsman (At the last America's Cup he was rules advisor to Hawaii's Abracadabra challenge) ;
>	American Ed Baird was skipper of Young America at the Louis Vuitton Cup in Auckland in 1999, and in 1995, coached the America's Cup-winning Team New Zealand (this year he was second at the Knickerbocker Cup) ;
>	American Dennis Conner is spearheading the New York Yacht Club's 2003 challenge for the America's Cup with his Stars & Stripes team and has won the America's Cup four times (and lost it twice).