Wind conditions eased for today's quarter-final stage at the 72nd Bermuda Gold Cup, as each of the four pairings of Berntsson/Durham, Poole/Hood, Tapper/ Egnot-Johnson and Monnin/Brady matched scores at 2-0 with a deciding match to secure the semi-final places.
In the first pairing of Berntsson/Durham, defending Gold Cup winner Johnie Berntsson and crew defeated Bermuda's Kelsey Durham 2-0 and continued their form to finish 3-0 and advance to the semi-finals.
In the second pairing, two-time Congressional Cup winner Chris Poole makes his first semi-final appearance at the Bermuda Gold Cup after defeating fellow USA skipper Dave Hood/ DH3 Racing in three straight wins.
Former match racing world champion Nick Egnot-Johnson from New Zealand was paired in his quarter-final match against young Australian Cole Tapper/ Easy Tiger Racing who is making his teams first appearance at the Bermuda Gold Cup this year. After a close battle between the two teams, Egnot-Johnson clinched a 3-0 win over Tapper, crossing the line in the last race just inches ahead of his Australian opponent.
"My team worked really worked hard today" added Egnot-Johnson."We are delighted to have finished with a 3-0 score but the numbers really don't show how close the racing was - I'd like to say well done to Cole and his team Hamish, George and Max for being great opponents."
In the last pairing, Switzerland's Eric Monnin and team won their first two races of the first-to-three points format against fellow match racing veteran Gavin Brady (USA). Brady was able to bring one back to 2-1 but was unable to chase down Monnin in the deciding race, awarding the 3-1 win to Monnin.
Apart from the streets, we are also having racing in the Marina Bay as the DBS Marina Bay Cup kicks off today as part of the @worldmatchracingtour⛵
Day one of racing ended with Australia’s team led by Ethan Low in the lead with six wins after six round robin races. USA’s team led by Gavin Brady, who is currently sixth in world rankings, is trailing right behind with five points.
Overall, there are two USA teams, two Australian and three Singapore teams. Come down to Marina Bay to watch teams from Singapore, USA and Australia battle it out again over the next two days!
As the season opening Championship event of the 2024 World Match Racing Tour, the Congressional Cup line-up will now feature twelve teams, including three qualifiers from the Ficker Cup Regatta, also hosted by LBYC, 18 to 21 April 2024.
The roster for this year’s Congressional Cup follows an unprecedented demand by eligible match racing teams from around the globe. The oldest continuously-held sailing match race regatta in the world, the Congressional Cup is the only match race regatta in the United States to qualify for World Championship status from World Sailing. As such, an invitation to compete in the Congressional Cup is one of the most sought-after in match racing; and a victory, the most revered. Many of the 29 skippers who have won – several, multiple times – and worn the esteemed Crimson Blazer, have gone on to America’s Cup and SailGP. Now celebrating their 95th anniversary, LBYC and members are proud to once again host and welcome the world to Congressional Cup.
The 2024 roster includes: defending champion Chris Poole (USA), 2009 Congressional Cup winner Johnie Berntsson (SWE), Eric Monnin (SUI), Jeppe Borch (DEN), Mati Sepp (EST), Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL) and Dave Hood (USA). Returning after a 12-year interval is four-time Congressional Cup winner Gavin Brady (USA); LBYC also announced five-time Congressional Cup winner Ian Williams (GBR) will join the line-up. Williams, sailing for China.one Ningbo Team, was recently crowned the Match Racing World Champion for the seventh time. Three remaining spots will be awarded to the top trio of finishers hot off the Ficker Cup. With such incredible talent, the Congressional Cup promises to be a thrill!
“We are delighted to have been able to increase the number of teams for this year’s Congressional Cup,” said 2024 Congressional Cup Chairman Tony Mansour. “Sailing, and specifically match racing, has enjoyed tremendous growth post-COVID and we have a unique opportunity to expand our line-up for 2024. Long Beach Yacht Club members and the entire world are in for some incredible racing amongst the greatest sailors of our time.”
With the top three skippers from the Ficker Cup now assured of their place in the Congressional Cup, there will be much to play for over that four-day qualifying event. As an added advantage, those teams will enjoy valuable time in the Catalina37 fleet before advancing to the Congressional Cup the following week.
Five spirited days of Congressional Cup racing will commence 24 April, with nightly press conferences and social events at host LBYC. Competition takes place off the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, where spectators can enjoy live commentary for free. The event also will be live streamed starting Friday April 26.
Today’s conditions presented challenges, characterised by brisk and gusty northeast winds, reminiscent of yesterday’s quarter-finals. Finding a path up the course proved tricky and required close attention to the pressure and shifts. Whichever team connected them the best would gain the advantage, which led to numerous lead changes in each race.
The fight for the championship title was some of the closest match racing of the entire regatta. It was Brady who got the first point on the board.
“We managed to get in close and waited for an opportunity to appear at the top mark. It was the one defining moment in the race,” recalled Brady. “We made a big call at the bottom mark to tack off at the bottom, and that paid off for a right-hand shift.”
The next three races all went to Williams, but not without a tough battle. In a thrilling third race, Brady and Williams were changing leads and crossing tacks, never more than a few boat lengths away from each other. But it was Williams and his team who found the favourable shifts and pulled ahead.
Williams talks about the crew work, “it was about being both smooth and aggressive with the shifts; that’s what we were working on.” Chinaone.Ningbo found their footing, showing an understanding of wind patterns and boat handling that improved with each race. “It was all about the shifts and connecting the puffs. We’ve really got in our groove. Amazing that it’s taken this long, but we really felt the last two races we were in our groove and understood the rhythm of the shifts and the way the boat sails. We were really pleased with our performance, particularly in the last race,” says Williams.
“Incredible to finally have got the seventh world title. The last one was back in 2016, nearly eight years. To come with a new team, Chinaone.Ningbo, and come to China and win the world title, it’s amazing. It’s been a long time coming. We’ve battled away. We’ve never stopped trying,” said Williams on the victory.
Gavin Brady (USA) and his True Blue Racing team of Nick Blackman, Tom Powrie, and Dave Swete gave Williams a great battle, but missing out on a few critical shifts saw them finish in second.
“It’s a little disappointing. You don’t get many chances to win a world championship. Is this the last shot you get at it, or do you get another shot at it in the future?” expressed Brady on the second-place finish.
Brady showed a huge level of improvement in terms of aggressiveness in the final against Williams, something Brady’s crew have been pushing him toward all season. His improvement on his instinct to go for a penalty instead of playing it safe has been something he’s been proud of this week. This confidence was evident in the finals as he pushed boundaries, sometimes leading to penalties against him. However, it proves his team’s adaptability against the world’s top match racers.
Reflecting on his season, reaching the final, and competing against Williams, Brady remarked, “I do think we sailed against the best in the world, for sure. The names on the trophy prove it.”
Another remarkable performance was seen from Megan Thomson and her 2.0 Racing team, securing a third-place finish this week. Thomson became the first female skipper to be in the top four of a World Match Racing Tour Final and defeated 2023 Bermuda Cup’s undefeated champion Johni Berntsson (SWE) for the podium spot.
“The result is more than we could have hoped for,” says Thomson after the third place finish. Looking ahead, she added, “we’re hoping to build upon this and come back to the next event stronger.”
Thomson also sails on the Women’s World Match Racing Tour and hopes to see some of that talent on the World Match Racing Tour next year.
“It’d be great to see some more girls here. There is definitely the level out there to have them be at these events and on the open tour,” she says.
This event concludes the 2023 season, and we wish everyone a happy holiday and congratulations on competing on the world stage.
The 2023 World Match Racing Tour was held in Shenzhen, China was jointly hosted by the World Match Racing Tour, China Yachting Association, the Shenzhen Municipal Administration of Culture, Media, Tourism and Sports, and the People’s Government of Bao’an District of Shenzhen.
Fourteen of the 16 teams were announced in August with three-time defending champion Taylor Canfield (Miami), World No. 1-ranked and newly minted U.S. match racing champion Chris Poole (Cold Spring Harbor, New York), the reigning Open Match Racing World Champion Nick Egnot-Johnson (Auckland, New Zealand), the reigning Women's Match Racing World Champion Pauline Courtois (Brest, France), and the reigning Youth Match Racing World Champion Jeffrey Peterson (Santa Ana, California) highlighting the list.
The field was recently completed with the addition of Joshua Greenslade (Pembroke), winner of the Bermuda Match Racing National Championship, and Gavin Brady (Auckland, New Zealand), a past America's Cup tactician.
Greenslade won the Bermuda championship by defeating Kelsey Durham (Smiths) in mid-August, 3-1. "It was a light air day," said the 32-year-old Greenslade. "In the first two races, Kelsey got out in front of us but made a couple of mistakes that we capitalized on. He got away from us in the third race to win that one, and in the fourth race we played the shifts a little better and got in front and took it to the finish. It was a long, hot day and we were able to do just better than him and got the spot."
Greenslade raced the RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup 2003-'06 and the Bermuda Gold Cup in 2013 but hasn't been match racing much lately as he helps run the youth sailing program at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. He plans to race with locals Dale Brangman (mainsail trimmer) and Ruiri Brown (headsails trimmer) and Peter Dill (bowman) of Michigan.
"We'll get out there and see what we can do, hopefully cause some problems for the others," he said. "You like to think there's local knowledge in the harbour, but it's very hit or miss. I just hope the wind's good and not super weird either way. I hope that I can see something that no one else sees, but I can't guarantee that."
The 49-year-old Brady, who finished runner-up in the 2001 Bermuda Gold Cup and last sailed the event in 2005, gained entry through the Oakcliff International, the concluding event of the 2023 US Grand Slam Series (a series of four Grade 2 match race regattas in the U.S.). Brady's True Blue Racing team lost the final to Poole's Riptide Racing, but gained the berth because Poole is already entered.
"I'm still passionate about match racing but it's been hard to fit in," said Brady, who's the tactician and organizes the crew for three racing programs. "I've spent a lot of time and effort on Maxi 72s, TP52s, Pac 52s and MOD70s, but little time on my own skills. I thought it was time to hone my skills and it's been great motivation. I've been having a great time doing it."
The championship trophy for the Bermuda Gold Cup, the King Edward VII Gold Cup, dates to 1907 and is the oldest match racing trophy in the world for a competition involving one-design yachts and is one of the most coveted championships in match racing. New Zealander Russell Coutts, who's won the America's Cup five times as a skipper or Chief Executive Officer, is the all-time winner with seven championships between 1990 and 2004. The regatta has been run in its current format, as a ladder-style tournament on the confines of Hamilton Harbour, since 1985.
Besides racing amid the natural beauty of Bermuda, part of the allure of the regatta is the class of boat, the International One-Design, or IOD as it's popularly known. Designed in 1936, the IOD is 33 feet long overall, 21 feet long on the waterline, nearly 7 feet wide and displaces more than 7,100 pounds. Far from a hydrofoiler, the IOD is a glider that carries its speed for long stretches due to its weight. It's a throwback in today's age of lightweight flyers.
Canfield, who won the previous Gold Cup in October 2000 when it was also the Open Match Racing World Championship, has adapted well to the classic design despite racing multihulls and lightweight planers.
"You have more time to process what's happening on the racecourse in an IOD than you do in a multihull such as the M32," said Canfield. "In M32 fleet racing you have split-second decision making. Match racing IODs the crew has more time to prepare for maneuvers."
Canfield and his Stars+Stripes USA, including longtime tactician Mike Buckley, Robby Bisi, Ian Liberty and Erik Shampain, will be late arrivals in Bermuda after racing in the M32 World Championship in Newport, R.I., this week.
"The plan is to fly into Bermuda on Monday (Oct. 2) morning and train in the afternoon," said Canfield. "We haven't focused much on match racing so I'm not sure where we stand with the current field, but Bermuda is one of my favorite venues. We've always done well there, and we have a great team. We're aware of each other's personalities and the chemistry is good."
Anna Östling (Lerum, Sweden) is skipper of one of the three female crews slated to race the Bermuda Gold Cup, joining Courtois and New Zealand's Celia Willison, and is returning for her second run at the prestigious trophy. Östling's WINGS crew, the newly minted winners of the Women's World Match Racing Tour, first raced in 2000 and placed 10th overall.
Östling eyes the starts as critical to any success her team, including Anna Holmdahl White (main trim and tactics), Linnéa Wennergren and Elisabeth Nilsson (trimmers) and Annika Carlunger (bow), will enjoy.
"We have been focusing on faster boats this last year so it will be great fun and a challenge to step into the IOD again," said the 39-year-old skipper. "Last time was the first time for most of the crew, including me, and it took some time for us to understand the boat. So, I think with that experience I'm more prepared this time.
"I remember we had to plan the strategy a lot more before starting because we didn't want to tack as often. So, we really need to be on our toes and take every chance to start ahead. In this fleet it will be difficult but if we can pull off some good starts, I'm confident my girls onboard will know how to sail the boat fast around the course," Östling said.
Racing for the 71st Bermuda Gold Cup is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am on Tuesday, Oct. 3, and run through Saturday, Oct. 7. Visit the Bermuda Gold Cup and World Match Racing Tour websites for more information.
Dave Hood, representing Long Beach Yacht Club grabbed 3rd over Pearson Potts’ Guardians of the Monohull. Hood was also on hand to present the winner of the Grand Slam Series with an invite to the Congressional Cup. The winner of the International received the last invitation to World Match Racing Tour’s Bermuda Gold Cup. Poole already earned his invitation to the Congressional Cup as last year’s winner and has an invite to the Bermuda Gold Cup October 2-7 so both spots were awarded to second-place, Gavin Brady.
Brady who is launching himself and his team back onto the World Match Race Tour and sailed Match 40s for the first time in 15 years at last week’s Thompson Cup. “We used to sail these boats 15 years ago so sort of taking a bit of time to remind ourselves what they perform like … we’re starting to feel a bit more comfortable on the boats.” Brady competed in all 4 stops on the Grand Slam Series, including the Oakcliff International, the Thompson Cup hosted by Seawanhaka using Oakcliff’s Match 40s and the Chicago Grand Slam and Detroit Cup.
Regatta Director Patrice Rachlin gave a shout out to the volunteers who navigated some of the hottest days of the summer so far. “I can’t say how important the support teams are for making a Grade 1 international event a success”. Day 1 all teams sheltered in the air-conditioned Oakcliff Bunkhouse waiting for a breeze that never filled. A late ‘cocktail breeze’ filled in on day 2 allowing the race committee and mark set teams to complete more than half of a round-robin before running out of daylight. The round robin finished on Day 3 just in time for some thunderstorms to roll through. The fourth and final day was reserved for the top four teams as they competed in the finals and petite finals.
The finals at the Oakcliff International had Poole facing off against Gavin Brady Brady led the ten teams out of the round robin. After Brady won the first race, he was OCS in the next two races which was enough for Poole to win those races and take the match.
Dave Hood, representing Long Beach Yacht Club, grabbed 3rd over Pearson Potts’ Guardians of the Monohull. Hood was also on hand to present the winner of the Grand Slam Series with an invite to the Congressional Cup. The winner also received the last invitation to World Match Racing Tour’s Bermuda Gold Cup, but as Poole had already earned his invitation to the Congressional Cup as last year’s winner and has an invite to the Bermuda Gold Cup October 2-7, both spots were awarded to Brady.
Brady is launching himself and his team back onto the World Match Race Tour and sailed Match 40s for the first time in 15 years at the 2023 Thompson Cup. Brady competed in all four stops on the Grand Slam Series.
For Day 1, all teams sheltered in the air-conditioned Oakcliff Bunkhouse waiting for a breeze that never filled. A late ‘cocktail breeze’ filled in on day 2 to complete more than half of a round-robin before running out of daylight. The round robin finished on Day 3 just in time for some thunderstorms to roll through. The fourth and final day was reserved for the top four teams as they competed in the finals and petite finals.
The Oakcliff International with teams representing, Australia, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa included skippers as young as 20 years old mixing it up with the top of the leaderboard and vying for $10,000 in Prize Grants.
In an outstanding display of sailing in the often tricky conditions on the Detroit River, Callahan defeated World Sailing-ranked no. 1 match racer Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing team 3-0 in the Semi-Finals, then went on to defeat fellow Finalist Gavin Brady and his True Blue Racing team by the same score.
“We never expected to do this well here at our first Grade 2,” said Callahan, “and it’s been exciting to sail against legends like Chris Poole and Gavin. I grew up watching YouTube videos of guys like this in action, so it’s been amazing to be here in person to compete with them.”
This was the first Detroit Cup for Callahan, first time in Bayview’s Ultimate 20s, and first and only appearance in this year’s Grand Slam since he, brother Mitchell and Marlo are undergraduate students at Harvard, O’Keefe an undergrad at Brown, and all start their Fall semester of studies soon while the more veteran match racers go on to compete in the final two events in New York.
“I have the pleasure of racing with my closest friends,” said Callahan, “and that’s helped us iron out our teamwork to improve throughout the event.” Indeed, having four light, agile intercollegiate sailors with honed skills in dinghy racing has shown proven benefits in the light and agile Ultimate 20 sportboats here at Bayview.
Nonetheless, the field of 12 teams from 5 nations at the Detroit Cup this year represented tremendous diversity in background and talent, an enduring and hallmark feature of this event.
“Magic happens at Bayview,” said regatta chairman Lance Smotherman. “Not only did we have a wide variety of race conditions this year to test these team, but also a huge diversity in cultures and match racing talent. Our Finals match came down to the youngest and oldest skippers competing for the top prize.
“Gavin has years of experience from the America’s Cup to the ORC Worlds, and Justin is an up and coming intercollegiate star. This is a testament to how match race sailing here at Bayview can present an equal playing field for the best sailors to perform.”
The Chicago Grand Slam, wrapped up today, the first in the series of four World Sailing Grade 2 Match Racing regattas that comprise the USA Grand Slam Series earning the winner an invitation to Long Beach Yacht Club’s Congressional Cup. All stops of the Grand Slam also earn skippers points on the World Match Racing Tour leaderboard.
Racing on day one started in Chicago Yacht Club’s fleet of Tom 28s with Northerly winds around 10 knots making for challenging conditions on a wavy Lake Michigan. Flight 1 started out diving right into competitive racing with Jeffery Petersen fresh off a win at Governors going head-to-head with multiple time US Match Racing Champion Pearson Potts.
Potts started the match with a penalty in the pre-start that he quickly shed offsetting in a luff just after the start and was able to take the point for the match. Racing was briefly paused while the northerly died out and an easterly filling in around 6 to 8 knots for the rest of the day calming down the northerly swell but still leaving a challenging sea state.
Planes practicing for the Chicago Air and Water Show joined the competitors on the lake throughout the day providing racers and officials with entertainment during BYE’s and our pause in racing.
Day One finished completing nine flights of the Round Robin thanks to PRO Darcy Cook and her Race Committee team keeping races running efficiently and Bruce Cook’s dedicated team of umpires keeping the competition fair. Rossi ended the day undefeated with Potts in a close second, only losing to Rossi, with only a few matches remaining in the Round Robin.
Day Two started with stronger southerly breezes that churned up the lake more than expected but provided spectacular conditions for the competitors to finish out the round robin and dive into the knockout stages.
Rossi kept his winning streak going undefeated and getting first pick of opponents in the quarters followed by Cole Tapper and Pearson Potts with Jeffery Petersen in 4th left to race Gavin Brady. Rossi defended his perfect record sweeping the first to 2 series against Megan Thomsen alongside Tapper sweeping his series against Matt Whitfield.
Quarters 3 and 4 saw close battles with Cormac Murphy and Pearson Potts exchanging points in the first two matches of the series and ultimately Murphy prevailing in the last match taking the spot in the semis. The last spot in the semi’s was earned by Gavin Brady taking 2 consecutive wins against Jeffery Petersen.
Most Race Committees would have called it a day but with a forecast of little to no wind for later in the regatta, RC pressed on starting and completing the Semi Finals to wrap up another long day on the water. Rossi again with first pick of opponents picked Murphy leaving Tapper to face Brady. Just as in the rest of the regatta, the French team helmed by Rossi sailed their way into the finals, defeating Murphy 3 to 0.
In the second Semi Final the gloves were off as well between Tapper and Brady. Tapper taking the first two wins leaving Brady with no room for error to continue on. Brady met the challenge in hard-fought matches to win three in a row and secure his place in the finals. It looked like Brady has shaken off the Match Racing rust and is poised to put up a good fight in the finals.
Day Three left only the finals and petite finals to complete in a dying breeze and high temperatures in the forecast. The RC began the day postponing ashore seeing signs that a thermal lake breeze could fill in later in the day. Sailors, RC, and Umpires alike prepped their boats to be ready to mobilize quickly if conditions provided the opportunity before sheltering back in the clubhouse.
After much anticipation and searching for sailable breeze up and down the lakefront, time ran out to be able to make it out to complete the finals even if the wind filled in, so the tough decision was made to abandon the Finals and Petites ended the regatta in the early afternoon with Rossi keeping his undefeated record winning first place in the regatta and 100 points towards the Grand Slam series scoring, Brady in second place securing 90 points in the Grand Slam, and Tapper in 3rd securing 80 points.
Though many were disappointed in not being able to complete the format and keep battling it out on Lake Michigan, all left satisfied with their two great days of racing and a little extra time. Some used the time to rest up for the 2023 Detroit Cup that starts racing Thursday, August 24th at Bayview Yacht Club. Others took the time to enjoy some of the many other attractions Chicago has to offer.
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