Coutts leads finals

As King Edward VII Gold Cup schedule disrupted by strong winds

Three-time America's Cup winning skipper Russell Coutts of New Zealand holds a 2-1 lead over Australian James Spithill of Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge after three races of the final of the King Edward VII Gold Cup, the third stage of the 2004-'05 Swedish Match Tour.

Originally scheduled to begin tomorrow, the final of the Investors Guaranty Presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup began this afternoon due to dire weather forecasts of 35-knot winds for tomorrow. If racing is held tomorrow, the final will be extended to a best-of-seven format, or first to 4 points.

The winds today were stronger than they've been all week. Blowing from the west, the wind averaged about 14 knots, but by the end of the day was gusting well into the 20s as a predicted low pressure system approached.

Spithill, racing with fellow Luna Rossa crewmembers Magnus Augustsson, Charlie McKee and Joe Newton, took the first race of the final off Coutts, sailing with Danes Jes Gram-Hansen, Christian Kamp and Rasmus Kostner.

Coutts was penalised for hitting the windward mark in a close rounding with Spithill. Then his crew had troubles hoisting the spinnaker, and Spithill opened an insurmountable lead. "The sheets were led inside the shrouds," said tactician and bowman Gram-Hansen, himself a skipper on the Swedish Match Tour. "We normally set the spinnaker before each race, but this time we didn't."

Coutts rallied to win the next two races, mostly due to penalties against Spithill. The 26-year-old skipper was penalised in Race 2 for not tacking soon enough after requesting sea room. He was penalised twice in Race 3, once in the pre-start and a second time on the first run for not giving Coutts enough room to gybe.

In a thrilling sequence in Race 3, Spithill, to leeward, forced Coutts high on the run. That sent the pair toward the seawall just west of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. They got to the wall and when Coutts gybed to starboard he had to hold the mainsheet to keep the boom from hitting the seawall. But Spithill's spinnaker had already touched Coutts's mainsail.

"I don't think the penalties in the first two races affected the outcome," said Spithill. "I probably deserved the pre-start penalty in the third race. Then I took him to the concrete wall and tried to put him on it."

Spithill thought he had Coutts locked to windward in the Race 3 pre-start, but with about 40 seconds to go Coutts dived to leeward and got a late hook. Spithill then drove down across Coutts's bow and was penalised for not keeping clear.

Coutts and Spithill advanced to the final after defeating Scott Dickson and Ed Baird, respectively, in this morning's semifinal round. Coutts beat Dickson, the unseeded skipper, 3-0, and Spithill defeated Baird, the co-leader of the Swedish Match Tour and the event's No. 1 seed, 3-0.

Dickson, sailing with Sonny Gibson, Allan Lindsay and Dave Ridley, felt he started well against Coutts, but simply couldn't convert. "I'm not disappointed at all," said Dickson. "This is why we came here, to sail against the top guys. I feel like we sailed well in the starts and the first beats."

Baird's 3-0 loss to Spithill left him perturbed at the end of the day. "I gave up a race I should've won. And then I started poorly in the other races," said Baird, racing with Andy Horton, Piet van Nieuwenhuyzen and Jon Ziskind.

Final
No. 7 Russell Coutts (NZL) leads No. 4 James Spithill (AUS), 2-1
(Scheduled first-to-four points)

Petit Final
No. 1 Ed Baird (USA) leads Scott Dickson (NZL), 2-1
(Scheduled first-to-three points)

Semifinal Results
No. 4 James Spithill (AUS) d. No. 1 Ed Baird (USA), 3-0
No. 7 Russell Coutts (NZL) d. Scott Dickson (NZL), 3-0