Holmberg - lucky in Portugal

Alinghi helm beats Ben Ainslie in final of Swedish Match Tour's PTPortugal Match Cup

Peter Holmberg today won his first Swedish Match Tour event in more than three years when he captured the second annual PTPortugal Match Cup.

Holmberg, helmsman for America’s Cup champion Alinghi, defeated Ben Ainslie (GBR), of Emirates Team New Zealand, 3-1 in the final. Holmberg lost the first match, but then won three straight to win 35,000€ of the 100,000€ prize purse. This came after another match racing victory for Holmberg on the same waters at the Laureus Regatta in May where he won a Mercedes CLK 200 AMG.

“It feels sweet," said the 45-year-old Holmberg. "It really feels good because I think it was a hard battle. I think we all got tested and I think we stepped up our game during the whole regatta. It’s one of those great results you cherish."

Holmberg became the early leader of the seventh Swedish Match Tour season. His victory gives him 25 points towards the championship, while Ainslie scored 20 points.

Holmberg and crew Rodney Ardern, Murray Jones, Lorenzo Mazza and Matt Mitchell became the first America’s Cup crew to win an event of the Swedish Match Tour this year. For Holmberg, the 2002-’03 Tour champion, it was his fourth career victory on the Tour. “I’d especially like to thank my team, Rodney doing my main, Matt on the bow, Murray Jones on the tactics and Lorenzo trimming,” Holmberg said. “This place here requires a team. There’s no way you can win it without a great team, so I really owe these guys all the credit.”

The race was equally significant for Ben Ainslie, who may have two Olympic Golds and one Silver medal to his credit, but is still relatively new to the art of match racing. Ainslie was sailing with a Emirates Team New Zealand squad of Stu Bettany (main), Ray Davies (tactics), Rob Salthouse (headsails) and Chris Ward (bow). Coming second they won 20,000€.

“We had a fantastic opportunity to win, but they sailed better,” said Ainslie. “Credit to Peter and his guys.”

The 3-1 final score doesn’t reflect the closeness of the match. Ainslie won the first race by about six to eight boatlengths. Riding port tack he won the first cross and led by about 27 seconds at the first windward mark. Holmberg closed up on the first run but Ainslie extended away over the second lap.

Holmberg won the second race when he won the first cross. Ainslie made it close at the first windward mark, approaching on starboard in a lift, but Holmberg rounded the mark with about a 6 second advantage. Holmberg played the hard right on the second windward leg while Ainslie went hard left, and Holmberg held a sizeable lead at the windward mark.

With the score tied 1-1, Ainslie and crew made a fatal error. They entered the pre-start on port tack at the pin end. They won the right side of the start line and worked the right side of the beat to lead by more than 20 seconds at the windward mark. They led all around the track but when they got to the finish the Race Committee didn’t raise the blue flag signaling victory.

Ainslie and crew had sailed the wrong course. When they entered the pre-start box the race committee signaled a course change to the second windward mark, the one with a black band. Two marks were set because the wind was shifting through about 20 degrees, and the Race Committee was choosing the mark at the 4-minute gun based on the wind direction.

Entering the start box from the far end Ainslie and crew failed to recognise the course change. “The third race was a pretty big error on our part,” admitted Ainslie. "We were in the lead and did the wrong course. I’m slightly bemused how all five of us missed the change of course flag, but somehow we did. That was a pretty frustrating way to lose that race, and it kind of turned the tables.”

“We all talked about it after the start and we all agreed it was the left-hand mark.” said tactician Ray Davies. “We came in on port entry, wound up about trying to cross Peter.”

Down 2-1, Ainslie got a penalty against Holmberg in the pre-start of Race 4 for a port-starboard incident. “The umpires say we never went to starboard,” said Holmberg, who entered the pre-start on port tack. “We changed our attitude after that and got aggressive.”

Holmberg and crew started chasing Ainslie around the start box. They almost forced him to hit the committee boat as the start signal sounded. “We were just inches away from closing him out,” said Murray Jones, Holmberg’s tactician. “We couldn’t quite slow the boat enough. We were too far forward.”

Carrying a penalty Holmberg rode Ainslie to the right side of the racecourse. Holmberg led by about 23 seconds at the first windward mark. Ainslie gained time at the leeward and second windward marks to trail by about 16 seconds beginning the final leg. It wasn’t enough time for Holmberg to complete his penalty turn and win the match.

On the final leg, however, Jones called for a gybe to starboard. “We saw some pressure and thought that’ll do us,” he said later. Indeed it did. They extended to enough of an advantage to complete their penalty turn at the finish and win the championship by half a length.

Holmberg and Ainslie advanced to the final by beating Peter Gilmour of Pizza-La Sailing Team, and Dane Jes Gram-Hansen of Gram-Hansen Racing. Both scores were 3-1. In the Petit Final, Gilmour beat Gram-Hansen 2-0 to win 15,000€. Gram-Hansen won 8,000€.

More photos on the following pages...

Swedish Match Tour Standings
(After Stage 1)
1. Peter Holmberg (ISV) 25 points
2. Ben Ainslie (GBR) 20 points
3. Peter Gilmour (AUS) 15 points
4. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) 12 points
5. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) 10 points
6. Chris Law (GBR) 8 points
7. Bertrand Pace (FRA) 6 points
8. Michael Dunstan (AUS) 4 points


PTPortugal Match Cup Final Standings
Prize Purse: 100,000 € (approximately $120,700)
Skipper (Country) Team, Record, Prize Money*
1. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 12-3, 35,000€ (approx. $42,200)
Crew: Rodney Ardern, Murray Jones, Lorenzo Mazza, Matthew Mitchell
2. Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand, 9-7, 20,000€ (approx. $24,100)
Crew: Stu Bettany, Ray Davies, Rob Salthouse, Chris Ward
3. Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team, 8-5, 15,000€ (approx. $18,100)
Crew: Frederico Cerveira, Thierry Fouchier, Fred Guilmin, Yasuhiro Yaji
4. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) Gram-Hansen Racing, 7-6, 8,000€ (approx. $9,600)
Crew: Michael Arnhild, Rasmus Kostner, Chresten Plinius, Pete Poulsen
5. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Team Finland, 6-4, 7,000€ (approx. $8,400)
Crew: Nils Bjerkas, Niklas Carlzon, Carl-Johan Uckelstam, Daniel Wallberg
6. Chris Law (GBR) The Outlaws, 8-6, 6,000€ (approx. $7,200)
Crew: Andy Oliver, Shaun Pammenter, Diogo Pereira, Mark Sadler
7. Bertrand Pacé (FRA) BMW Oracle Racing, 5-4, 5,000€ (approx. $6,000)
Crew: Eric Doyle, Noel Drennan, Zack Hurst, Brad Webb
8. Michael Dunstan (AUS), 5-9, 4,000€ (approx. $4,800)
Crew: James Fox, Andrew Hutchinson, Ben Morrison-Jack, Nick Wilcox
9. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Musto, 6-4
Crew: Will Howden, Pontus Meijer, Simon Shaw, Mark Williams
10. Hamish Pepper (NZL) Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia Team, 3-7
Crew: Marco Constant, Cameron Dunn, Pietro Mantovani, Jon Ziskind
11. Afonso Domingos (POR), 3-7
Crew: Manuel Dantas, Luis Neves, Miguel Nunes, Bernardo Plantier
12. Manuel Marques (POR), 0-10
Crew: Vasco Almeida, Goncalo Cabrita, Duarte Neves, Rui Sancho
(*USD amounts based on 7/24/05 exchange rate of 1€ = 1.20705USD)

Swedish Match Tour partners include Swedish Match, BMW and the Match Race Association. Swedish Match Tour Official Sponsors include Musto, Sebago, Travel Places, Trident Studio and Wedgwood.