And then there were four

A report on the heavy weight action at the Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman match racing

The third day of racing at the Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman, the fifth leg of Swedish Match Tour, were held once again in near perfect conditions of sun and wind in the idyllic setting of Elba's Porto Azzurro.

Quarter-finallists today enjoyed northwesterly winds of 15-18 knots with gusts reaching more than 20. In the offshore breeze the wind was extremely shifty.

First helmsman to pass into the semi finals was Luna Rossa's James Spithill who beat Gavin Brady 2-0. In the first match Spithill rounded the first leeward mark with a 30 second lead, which was then reduced by half at the second windward mark. In the final downwind leg Spithill chose the left side of the course, covering Brady by gybing and keeping the BMW Oracle team in check until the finish line.

During the second match at the end of the first upwind leg Luna Rossa’s skipper luffed up near the mark, forcing his opponent head to wind. Brady failed to react in time earning him a penalty and from there could only chase Spithill towards the finish line.

The second best of three quarter final flight was between Russell Coutts and Alinghi's Ed Baird. With the score going 1-1, a tense, hard fought decider ensued. Coutts got a late hook on Baird with about 30 seconds to the start. In doing so, he forced Baird to tack to port. Coutts followed, and drove the pair away from the starting line before tacking and leading back to the line. When the starting gun sounded, Coutts was still about three boatlengths from the start line, but it didn’t matter. In match-racing the goal is to crush your opponent, and Coutts seemed on his way to that goal.

Coutts led around the first lap of the twice around racecourse, and began the second lap with a lead roughly equal to the one he had at the start. But Baird sailed a blazing second beat and overtook Coutts halfway up the leg. The American led around the windward mark the second time, but Coutts was right on his transom. Baird’s crew had a clean set while Coutts’ was slightly slower. Baird still led halfway down the run when Coutts gybed back to port. He found a big puff that allowed him to sail low and fast down the course, and he simply sailed around Baird to win by no more than a boatlength.

“Ninety percent of the runs have favored starboard gybe,” Baird said. “We thought we’d consolidate on that gybe, but he got a puff that allowed him to sail low and fast.”

Thus Coutts, winner of the Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman here last year, took the second scalp from his old team 2-1 having dispatched Peter Holmberg 24 hours earlier.

Next up was 2004 Swedish Match Tour Peter Gilmour of the Pizza-La Sailing Team, beating Team Shosholoza's Ian Ainslie 2-0. Given the field Ainslie had done exceptionally well to get into the last eight on this occasion sailing without the benefit of Chris Law on board (Law is still coaching the team from ashore).

The last quarter final ended with a victory by Victory Challenge's Magnus Holmberg over Britain's Iain Percy 2-1. In the decider Holmberg started to windward close abeam of Percy, and kept him covered up the first beat. Percy never really had a chance as Holmberg led by about three boatlengths at the first windward mark and extended to the finish. “We got the start a bit wrong in that one,” said Percy, making his debut on the Swedish Match Tour this week. “A day like today was one where the rich get richer.”

In racing this afternoon for fifth through eighth, Baird beat Percy for fifth, and Brady beat Ainslie for seventh. Percy, helmsman for the +39 Challenge, finished sixth having in one match lined up against the great Russell Coutts - and won.

“This was definitely a confidence boost for us,” said Percy. “We learned too many things to mention. We came here to watch the top guys, but came away with a finish beyond our expectations and experience.”

Tomorrow will see the semi-final rounds of the Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman tomorrow with Russell Coutts v. James Spithill, and Magnus Holmberg v. Peter Gilmour.

Quarterfinal Results

Russell Coutts (NZL) Coutts Racing d. Ed Baird (USA) Team Alinghi, 2-1
James Spithill (AUS) Luna Rossa Challenge d. Gavin Brady (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing, 2-0
Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge d. Iain Percy (GBR) +39 Challenge, 2-1
Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team d. Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Shosholoza, 2-0

Semifinal Pairings
Russell Coutts (NZL) Coutts Racing vs. James Spithill (AUS) Luna Rossa Challenge
Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team vs. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge

Places 5th through 8th
Ed Baird (USA) Team Alinghi d. Iain Percy (GBR) +39 Challenge
Baird 5th, Percy 6th
Gavin Brady (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing d. Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Shosholoza
Brady 7th, Ainslie 8th

Crew List
Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Shosholoza
Charles Nankin, David Rae, Alexander Runciman, Mark Sadler
Gavin Brady (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing
Sean Clarkson, Dirk de Ridder, Robbie Naismith, Brad Webb
Russell Coutts (NZL) Coutts Racing
Michael Arnhild, Jes Gram-Hansen, Christian Kamp, Rasmus Kostner
Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team
Rod Dawson, Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Yasuhiro Yaji
Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge
Martin Krite, Lars Linger, Oskar Ljung, Mattias Rahm
Iain Percy (GBR) +39 Challenge
Gabriela Bruno, Anthony Nossiter, Stefano Rizzi, Jacek Wysocki
James Spithill (AUS) Luna Rossa Challenge
Crew: Magnus Augustson, Michele Ivaldi, Jonathan McKee, Joe Newton