Tour moves on to Portugal

Without pause the Swedish Match Tour 2005-6 kicks into life

Match Race Portugal on 19-24 July kicks off what promises to be a strong year for the professional match-racing series. The schedule is still being finalised, but the season could comprise as many as ten match race series with the possibility of four new events added to the calendar.

It all begins with Stage 1, the €100,000 (approx. $120,000) PTPortugal Match Cup. The event that debuted last year with resounding success once again is organised by Justino de Sa Machado’s Sun Sailing Team, the Naval Club of Cascais and the Cascais Marina. It will be sailed in the Swedish Match 40.

The line-up features four crews from Cup syndicates, and four crews that placed in the top eight on the final 2004-’05 Tour leaderboard, including the two-time reigning Swedish Match Tour champion Peter Gilmour (AUS).

Gilmour last weekend became the first skipper to repeat as champion of the Swedish Match Tour. He defeated Ed Baird (USA), Alinghi, in the Quarterfinal Round to secure the championship, and then beat Magnus Holmberg (SWE) and his Victory Challenge crew in the Final to capture his sixth Swedish Match Cup title.

Gilmour holds a number of Tour records, including career victories with eight wins in the six years of Tour competition. He aims to set another standard in Portugal, most consecutive wins. Gilmour has won the last three events to tie Peter Holmberg (ISV) for the record. A win in Portugal would set a new mark.

Gilmour will have long-time crewmember Yasuhiro Yaji (JPN) with him, but not other regulars such as Rod Dawson (NZL), Mike Mottl (AUS) and Kazuhiko Sofuku (JPN), who can’t race due to other commitments. Instead he’ll be racing with Frenchmen Thierry Fouchier and Fred Guilman.

The line-up also features four Cup syndicates: Ben Ainslie (NZL) from Emirates Team New Zealand, Peter Holmberg (ISV) of Alinghi, Bertrand Pacé (FRA) of BMW Oracle Racing, and Hamish Pepper (NZL) of Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team.

Other competitors include Afonso Domingos (POR), Michael Dunstan (AUS), Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN), Gram-Hansen Racing, Chris Law (GBR) with The Outlaws, Staffan Lindberg (FIN) of Team Finland, Manuel Marques (POR) and Ian Williams (GBR) of Musto Team.

Cup syndicates have been frequent and visible competitors on the Tour this year as they practice towards 2007, but they’ve all been beaten by Cup veterans currently on the sidelines.

Russell Coutts (NZL), the record-setting Cup skipper, won the Toscana Elba Cup- Trofeo Locaman in May, besting 11 Cup teams. Gilmour, a veteran of five Cup syndicates dating back to 1987, won the other three - Match Race Germany, ACI H1 Match Race Cup and Swedish Match Cup - beating no less than 21 Cup crews among the events.

Whereas the America’s Cup has a design aspect to it, the Swedish Match Tour places more emphasis on crew work and continuity because the events are raced in one-designs.

“At the end of the day, experience counts. It’s not that the Cup teams are losing; it’s that two of the most experienced sailors in the world are winning the events,” said Tour director Scott MacLeod. “The Tour is a real race of truth because it’s in one-design boats.”

Last year Ed Baird (USA), Alinghi, beat Coutts 3-0 in the Portugal Match Cup final, a series that featured numerous lead changes, seven penalties and enough match-race strategy to make a chess grand master envious. Neither is entered next week due to other commitments; Baird with Alinghi and Coutts in the Transpac Race.

PTPortugal Match Cup Entry List (as of July 13, 2005)
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand – Competing in 3rd Swedish Match Tour event
Afonso Domingos (POR) – Local qualifier; First European skipper to win Star Class Bacardi Cup (2004)
Michael Dunstan (AUS) – Crewmember on 2005 Farr 40 world champion <I>Evolution</I>
Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team – Two-time reigning Swedish Match Tour champion
Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) Gram-Hansen Racing – Placed 4th overall for 2004-’05 Swedish Match Tour championship
Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi – Helmed Alinghi to victory at Louis Vuitton Act 4
Chris Law (GBR) The Outlaws – Two career Swedish Match Tour victories
Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Team Finland – Placed 7th overall for 2004-’05 Swedish Match Tour championship
Manuel Marques (POR) – Local qualifier; 2nd at 2004 Portugal Match Racing Championship
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) BMW Oracle Racing – Placed 6th overall for 2004-’05 Swedish Match Tour championship
Hamish Pepper (NZL) Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia – Starting helmsman for Italian America’s Cup syndicate
Ian Williams (GBR) Musto Team – Competing in third Swedish Match Tour event

Final 2004-’05 Swedish Match Tour Standings
(After 8 of 8 stages)
1. Peter Gilmour (AUS) 117 points
2. Ed Baird (USA) 102 points
3. Russell Coutts (NZL) 78 points
4. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) 45 points
5. Philippe Presti (FRA) 44 points
6. Bertrand Pacé (FRA) 40 points
7. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) 38 points
8. James Spithill (AUS) 35 points

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.