Williams on top

After first day of the Knickerbocker Cup match racing in Long Island Sound

British match racer Ian Williams and his crew of Mark Williams, Steve Mitchell and Mark Nicholls came out on the top of the leaderboard at the end of the first day of racing at the 2005 Knickerbocker Cup. Simon Minoprio, who was second in last year’s Cup, came in second with 4 wins and 1 loss.

After a good morning of racing in 12-15 northwesterly, the wind died just as the second rotation of teams hopped on their J/105s, and the Race Committee was forced to cancel racing for the duration of the day.

With the Canadian team of Terry McLaughlin, Allan Megarry, Geoff Moore, and Rossi Milev, who won the Knickerbocker Cup in 2003 and 2004, sidelined due to lack of wind, it is difficult to predict how well the Canadians will fare this year. Obviously, they are the team to beat. But that may prove difficult with the notoriously shifty winds on Manhasset Bay.

According to Ian Williams, “the winds were very tricky today. As the land heated up, there were some big holes in the breeze. The trick was to stay out of the holes.” After today’s performance, it appears that Williams & co, who are racing in the Knickerbocker Cup for the first time, have pretty much figured out local wind conditions, and could very well be the spoiler for the Canadians attempt at a three-peat.

Standings as of Thursday, August 25, 2005:

Ian Williams (ENG) 5 wins, 0 losses
Simon Minoprio (NZL) 4 wins, 1 loss
Laurie Jury (NZL) 2 wins, 3 losses
Jon Singsen (USA) 2 wins, 3 losses
Scott Dickson (USA) 1 win, 4 losses
Christian Hamilton (ENG) 1 win, 4 losses
Brian Angel (USA) 0 wins, 0 losses
Martin Angsell (SWE) 0 wins, 0 losses
Mark Campbell-James (ENG) 0 wins, 0 losses
Terry McLaughlin (CAN) 0 wins, 0 losses
Matteo Simoncelli (ITA) 0 wins, 0 losses
Peter Wibroe (DNK) 0 wins, 0 losses