Baird shows form again

After his World Match Racing championship win, Ed Baird is leading the list of unseeded skippers in Bermuda

World Match Racing Champion Ed Baird/Team XL Capital (USA) continued his winning ways in the second day of round robin racing at the Investors Guaranty™ Presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup and remained undefeated, the only skipper in his group of eight to do so. Light 5-8 knot winds and grey skies prevailed over the international fleet, but were a welcome relief from the stormy, shifting conditions of yesterday.

"I feel lucky," said Baird of his close matches against Magnus Holmberg/Team Continental Airlines (SWE), Bill Hardesty (USA) and Andy Green/Renaissance Reinsurance (GBR) in Group 2. "Andy had a very big lead on us, but we were extra lucky to have the puffs come through for us and get close to him. My team was wonderful and said to me, ‘Go get him.’ They had us on the ropes pretty hard, so we feel lucky to be where we are. This is a tricky place to sail and we feel fortunate."

Three skippers sit behind Baird with 3 wins, 2 losses each: Hardesty, Peter Bromby/Team ACE (BER) and Scott Dickson/Team Dickson (USA). Perhaps one of the most exciting races of the day came in the last flight when Dickson and Bromby squared off, changing leads four times with Bromby narrowly pulling off the win.

"My crew did a fantastic job," said Bromby, Bermuda’s four-time athlete of the year and representative in the Olympic Star class. "I got my act together after yesterday and we have a lot of racing ahead of us. There are no easy matches here and we’re hoping for at least one victory tomorrow to have a shot at going through to the next round."

In Group 1, there is a three-way tie at the top of the scoreboard between Cameron Appleton/Team Triangle Rigging (NZL), Paolo Cian/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team (ITA) and Cameron Dunn/Team Kaenon (NZL).

"We sailed clean in the last race today, but things didn’t go our way," said Cameron Appleton of his loss to fellow New Zealander Cameron Dunn. "Cameron was able to get a handy lead on us. At the end of the day the draw doesn’t matter, we’ll go on and do well. We’re sailing really well."

Tomorrow’s final two flights will decide the top three skippers in each group that will advance and face the eight seeded skippers, beginning Wednesday, October 22.
Title sponsor of the King Edward VII Gold Cup is Investors Guaranty™. The event is hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and the Bermuda Department of Tourism. Renaissance Reinsurance is the Presenting Sponsor. Primary Sponsors are Bacardi, Colorcraft, Continental Airlines, Coral Beach & Tennis Club, Horizons Resort, Oleander Cycles, Omega, The Waterloo House and Wedgwood.


Preliminary Results: Day 2, October 19

Group 1 Overall Standings Skipper/Team, Win-Loss
Cameron Appleton/Team Triangle Rigging (NZL) 4-1
Paolo Cian/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team (ITA) 4-1
Cameron Dunn/Team Kaenon (NZL) 4-1
Staffan Lindberg/Team Henri-Lloyd (FIN) 3-2
Kelvin Harrap/Team Harrap 2-3
Adam Barboza/Team Bacardi (BER) 1-4
Matthew Gregory/Team Gregory (USA) 1-4
Maxim Taranov/Team Taranov (RUS) 1-4

Preliminary Round Robin Results

Group 1

Flight 3
Adam Barboza def. Matthew Gregory
Paolo Cian def. Maxim Taranov
Cameron Appleton def. Kelvin Harrap
Staffan Lindberg def. Cameron Dunn

Flight 4
Cameron Appleton def. Matthew Gregory
Staffan Lindberg def. Paolo Cian
Cameron Dunn def. Maxim Taranov
Kelvin Harrap def. Adam Barboza

Flight 5
Cameron Dunn def. Cameron Appleton
Kelvin Harrap def. Staffan Lindberg
Matthew Gregory def. Maxim Taranov
Paolo Cian def. Adam Barboza

Preliminary Results: Day 2, October 19

Group 2 Overall Standings Skipper/Team, Win-Loss

Ed Baird/Team XL Capital (USA) 5-0
Peter Bromby/Team ACE (BER) 3-2
Scott Dickson/Team Dickson (USA) 3-2
Bill Hardesty/Team Hardesty (USA) 3-2
Magnus Holmberg/Team Continental Airlines (SWE) 2-3
Mattias Rahm/Team Stena Bulk (SWE) 2-3
Blythe Walker/Team Bacardi (BER) 2-3
Andy Green/Team Renaissance Reinsurance (GBR) 1-4

Flight 3
Peter Bromby def. Bill Hardesty
Scott Dickson def. Blythe Walker
Ed Baird def. Magnus Holmberg
Mattias Rahm def. Andy Green

Flight 4
Ed Baird def. Bill Hardesty
Scott Dickson def. Mattias Rahm
Blythe Walker def. Andy Green
Peter Bromby def. Magnus Holmberg

Flight 5
Ed Baird def. Andy Green
Magnus Holmberg def. Mattias Rahm
Bill Hardesty def. Blythe Walker
Peter Bromby def. Scott Dickson