 Ben Ainslie got the gold he’s been chasing all week. In the Argo Group Gold Cup final today, the three time Olympic gold medal winner (plus one silver), Ben Ainslie (GBR) took the finals 3-1. He has finally etched his name on the coveted King Edward VII Gold Cup along with a host of match race sailing legends. Ainslie and Team Origin also take home the first place prize purse of $50,000. Ainslie sailed for Team Origin with his crew of Matt Cornwell, Iain Percy, and Christian Kamp.
“We had two good races at the beginning today,” Ainslie commented. “
There were big splits out there and the crew were helping and we got it
right in those two races. In the third race we didn’t slow down enough
to avoid a confrontation with Adam. We have found out some of our
tactical weaknesses and the Team and I have some areas to work on.”
When asked how winning the King Edward VII Gold Cup compared to winning
Olympic gold, Ainslie quipped, “Bermuda has a lot better atmosphere and
I know more people here.”
When he was down 0-2 and carrying a penalty Adam Minoprio made it a
match and pulled a classic match racing manoeuvre to gybe on the
approach to the finish, get a luffing overlap on Ainslie and push him
away from the pin end of the finish line. Minoprio was barely able to
turn away from Ainslie and clear his stern and wipe out the penalty on
his tack and make it back to the line first for the win. But Ainslie
was on his game today and that one win wasn’t enough.
Adam Minoprio (NZL), ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing skipper, and his team of
Tom Powrie, David Swete and Nick Blackman took second place. Minoprio
is the top skipper in the International Sailing Federation (ISAF)
rankings and was second in the World Match Racing Tour going into the
Argo Group Gold Cup. He is back on top of the Tour rankings now and
headed for the ISAF Match Racing World Championship at the Monsoon Cup
with $20,000 in his pocket for coming second.
Ian Williams (GBR and Eric Monnin (SUI) matched up earlier in the Petit
Finals. For winning two races out of two, Williams took third place in
quick order and his $10,000 prize while Monnin stands in fourth and has
a cheque for $7,000.
Williams expressed the thanks from all the skippers and crews for the
special hospitality extended to all of the sailors by the people of
Bermuda. He especially thanked the team’s hosts who take them into
their homes as guests. “Staying in homes as guests, Williams said, “is
just one of the things that makes the Argo Group Gold Cup a unique
event on the Tour.”
In yesterday’s consolation matches to decide the 5th through 8th
places, Bermudian Blythe Walker and his Max Re team lost their first
match to Mathieu Richard (FRA) representing the French Match Racing
Team. Last year’s King Edward VII Gold Cup winner Johnie Berntsson
(SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team won their first match against Torvar
Mirsky.
The second matches of the consolations saw Berntsson defeat Richard for
fifth place, so Richard took sixth place. Blythe Walker had a win
against Mirsky for seventh place pushing Mirsky into eighth.
Fifth place takes home $ 5,500. Sixth place gets $ 4,000. Seventh place earns $2,500 Eighth place $ 1,000
Final Results
Ben Ainslie 3 v. Adam Minoprio 1
Petit Final
Ian Williams 2 v. Eric Monnin 0
Article provided by Talbot Wilson
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