Bermuda Gold cup

BGC20D4 PR TM 01 800w1600 Hours
The Quarterfinal Round came to conclusion well after the action on the water finished.

Two thrilling, fifth race winner-take-all contests highlighted the Quarterfinal Round with upstart Dane Jeppe Borch leading his Borch Racing Team to victory over Chris Poole’s Riptide Racing. Similarly, veteran Ian Williams’s Team GAC Pindar dispatched Eric Monnin’s Capvis Swiss Match Race Team in a penalty filled series.

Taylor Canfield’s Team Stars+Stripes defeated old foe Johnie Berntsson’s Berntsson Racing Team 3-1 and Phil Robertson’s China One Ningbo defeated Torvar Mirsky’s Mirsky Racing Team 3-0. But it was the finish of the third race that led to a request for redress from Mirsky for improper actions by the Organizing Authority that led to a protest hearing which lasted for more than one hour. More on that later.

The semifinal pairings feature Williams versus Borch and Robertson versus Canfield. Each match is first to three points. The crews are heading back to the water for the first two flights. The wind is up to 15 to 20 knots from the southwest. The race committee will attempt to run the first two flights of the semifinals.

BGC20D3 Bow 800w

0955 Hours
The crews have taken to Hamilton Harbour and the quarterfinals should get underway shortly.

0900 Hours
The race committee has issued a half-hour, shoreside postponement to today’s racing. The wind on Hamilton Harbour is a little spotty and with so much riding on the outcome of today’s matches, the decision was made to postpone until at least 1000 hours.

View the Quarterfinal pairings

0815 Hours
Welcome to Day 4 of the 70th Bermuda Gold Cup and 2020 Open Match Racing World Championship. Today’s Quarterfinal Round begins the meat of the regatta. At the end of the next 30 hours or so, the winner of the two prestigious regattas will be awarded the King Edward VII Gold Cup and the sterling silver World Match Racing Tour Trophy as well as a $30,000 winner’s check. Not a bad haul for a week’s worth of sailing.

The quarterfinals pit Chris Poole’s Riptide Racing Team against Jeppe Borch’s Borch Racing Team, Ian Williams’s Team GAC Pindar against Eric Monnin’s Capvis Swiss Match Race Team, Phil Robertson’s China One Ningbo versus Torvar Mirsky’s Mirsky Racing Team and Taylor Canfield’s Team Stars+Stripes to race renewing an old rivalry with Johnie Berntsson’s Berntsson Sailing Team.

The matchups are intriguing:

  • Canfield’s two victories at the Bermuda Gold Cup in 2012 and ’18 came at the expense of Berntsson, who lost the two series by a combined score of 6-1. Can Berntsson turn the tables on Canfield this time?
  • Robertson, from New Zealand, versus the Australian Mirsky continues the trans-Tasman rivalry at the Bermuda Gold Cup. In years past New Zealander Russell Coutts took on Australians Peter Gilmour and James Spithill with some great success, while the final in 2015 saw New Zealand’s Adam Minoprio defeat Australian Keith Swinton.
  • Williams, the reigning Gold Cup champ and six-time world champ, and Monnin are familiar foes at the Bermuda Gold Cup with a combined 25 appearances.
  • Poole, 31, versus Borch represents the next wave of match racers. Just five years ago Poole finished the Bermuda Gold Cup with a 1-9 record in last place. For him to turn that performance around is a testament to his own growth as well as his new crew, featuring Sam Baron-Fox, Matt Cornwell and Chris Draper.

The winner of each match will be the first to score 3 points. The Bermuda Weather Service is forecasting a west-southwest breeze of 5 to 12 knots throughout the day, which should make for some rapid-fire action. The first warning signal is scheduled for 0930 so check back throughout the day for updates.

Camera:   EOSDCS3D        Serial #: C301-0155Width:    1268Height:   1012Date:  10/30/00Time:   11:34:05DCS4XX ImageFW Ver:   051998          TIFF ImageLook:   Product----------------------Counter:    [23]ISO:        200 Aperture:   F7.1Shutter:    500 Exposure:   P   Exp Comp:    0.0Meter area: EvalFlash sync: NoneFlash comp:  0.0Drive mode: ContFocus mode: One Lens (mm):  0080On this date Gold Cup history in the year 2000, Russell Coutts won his sixth King Edward VII Gold Cup with a 3-0 victory over two-time champion Chris Dickson of New Zealand.

“I spent enough time looking at the breeze sometimes to give my input, but it’s usually Brad’s (Butterworth) call as to where we start. It’s up to me, Warwick (Fleury) and Simon (Daubney) to position the boat on the line and to have it with enough speed to get that. The trimming of the boat to get what we wanted was a big factor. I don’t even have to worry about the trim and that gives me more time to concentrate on other factors in the race. Brad didn’t put a foot wrong with the breeze and there were a couple of calls a minute and a half before the start that really turned out to be the race. Maybe I am little biased, but they are the best guys in business,” Coutts said of his crew.

Visit our History page for more recollections of the Bermuda Gold Cup in October.

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