Bermuda Gold cup

1742 Hours

Harry Price is the final entrant in the Semifinal Round after a tight victory over Eric Monnin in Flight 5 of their Quarterfinal Match. Price joins Johnie Berntsson, Taylor Canfield and Ian Williams in the next round.

Full report to follow later.

1717 Hours

Johnie Berntsson concluded his Quarterfinal match against Nick Egnot-Johnson with a win in Flight 4 to win the match 3.25-0, after being penalized .75 points in Flight 3. Taylor Canfield finished off Gavin Brady, 3-1, with a comfortable wire-to-wire win.

The second Quarterfinal match, between Eric Monnin and Harry Price, will go to a fifth and deciding flight after Price pulled out a victory in Flight 4 to even the score 2-2.

1645 Hours

Ian Williams has wrapped up his Quarterfinal match against Jeppe Borch, 3-0. The other three matches are all headed to a fourth flight. Eric Monnin leads Harry Price, 2-1, the same score that Taylor Canfield leads Gavin Brady. In Match 1, Johnie Berntsson won Flight 3 but was assessed a .75-point penalty for causing damage to Nick Egnot-Johnson’s boat when a collision saw the toe rail damaged. They will sail Flight 4 with Berntsson leading 2.25-0.

1550 Hours

Flight 2 winners were Johnie Berntsson, Eric Monnin, Gavin Brady and Ian Williams. Berntsson, Monnin and Williams all lead, 2-0, while Canfield and Brady are tied 1-1. Winners are first-to-3 points.

1520 Hours

Winners in Flight 1 of the Quarterfinals were Johnie Berntsson, Eric Monnin, Taylor Canfield and Ian Williams.

1330 Hours: Quarterfinal Pairings Set

Following the completion of the rounds robin, the top eight skippers were: 1. Johnie Berntsson (SWE), 2. Eric Monnin (SUI), 3. Taylor Canfield (USA), 4. Ian Williams (GBR), 5. Harry Price (AUS), 6. Gavin Brady (USA), 7. Jeppe Borch (DEN) and 8. Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL).

Following a draw based on that order, the Quarterfinal pairings are:
Match 1: Egnot-Johnson (port) vs. Berntsson (starboard)
Match 2: Price (P) vs. Monnin (S)
Match 3: Brady (P) vs. Canfield (S)
Match 4: Borch (P) vs. Williams (S)

1300 Hours: Monnin captures Group 1

Eric Monnin’s Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team captured the Group 1 round robin by winning all three of their matches today. Monnin wins the group with a 6-1 record.

Taylor Canfield’s (USA) Stars+Stripes USA also finished with a 6-1 record after winning all three matches today but placed second in the group after losing yesterday’s opening race to Monnin.

Harry Price’s (AUS) Down Under Match Racing crew placed third with a 5-2 record, followed by Nick Egnot-Johnson’s KNOTS Racing from New Zealand at 4-3.

Pauline Courtois’ (FRA) Match in Pink by Normandy Elite team finished with a 2-5 record, as did Dave Hood’s (USA) D3 Racing and Chris Poole’s (USA) Rip Tide Racing. Celia Willison’s (NZL) Edge Racing New Zealand rounds out the group at 1-6.

The top four advance to the Quarterfinal Round along with the top four from Group B.

1100 Hours: Berntsson wins Group 2

Sweden’s Johnie Berntsson has wrapped up the top spot in Group 2 at the 71st Bermuda Gold Cup. Berntsson clinched the top spot after Flight 6, when he defeated Bermuda’s Josh Greenslade, and then wrapped up an undefeated 7-0 record with a victory over Peter Holz’s Windy City Match Racing team in Flight 7.

Berntsson advances to the Quarterfinal Round along with Jeppe Borch’s (DEN) Borch Racing Team, Gavin Brady’s (USA) True Blue Racing and Ian Williams’ (GBR) Chinaone.Ningbo crew. All three finished the round robin with a 5-2 record and the order in which the finished will be determined later.

The Quarterfinal Round is expected to start this afternoon, after the completion of the Group 1 round robin.

Anna Ostling’s WINGS crew from Sweden finished fifth at 3-4, Jeffrey Petersen’s (USA) Golden State Match Racing crew placed sixth at 2-5, Peter Holz’s (USA) Windy City Match Racing team placed seventh at 1-6, and Joshua Greenslade’s Bermudian crew finished eighth at 0-7. These crews are expected to advance to a knockout stage for places 9 through 16, weather permitting.

0830 Hours: Schedule change looms with tropical storm on horizon

As the 71st Bermuda Gold Cup rolls into the second day of racing the schedule is under threat of change due to the approaching Tropical Storm Philippe.

The Bermuda Weather Service this morning issued a bulletin stating that the closest point of approach to Bermuda within the next 72 hours (3 days) is forecast to be within 25 NM of (or directly over) the Island at 4 pm (ADT) Friday, Oct. 6. Forecast wind strengths are 34 to 50 knots.

Given the forecast, Principal Race Officer David Campbell-James intends to complete the Round Robin for Groups 1 and 2 this morning. Three flights remain in each group to complete the round and a northeasterly breeze of 12 to 18 knots if forecast.

After that he hopes to begin the first-to-3 points Quarterfinal Round this afternoon with the intention of completing it Thursday morning. After that, if the conditions are sailable, he hopes to run a Knockout Round for crews placed 9 to 16 in the standings.

Friday is shaping up to be a non-sailable day. That would leave the Semifinal and Final round for Saturday.

“I understand it’s frustrating, but that’s what the weather has been for me all year,” the veteran race officer said at this morning’s skippers’ briefing.