1330 Hours
Group A has completed its four flights and Phil Robertson’s China One Ningbo team leads the group with a 4-0 record. Robertson defeated Anna Ostling’s Team WINGS, Nicklas Dackhammar’s Essiq Racing Team, Matthew Whitfield’s Dragon Racing Team and Eric Monnin’s Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team.
The wind was mostly from south/south-southwest and blowing between 8 and 12 knots. But the wind direction meant the wind was blowing across Hamilton Harbour, which makes for a shifty and puffy breeze.
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“We were just getting puffs out of everywhere,” said Robertson. “It was a nasty day for the race committee, but they did well. It makes the racing harder to stay ahead or catch up. There were lots of opportunities out there.”
American Chris Poole’s Riptide Racing Team is second with a 3-1 record, followed by Sweden’s Johnie Berntsson’s Berntsson Racing Team also at 3-1. Poole won a cracker of a match against Berntsson in Flight 1. Berntsson earned a red flag penalty at the first windward mark for overtaking from behind and rounding inside Poole, which the umpires gave a red flag to because he gained control of the match. Poole regained the lead after Berntsson’s penalty turn and held on the close win and, possibly, an important tie-break advantage down the road.
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Monnin’s Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team and Dackhammar’s Essiq Racing Team are tied at 2-2, followed by Östling’s Team WINGS at 1-3, Whitfield’s Dragon Racing Team at 1-3 and Kelsey Durham’s Triangle Racing at 0-4.
Group B is scheduled to begin racing at 1400 hours. Check back later for more updates.
0900 Hours
Welcome to Day 1 of the 70th Bermuda Gold Cup and 2020 Open Match Racing World Championship. Sixteen teams representing a mix of youth, women’s and veteran match racing crews are on hand for the dual regatta, which will award gold and silver trophies to the winner at the end of the week.
The first warning signal is scheduled for 1030 hours, one hour later than originally planned. The schedule change is to accommodate additional practice for the crews, who had an abbreviated practice session yesterday due to light winds.
Today’s forecast, however, looks to be the opposite of yesterday’s balmy weather. The Bermuda Weather Service says that an approaching trough from the southwest will bring isolated showers, patchy rain, the chance of thunder and mostly moderate winds today through Tuesday. A weak low may form as this system slowly passes to the west and drag plenty of moisture through the area. Southeasterly winds are forecast at 12 to 18 knots, possibly increasing to 15 to 20 knots.
The lineup was completed late last night when Taylor Canfield’s Team Stars+Stripes arrived after racing over the weekend in Charleston, S.C. The crew completed the weigh in this morning and will race in this afternoon’s group.