1625 Hours
Ian Williams and Johnie Berntsson have moved to match point in their respective semifinal matches. Williams and Berntsson both blitzed Lucy Macgregor and Harry Price, respectively, in the second flight to open 2-0 scores.
Racing is concluded for the day and the semifinals are scheduled to be concluded tomorrow morning with the final and petite final slated for the afternoon.
1540 Hours
Ian Williams and Johnie Berntsson have opened 1-0 leads in their semifinal matches at the 69th Argo Group Gold Cup.
Williams and opponent Lucy Macgregor had a furious luffing duel in the pre-start, but on the racecourse Williams was able to pull away. He led by about 12 seconds at the first windward mark and then extended the rest of the way for the victory.
Berntsson and Harry Price were close early on. They rounded the windward mark side-by-side after Berntsson tacked to leeward and inside of Price. Berntsson eked out a slight advantage by the leeward gate and, despite Price throwing five tacks at Berntsson in the first 2 minutes of the second upwind leg, the Swede slowly extended his advantage to a comfortable margin beginning the run to the finish.
1400 Hours
No. 1 seed Ian Williams has chosen to race Lucy Macgregor in the first match of the semifinals, which means that Johnie Berntsson will square off against Harry Price in the second match.
Williams advanced to the semis by beating Ettore Botticini 3-1 in the quarterfinals, while Macgregor defeated Eric Monnin 3-0. Macgregor led at every mark rounding of their match.
Berntsson advanced to the semis by beating Chris Poole 3-0 in a match that was closer than the score suggests.
Price scored the upset of the regatta to date by beating Torvar Mirsky in the quarterfinals, 3-2. The young Aussie won the final race by sneaking inside Mirsky at the first windward mark and then giving him a little luff to gain some breathing room.
The semifinals are scheduled to begin around 1500 hours and Principal Race Officer David Campbell-James hopes complete the first two flights before calling it a day. The winner of each match will be the first to score 3 points.
1305 Hours
Harry Price is the final qualifier for the semifinal round after beating Torvar Mirsky, 3-2. The match was close at the top of the first upwind leg. Mirsky held starboard with Price approaching on port. Mirsky dialed down a bit and forced Price to take his transom. Mirsky continue on to port layline and tacked. Price tacked to starboard on layline. When they met at the windward mark, Price was able to tack around the mark inside of Mirsky. Price then luffed Mirsky to gain some breathing room. Price slowly pulled away on the downwind leg and the two crews took opposite ends of the leeward gate, Price around the left mark and Mirksy around the right. The two crews sailed out to the right side and when they first crossed on the leg Price was comfortably ahead by at least three boatlengths. He rounded the windward mark with an approximately 25-second lead and sailed the run without incident to win the match.
The semifinalists are Price, Ian Williams, Johnie Berntsson and Lucy Macgregor. As the No. 1 seed Williams is afforded the opportunity to choose his opponent. A draw will be held shortly and the semifinals are scheduled to commence around 1500 hours.
1245 Hours
Ian Williams and Lucy Macgregor have closed out their quarterfinal matches. And in the final match, Harry Price and Torvar Mirsky are headed to a winner-take-all fifth race.
Williams defeated Ettore Botticini in Flight 4 to win the match 3-1.
Macgregor beat Eric Monnin in three straight races.
In the lone remaining match, Price scored a solid win over Mirsky. Price held a huge lead at the first windward mark, but Mirsky came back on the second upwind leg when he found a windshift on the right-hand side of the course. But Price held on down the run to the finish to even the score at 2-2.
1200 Hours
Johnie Berntsson has completed a sweep of Chris Poole in the quarterfinal round. Down 2-0, Poole was leading Berntsson by a handy margin but had a penalty to unload. Berntsson closed up a bit on the second upwind leg due to a windshift. Poole tried to set a trap for Berntsson at the windward mark when he sailed low of layline in the hopes of being able to luff Berntsson, but the move failed and Berntsson sailed onto the finish to win the match, 3-0.
Elsewhere, Ian Williams has moved to match point versus Ettore Botticini as has Torvar Mirsky versus Harry Price. Lucy Macgregor is also on match point versus Eric Monnin.
1125 Hours
Two flights of the quarterfinals are in the books and two matches are tied while the other two are on match point.
In Match 1, Ian Williams won the first flight against Ettore Botticini and then lost the second. Williams was on the outside of an overlap at the second windward mark before passing his rival downwind. Botticini then sailed a strong first leg in Flight 2 and opened a nearly five boatlength lead at the first windward mark en route to evening the score.
A similar scenario played out in Match 2 when Harry Price won the first flight and Torvar Mirsky the second. Price had a relatively easy go of it in Flight 1, while Mirsky eased around the course in Flight 2.
In Match 3 Johnie Berntsson holds a 2-0 lead over Chris Poole. Berntsson overtook Poole on the second downwind leg to go to match point.
In Match 4 Lucy Macgregor has opened a 2-0 lead on Eric Monnin with two solid wins.
0930 Hours
Welcome to Day 4 of the 69th Argo Group Gold Cup. The $100,000 match racing regatta is getting down to the nitty gritty. Principal Officer David Campbell-James hopes to get the quarterfinals completed and begin the semifinals before the end of the day.
That shouldn’t be too difficult given the wind conditions. Similar to yesterday a northeasterly breeze of 10 to 15 knots is blowing across Hamilton Harbour. That means the windward mark will be placed close to the docks of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, offering ample viewing opportunities for the close, boat-on-boat racing.
Match 1 features Ian Williams of the U.K. against Ettore Botticini of Italy. Match 2 is an all-Aussie affair with Torvar Mirsky racing Harry Price. Match 3 pits Johnie Berntsson of Sweden versus Chris Poole of the U.S. Match 4 sees Lucy Macgregor of the U.K. against Eric Monnin of Switzerland. The winner of both matches will be the first to score 3 points.
Racing is scheduled to begin at 1000 hours.