by Talbot Wilson

Hamilton, Bermuda (October 6, 2009): As predicted, tension was in the Bermuda airTuesday morning as sailing got underway in the round robin stage 1 of the Argo Group GoldCup in Bermuda, stage 8 of the World Match Racing Tour. The first match of the first flight wasbetween Damian Iehl (FRA) and Reuben Corbett (NZL). At the first leeward mark, Iehl firstluffed Corbett without rights. Then according to the umpire, Henry Menin, Iehl failed to giveroom in the mark zone and continued to break rule after rule.

Iehl was black-flagged and the match automatically went to Corbett. Menin said that Iehlhad two penalty flags flying and if he had more flags on the boat they would have pulled themout, too.

Following that display, the penalty flags flew fast and often. In the feature match of themorning between two 3-0 teams, top seed Tovar Mirsky (AUS) and Eric Monnin (SUI), Monnindrew a penalty in the pre-start dance when he was pushing Mirsky away from the line. Mirskystill got the start and held the lead all the way around the course. Monnin made a gallant effort,non-the-less. He came inside a boat length at the finish even after making his penalty turn.

Mirsky went 4-0 today and is at the top of the heap for now. He said he had some comefrom behind victories. “We started well,” the young aussie said. “It was tough sailing in the lightand shifty conditions. We were able to roll some of our competitors downwind to get the wins.In the race against Monnin he couldn’t get far enough ahead of us to make up his penaltyturn.”

by Talbot Wilson

Tension rises as Appendix A of the Sailing Instructions released Sunday reveals groupings for important Stage 1 Round Robin in the Argo Group Gold Cup’s unique format. The top eight skippers on the World Match Racing Tour and last year’s champion Johnie Berntsson are evenly dispersed in the three groups. The documents are now posted on www.argogroupgoldcup.com/content/view/92/71/

Hamilton, Bermuda (October 4, 2009): Stage 1, round robin groupings were all the dock talk at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Sunday. Argo Group Gold Cup skippers and crews weighed in and completed the final stages of the entry process and got their race packets.

The packets included the important Sailing Instructions with the all-important Appendix A. That’s the group parings list that tells the skippers which opponents they must face to reach stage 2, the quarter final round. The round robin is the first step on the path to the King Edward VII Gold Cup and $50,000... half of the total $100,000 prize purse.

Tovar Mirsky (AUS) Group 1, Adam Minoprio (NZL) Group 2, and Mathieu Richard (FRA) Group 3 are the top seeds. They rank as the top three in both the World Match Racing Tour and on the ISAF ranking list. Mirsky is ranked first on the WMRT while Minoprio is ranked first by ISAF. Richard is ranked third by both.

Joining Mirsky in Group 1 are Ian Williams (GBR), Damien Iehl (FRA), Keith Swinton (AUS), Eric Monin (SUI), Reuben Corbett (NZL), Robbie Allum (GBR) and Ian Evans (USA).

Paired with Minoprio in Group 2 are Sebastian Col (FRA), Ben Ainslie (GBR), Bjorn Hansen (SWE), Alvaro Marinho (POR), Dave Perry (USA), Rasmus Viltoft (DEN), and Paula Lewin (BER).

Matched in Group 3 with Mathieu Richard are Peter Gilmour (AUS), Johnie Berntsson (SWE), Mattias Rahm (SWE), Phil Robertson (NZL), Blythe Walker (BER), Don Wilson (USA), Charlie Enright (USA).