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by Talbot Wilson Hamilton, Bermuda (October 10, 2009) - In the Argo Group Gold Cup semifinal match racing on Saturday afternoon, ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing skipper Adam Minoprio (NZL) and his team of Tom Powrie, David Swete and Nick Blackman took the first slot in the Finals with a 3-0 win over Eric Monnin (SUI) Swiss Match Race Team with crewmen Simon Brugger, Mark Monnin, Jean-Claude Monnin and Loris von Siebenthal. Minoprio is the top skipper in the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) rankings and was second in the World Match Racing Tour going into the Argo Group Gold Cup. Ben Ainslie (GBR) sailing for Team Origin with his crew of Matt Cornwell, Iain Percy, and Christian Kamp took the other semifinal match 3-1. Ainslie moves into the finals after defeating reigning World Tour Champion Ian Williams (GBR) of Team Pindar sponsored by Argo Group with his crew of Mark Nicholls, Richard Sydenham, and Gerry Mitchell and goes into the Petite Finals Sunday. Ainslie, holder of four Olympic medals, three of them gold, had a perfect 7-0 score going into the quarter finals but lost two matches in that stage and only one more in today's semifinal. Ainslie said that in the Quarterfinals he missed the shifts in the two races he lost. "In the last race, we got into the shifts," he said. "We just got ahead and stayed ahead." About his match with Ian Williams, he said, "We just got the shifts better. We are happy with the way the day turned out and we are looking forward to racing Adam Minoprio tomorrow. The Argo Group Gold Cup is a special event, both the boats and the sailing conditions suit our style of racing." Minoprio will move up to the top of the World Tour rankings. "We really want to win the Gold Cup tomorrow," Minoprio said. "We would like to go into the Monsoon Cup with a healthy lead to have a good chance to win the World Match Racing Tour." The Tour winner is also crowned the ISAF Match Racing World Champion. Tomorrow, Minoprio and Ainslie will race for the gold, each doing his utmost to put his own name on the famous King Edward VII Gold Cup trophy and take home the first place prize purse of $50,000. Second place takes $20,000, third place $10,000 and fourth place $7,000. The total purse is $100,000. Williams and Monnin will match up in the Petit Finals to decide third and fourth place. Racing had been delayed Saturday morning until 10:00AM waiting for the breeze to fill in sufficiently for racing to start. In their first match of the morning, Flight 3 of the quarter-final, Ben Ainslie (GBR) and Team Origin took their first two losses. Ainslie came back in the fifth race to defeat Torvar Mirsky (AUS) 3-2 as Argo Group Gold Cup quarterfinal racing concluded Saturday morning. Mirsky, the current World Tour leader, was relegated to the consolation matches to decide places 5-8. In the consolation matches to decide the 5th through 8th places, Bermudian Blythe Walker and his Max Re team lost their first match to Mathieu Richard (FRA) representing the French Match Racing Team. Last year's King Edward VII Gold Cup winner Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team won their first match against Torvar Mirsky. The second matches of the consolations saw Berntsson defeat Richard for fifth place, so Richard took sixth place. Blythe Walker had a win against Mirsky for seventh place pushing Mirsky into eighth. Fifth place takes home $ 5,500. Sixth place gets $ 4,000. Seventh place earns $2,500 Eighth place $ 1,000
Semifinal Results
Consolation Results Quarter final Results
QF1 Eric Monnin 3 - Blythe Walker 1
Results from Day 4 Results from Day 3
GROUP 1
GROUP 2
GROUP 3
Tour Standings
About the Argo Group Gold Cup: bermudagoldcup.com The Argo Group Gold Cup, sailed for the King Edward VII Gold Cup Trophy, is now stage 8 of the World Match Racing Tour, the International Sailing Federation match racing world championship. The Bermuda classic is the oldest match racing competition in the world for one-design yachts. The trophy presented to the winning team was originally given at the Tri-Centenary Regatta at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1907 by King Edward VII in commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of the first permanent settlement in America. C. Sherman Hoyt, a renowned American sailor, won the regatta and was presented with this now historic cup. Through the years Bermuda has won the Cup twenty-one times, the United States seventeen times, New Zealand ten times, Australia five times, the United Kingdom three times, Sweden once and in 2002 Denmark claimed the King Edward VII Gold Cup for the first time. The 2006 winner was Ian Williams (UK) who defeated a fleet including the 2005 winner, Luna Rosa Skipper James Spithill, who in that year had shut out Russell Coutts' incredible string of wins. Mathieu Richard of France became the third consecutive first-time winner of the King Edward VII Gold Cup in 2007. In 2008 the cup went to Sweden's Johnie Berntsson and his Berntsson Racing Team in the final 3-1 victory over Adam Minoprio's Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Team. The Argo Group Gold Cup is the ninth out of ten events on the 2009 World Match Racing Tour's World Championship schedule. It is sailed in Hamilton Harbour adjacent to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The venue brings world-class match racing close to shore where spectators can easily see the competition. The twenty-four invited crews include eight official "World Tour Card" teams and two winners of qualifying events, the Knickerbocker Cup and the Bermuda National Match Race Championship. Teams will be divided into three groups of eight to sail a round robin elimination series Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The leading eight skippers go on to the Quarter and Semi Finals, to be sailed on Friday and Saturday respectively. The finals take place on Sunday with the top two teams in a 'first to three points' head to head battle and the losing semi finalists in a 'first to two points' Petite Final. Between the second and third races, the course is taken over for the final race of the Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup, which will have been underway simultaneously since Thursday in the Great Sound. The King Edward VII Gold Cup was a founding member of the World Match Racing Tour. The tour is a series of international events. It has extensive television coverage and worldwide promotion. The one-hour television broadcast of the 2008 event appeared in November on Eurosport, ESPN, Versus Network, the Sky network and other regional broadcasters. This network reaches more than 300 million homes in 90 countries. An exciting summary video of all the tour events can be viewed at http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com/.
About Argo Group: www.argolimited.com/index.aspx Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (NasdaqGS: AGII), is an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market. The company offers a full line of high-quality products and services designed to meet the unique coverage and claims handling needs of businesses in four arenas: Excess and Surplus Lines, Commercial Specialty, International Specialty and Reinsurance. Argo Group clients and shareholders alike benefit from the commitment to specialization, deep expertise and dynamic relationships, that create a winning combination for mutual success. Argo Group has built a company with a fundamental purpose of securing the future and a straightforward vision to achieve outstanding results realized together. The company and all of its operating units believe that tangible excitement is created by having desire to excel. Maintaining unwavering interest in the clients it serves forges long-lasting connections. Argo Group's trademark is a combination of intellectual curiosity and creative zeal, which brings bold, far-reaching ideas to their clients to evolve those clients' own thriving businesses. Organization-wide, the strategy—easy to define and rewarding to deploy—is to grow hand-in-hand with their clients. About Bermuda: www.bermudatourism.com Although Bermuda is an Atlantic island paradise in its own right, many people mistakenly believe Bermuda is part of the Caribbean. In fact, the island rests hundreds of miles north of the Bahamas, a mere 650 miles east of North Carolina. Flights from New York and other eastern US cities are less than two hours. From London, direct flights are about seven hours. All of Bermuda fits in a cozy 20.7 square miles surrounded by 75 miles of dramatic coastline. Bermuda is famous for hospitality and sparkling pink-sand beaches. Activities include racquet sports, dramatic golfing, spectacular spas, and cultural festivals in all seasons. Of course Bermuda is famous for sailing as a destination for ocean races from Marion, Newport, and Charleston, for Cruising rallies for other East Coast ports and as host to many national and international competitive events. From chic international cuisine in posh dining rooms to conch stew and local Rockfish at a roadside café, we have a taste to please every palate and budget. While Bermudians do value island tranquility, we like to have a bit of fun, too. From swanky clubs to friendly neighborhood pubs, these after-hours establishments satisfy every thirst. Cocktail in hand and warm sea breeze at your back, set sail on one of our evening cruises along our famous coastline. For details on all the excitement and events Bermuda has to offer, call your travel agent or visit us at www.bermudatourism.com About The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club: www.rbyc.bm The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is a private Club and is the third oldest club holding a Royal Warrant outside the British Isles. The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club was established on the 1st of November 1844 by a party of thirty gentlemen, consisting largely of officers in the British Army. There are now approximately 850 resident and non-resident members. About the World Match Racing Tour: www.worldmatchracingtour.com
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The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club,15 Point Pleasant Road, Hamilton, Bermuda
Phone: 441.295.2214 Fax: 441.295.6361 Web: www.rbyc.bm
