2011 Skippers and Crew

	JOHNIE BERNTSSON (SWEDEN) Berntsson Sailing Team was founded in 1997 and have since then been sailing all over the world in different Match Racing events. Johnie has always loved sailing with a team and has done since a young age. Johnie is supported by crew members Nils Bjerkas, Niklas Carlzon and Bjorn Lundgren. 2009 Congressional Cup winners, 2009 European Championship and the 2008 Gold Cup. Last year they finished third at the Argo Gold Cup. ISAF Ranking: 20 Crew: Johan Barne Oscar Angervall Bjorn Lundgren
	FRANCESCO BRUNI (ITALY) Bruni Racing, sponsored by Helly Hansen, is the current leader on the WMRT circuit. Francesco holds 9 world titles in various classes including the Laser. Match racing is certainly a passion as he's been part of two America's Cup challenges for Luna Rossa. The 2010 Congressional Cup winner and 2009 & 2011 runner-up, Francesco and his team are definitely looking for a win at this year's Argo Gold Cup. ISAF Ranking: 2 Crew: Pierluigi de Felice Massimo Bortoletto Adam Martin
	TAYLOR CANFIELD (US VIRGIN ISLANDS) At 22, Taylor is one of the brightest stars to recently come out of the St. Thomas YC. He has recently graduated from Boston College and had led their sailing team to many collegiate championships. Taylor has developed a passion for match racing, entering as many events as can be worked into his schedule. He has made a presence on the WMRT circuit while finishing 6th at the 2010 Gold Cup and making an appearance at the 2011 Congressional Cup. ISAF RANKING: 32 Crew: Mike Rehe Tod Reynolds Maurice Kurg
	REUBEN CORBETT (NEW ZEALAND) At only 23, this At 24 this Auckland native is a rising star on the match racing circuit. At last year's Argo Gold Cup his ISAF ranking was 25; he is now ranked 14. His accomplishments in 2010 include wins at Sail of White Nights, La Rochelle Match Race and finishing seventh in the Gold Cup. This is his third Gold Cup appearance. ISAF RANKING: 14 Crew: Thomas Bentham Thomas Blampied Adrian Short
	SIMONE FERRARESE (ITALY) The Ferrarese Racing Team was formed in 2008 to compete on the world match racing stage. At 23, Simone, is ranked third in the Under-25s world match racing rankings. He has competed with strong results in the 2011 Congressional Cup and Ficker Cup. Simone started his sailing career in the Optimist, moving to 470s, Tornados and finally to match racing. He is supported by crew members Michelangelo Valenti, Alessandro Saettone and Andrea Quartulli. This is his first Argo Gold Cup. ISAF RANKING: 24 Crew: Michaelangelo Valenti Corrado Capec Andrea Quartulli Luca Dubbini
	LANCE FRASER (BERMUDA) Team FreeLance - Digicel. Lance has been match racing for 5 years. He has won 3 consecutive J24 Match Racing Championships; twice as foredeck, and once as skipper at age 15. This earned him two invitations to the Bermuda National Match Race (ISAF Grade 5) where his best finish was 2nd behind Blythe Walker. He has twice attended the Governor’s Cup (ISAF Grade 3) in Newport Beach, California and also sailed the GoPro Match Cup at Chicago Match Race Centre this summer. Lance is 18 years-old and is currently studying at Queen’s University School of Business in Canada. He is excited to make the trip home for his second Gold Cup appearance this year. Current World Ranking: 594 Crew: Leatrice Roman Tom Clarke Mike Menninger Mary-Justine Geraghty
	PETER GILMOUR (AUSTRALIA) 2011 sees the return of the three-time Gold Cup champion. Peter's sailing resume is extensive and broad with wins all over the globe. Currently sponsored by Yanmar Racing, he is a three time World Match Racing Champion and has been involved with at least four Americas Cup campaigns. His knowledge of the ISAF racing rules in the 1987 Americas Cup led to the creation of the ISAF Match Racing rules which see umpires making on the water decisions rather than in the protest room. He is the current World Match Racing Tour president and is currently ranked second on the WMRT circuit. ISAF RANKING: 9 Crew: Yasuhiro Yaji Theirry Douillard Simon Shan
	BJÖRN HANSEN (SWEDEN) Björn returns to compete in this year's Gold Cup, fresh of finishing second in the Stena Match Cup in Sweden. Björn is the co-owner of At Sea Sailing Events (former Stockholm Match Race Centre) and with strong support from team sponsor, Mekonomen Sailing, is a definite contender in this year's event. ISAF RANKING: 4 Crew: Magnus Woxen Phillip Guhle Mathias Bredin
	DAMIEN IEHL (FRANCE) Damien won the ISAF Match Racing World Championship in 1997 at the age of 25. He competed in the America's Cup for the first time in 2002 with Le Défi. In 2006, Damien built a new team to compete at the highest level of match racing, and for the past four years, he has been in the top 10 at the world championship. Damien will be looking to improve on his previous Gold Cup performances: 10th in 2008 and 2009. ISAF RANKING: 21 Crew: Fred Guilmin Dévan Le Bihan Francois Verdier
	LAURIE JURY (NEW ZEALAND) Laurie Jury and his team 'Zoke Kiwimatch' have been competing on the match racing circuit for the last three years, during this time they have risen to 25th in the world match racing rankings, as well as winning the NZ match racing nationals in 2009 and Oceania Regional final for the Nations cup in 2011. The team has achieved first places in the 2010 Mumbai Match Race, 2011 Qatar Match Race and the 2011 Oceania Final for the Nations Cup. Jury and his team won the Knickerbocker Cup this past August. ISAF RANKING: 27 Crew: Logan Fraser Michael Edmonds Harry Thurston
	STAFFAN LINDBERG (FINLAND) Staffan and his team return to the Gold Cup this year after a couple of year's absence. 2011 has been a busy year so far with a fourth place finish in the Congressional Cup, second in the GKSS Spring Cup and second in the Sails of White Nights. ISAF RANKING: 13 Crew: Robert Skarp Carl-Johan Uckelstam Bjorn Andersson
	TERRY MCLAUGHLIN (CANADA) Terry and his team return to compete in another Argo Gold Cup this year. He certainly has earned is place as one of the great Canadian sailors having earned a silver medal in the Flying Dutchman at the 1984 Olympics and World Champion in the same class in 1980. He was the skipper of Canada 1 in the 1983 America's Cup and is a two-time winner of the Knickerbocker Cup. The Argo Gold Cup is pleased to have him competing again in Hamilton Harbour's waters. ISAF RANKING: 332 Crew: Geoff Moore Rob Gale Sandy Andrews
	PETER MILLER (BERMUDA) 3rd Oyster Bay Youth Match Race (Grade 4), July 2011) 3rdOakcliff Summer Invitational (Grade 3) sailed in Swedish Match 40's, July 2011) This will be my first time competing in the Gold Cup ISAF RANKING: 332 Crew: Hal Kemoe Maggie Shea Pete Martin
	TORVAR MIRSKY (AUSTRALIA) Torvar Mirsky tried match racing after enjoying a successful youth dinghy background and has never looked back. He currently competes on the World Match Racing Tour. Tovar, along with the rest of the team from Wave Muscat, returns to Bermuda for a fifth year and is hoping to improve on his eighth place finish in 2010. ISAF RANKING: 6 Crew: Graeme Spence Kinley Fowler Kyle Langford
	ERIC MONNIN (SWITZERLAND) Eric and his Swiss Match Race Team are back to improve on their fourth place finish in the 2010 Gold Cup. His 2011 results include third at the Internationaux de France de Match Racing Manu Minard Trophy and the Volvo Match Race Cup - Swiss Match Race Championship. This is Eric's eighth Gold Cup appearance. ISAF RANKING: 16 Crew: Simon Brugger Jean-Marc Monnard Loris von Siebental Marc Monnin
	JAKUB PAWLUK (POLAND) Team Henri Lloyd Racing. Jakub started sailing at an early age mainly because of his parents. He had early successes in the Cadet dinghy. He continued to improve his skills in the 470 and 505 classes where he was a member of the Polish National Sailing team. Jakub and his team started Match Racing in 2008.They lead Polish Match Race Cup ranking in 2009, winning Hel Match Race, Jakub also has his Yacht Master's license and competes in ocean events. ISAF RANKING: 111 Crew: Jakub Wierusz Greg Lawrence Piotr Szwoch Rafae Sawicki
	SAM PEARSON (GREAT BRITAIN) Team Wight Match A qualified Naval Architect, Sam in noted for his scientific approach to his sailing. He is an accomplished youth dinghy sailor that has turned his attention to professional yacht racing. Sam is an avid and talented match racer and is currently climbing the world rankings with the ultimate goal of competing in the World Match Racing Tour. ISAF RANKING: 135 Crew: Tristan Jaques Tom Dawson Nick Cherry
	JESPER RADICH (DENMARK) Adrian Lee & Partners Racing Team is a newly formed team that sees Jesper Radich and Rasmus Kostner of Denmark, teaming up with New Zealand sailor Nick Blackman. Skipper Jesper Radich has a very impressive sailing CV which includes winning the 2002/2003 World Match Racing World Title. He has also reached the pinnacle of yacht racing by helming for Desafio Esponol in the 2007 Americas Cup, while he also has 7 ISAF grade 1/world tour event wins under his belt. Jesper was runner-up in the 2010 Argo Gold Cup. ISAF RANKING: 8 Crew: Rasmus Kostner Nick Blackman Christian Scherrer
	JORDAN REECE (AUSTRALIA) Detroit Cup Winner At just 19, Jordan is definitely beginning to make his presence known on the match racing stage. Jordan and his team are the winners of this year's Detroit Cup, hosted by the Bayview Yacht Club. The winner of this event is offered a place in the Argo Gold Cup. The event is pleased Jordan accepted and is looking forward to see how he performs in his debut Argo Gold Cup. ISAF RANKING: 48 Crew: Henry Kernot Jack Breislin Jaidan Stevens
	MATHIEU RICHARD (FRANCE) Mathieu is the 2007 Gold Cup champion and returns with his SABA racing team to improve on his 2010 results. He has twice finished second on the World Match Racing tour (2010 and 2007). 2011 results include finishing third at this year's Congressional Cup and several successes on the World Match Racing Tour circuit. ISAF RANKING: 5 Crew: Greg Evrard Olivier Herledant Gilles Andre
	PHIL ROBERTSON (NEW ZEALAND) Phil has been match racing since he was a teenager and he's never looked back. Team WAKA Racing return for another Gold Cup in 2011. Phil is currently competing on the World Match Racing Tour circuit. ISAF RANKING: 7 Crew: Sam Bell Garth Ellingham James Williamson
	KEITH SWINTON (AUSTRALIA) This is Keith's second Gold Cup having competed in 2008. Keith and the team won the 2011 Sir Thomas Lipton Match Race Javea and continue to have success on the match racing circuit. With Keith's confirmation for this year's Gold Cup our 'down under' competitors stand at six. There must be something about Bermuda's waters that makes them return. ISAF RANKING: 17 Crew: Olof Lundgren Jakob Gustafsson Ricky McGarvie
	BLYTHE WALKER (BERMUDA) Team RenRe. After representing Bermuda in the 1992 Olympics in the 470 class, Blythe's focus turned to match racing. He has competed in over a dozen Bermuda Gold Cup regattas and other international match racing events. Blythe's focus the past few years has been on Bermuda events with recent highlights being a 3rd and 4th place finish in the Bermuda Gold Cup in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Outside of the Bermuda match-racing scene, Blythe also races IOD's and J-105's on a semi-regular basis during the year. ISAF RANKING: 360 Crew: Blair Simmons Adam Barboza Somers Kempe
	IAN WILLIAMS (GREAT BRITAIN) Ian started out his professional life as a solicitor and decided to pursue match racing. It was obviously a successful decision as Ian is the first Briton to gain the ISAF World Champion and WMRT Champion titles. He, along with the rest of team GAC Pindar, returns to the Argo Gold Cup for a fifth time. ISAF RANKING: 1 Crew: Bill Hadesh Gerry Mitchel Mal Parker