Argo Gold Cup Qualifying: Williams Beats Ainslie
[Written by Talbot Wilson] Ian Williams [GBR] Team GAC Pindar, Alpari World Match Racing Tour champion and current leader on the Tour, had another perfect day in Group 2 racing. He stands undefeated at 8-0.
This morning in the first match of the day, Alpari World Match racing defending Champion and current Tour leader Williams defeated Sir Ben Ainslie [GBR] BART sponsored by Argo Group to hand the America’s Cup hero his first loss since he became the winning tactician aboard Oracle 72 this summer. Ainslie stands 6-1 with two more races scheduled for him. Williams has only one race tomorrow. That’s against Bjorn Hansen [SWE] eWork Sailing Team.
Sir Ben Ainslie defeated Chris Steele during Wednesday racing in Group 2 Qualifying Round Robin of the 2013 Argo Group Gold Cup.
With Williams and Ainslie ahead in the march to the Quarter Finals, three other teams still have their sights on the prize. Pierre Antoine Morvan [FRA] Vannes Agglo Sailing Team has a 5-2 record. Björn Hansen is also 5-2. Phil Robertson [NZL] WAKA Racing is next at 4-3.
In Group 1, the fight for the top four slots is even tighter. Americas Cup skipper Francesco Bruni [ITA] Luna Rossa is a perfect 6-0, but he has three races left tomorrow. He defeated Adam Minoprio [NZL] Team Alpari FX in their dustoff today and put the Kiwi back to 6-1. Minoprio has two races tomorrow. One of them is against defending Argo Group Gold Cup Champion Taylor Canfield [ISV] USone. Canfield stands at 6-2. Canfield only has the one race left… that one against Minoprio.
Past Gold cup winner Johnie Berntsson [SWE] Stena Sailing Team has a hard road to the quarters standing at 4-2. He meets Bruni in his final race. Three other skippers are grouped at 3 wins each, Simone Ferrarese [ITA] Ferrarese Racing Team, Keith Swinton [AUS] Black Swan Racing, and local skipper Lance Fraser [BER] Digicel Business Match Racing.
Thursday action on Hamilton Harbour promises to be hot. It will be another perfect day for match race sailing.
