4 Skippers Advance To Gold Cup Semi-Finals
Johnie Berntsson, Chris Poole, Nick Egnot-Johnson, and Eric Monnin advanced to the Bermuda Gold Cup semi-finals after winning their quarter-final matches.
A spokesperson said, “The final four skippers advancing to the semi-final were decided on Day 3 of the Bermuda Gold Cup in Hamilton Harbour. Defending 2023 event winner Johnie Berntsson [SWE] joins Chris Poole [USA], Nick Egnot-Johnson [NZL] and Switzerland’s Eric Monnin in the semi-final stage of the popular Bermuda match racing event, and penultimate event on the 2024 World Match Racing Tour.
“Wind conditions eased for the quarter-final stage at the 72nd Bermuda Gold Cup, as each of the four pairings of Berntsson/Durham, Poole/Hood, Tapper/ Egnot-Johnson and Monnin/Brady matched scores at 2-0 with a deciding match to secure the semi-final places.
“In the first pairing of Berntsson/Durham, defending Gold Cup winner Johnie Berntsson and crew defeated Bermuda’s Kelsey Durham 2-0 and continued their form to finish 3-0 and advance to the semi-finals.
“In the second pairing, two-time Congressional Cup winner Chris Poole makes his first semi-final appearance at the Bermuda Gold Cup after defeating fellow USA skipper Dave Hood/ DH3 Racing in three straight wins.
“Former match racing world champion Nick Egnot-Johnson from New Zealand was paired in his quarter-final match against young Australian Cole Tapper/ Easy Tiger Racing who is making his teams first appearance at the Bermuda Gold Cup this year. After a close battle between the two teams, Egnot-Johnson clinched a 3-0 win over Tapper, crossing the line in the last race just inches ahead of his Australian opponent.”
“My team worked really worked hard today,” added Egnot-Johnson. “We are delighted to have finished with a 3-0 score but the numbers really don’t show how close the racing was – I’d like to say well done to Cole and his team Hamish, George and Max for being great opponents.”
The spokesperson said, “In the last pairing, Switzerland’s Eric Monnin and team won their first two races of the first-to-three points format against fellow match racing veteran Gavin Brady [USA]. Brady was able to bring one back to 2-1 but was unable to chase down Monnin in the deciding race, awarding the 3-1 win to Monnin.
“The semi-finals start today Friday. Visit the Bermuda Gold Cup and World Match Racing Tour websites for more information.”
Images courtesy of Ian Roman/WRMT.
