Seven seeded skippers with the Caribbean's Peter Holmberg to compete

The King Edward VII Gold Cup is scheduled for October 16-24, set in Hamilton Harbour just feet from the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.The seven seeded skippers for the King Edward VII Gold Cup are: Ed Baird, United States; Gavin Brady, New Zealand; Russell Coutts, Switzerland; Peter Gilmour, United States; Peter Holmberg, US Virgin Islands; Karol Jablonski, Poland; James Spithill, Australia. Dennis Conner, United States has been invited to participate with seeded status as a Wild Card Skipper.

The unique format of the King Edward VII Gold Cup, sailed in Bermuda's famous International One Design sloops, includes a Grade 3 qualifying event where the top six skippers advance to round one of the tournament and face the eight seeded skippers along with the winner and runner-up of the Bermuda International Women's Match Race Championship. The winner of The King Edward VII Gold Cup will be presented with the King Edward VII Trophy and a share of the $100,000 prize purse.

Peter "Gilly" Gilmour and his Team Pizza-La crew won the event last year. He crossed the finish line in Bermuda to failing light, hooting and hollering as he beat Chris Dickson to win the Investors Guaranty presentation of the 2003 King Edward VII Gold Cup. He also took home a $30,000 paycheck and a nice new Omega watch. But probably more importantly to him he took Dickson to five races and beat him in a knock down drag out fight to the last leg of the last race.

2001 Gold Cup champion Peter Holmberg/Team Gramicci (USVI) was taken out in the first round last year by Bill Hardesty. Hardesty had been mentored by Holmberg in a week’s training in Newport beforehand.

“The King Edward VII Gold Cup is proud to announce a field of top-quality sailors for our 2004 match race tournament,” said Jane Correia, Commodore of Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. “Our event is the premier match race tournament in the world and the skippers we’ll have racing in Bermuda this year certainly reflect that. The King Edward VII Gold cup has been the leader in innovations for match racing events, introducing the shore side, spectator-friendly venue of Hamilton Harbour and also pioneering the use of on the water judging which is now the norm throughout the world. This group of sailors we’re bringing together in October continues to put the King Edward VII Gold Cup in the top spot in the world match racing scene.”

The Swedish Match Tour is the world’s leading professional sailing series, featuring America’s Cup teams, skippers, Olympic Gold medalists and World Champions in the ultimate one-on-one test, a “race of truth.” Crews sail match races — one-on-one races against another team — in identically supplied racing yachts, which places a premium on teamwork and strategy. Race courses are situated close to shoreside venues to maximize viewing opportunities for spectators. Races usually last between 20 minutes and 40 minutes.

© Copyright 2001/2002/2003/2004/2005 caribbeanracing.com