Peter Gilmour and his crew wins the Swedish Match Tour again
Actually, the crew around the Australian Peter Gilmour, including United Internet Team Germany trimmer Mike Mottl, could have saved themselves the victory at the Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand. Because she had already won the decisive race for overall victory on Saturday against world champion Ed Baird (Alinghi).
Nevertheless, in addition to the $ 60,000 tour prize money and the $ 85,000 BMW 5 Touring, Gilmour also took away the $ 35,000 for the regatta victory in Sweden.
Baird and Gilmour came tied for the final of the eight regattas Swedish Match Tour in Sweden. It was clear that the decision would only be made at the last minute. Whoever placed better in Sweden would also win the overall standings.
Alinghi helmsman Ed Baird got off to a much better start in the series. After six wins in Group B, he reached the next round unbeaten, while opponent Gilmour sailed across the finish line four times in second place. In the following knockout round, the Australian struggled to beat the Swede Berntsson 2-1 and made it to the quarter-finals, which Baird reached with a 2-1 against the Dane Nordbjerg.
Up to 40,000 spectators a day saw the races in Marstrand
Fate would have it that both crews met in a direct duel in the quarter-finals. According to official information, the duel of the giants brought 40,000 spectators to the rocky archipelago in Sweden. And when it came down to it, the old master from Australia was fully up to speed again.
He defeated Baird in the first race, but the world number one with the Swiss Nils Frei on board struck back in the second race. The run-off was about the BMW 5 Touring. “Our start was very good, but the referee's decision wasn't,” said the American Baird.
Fifteen seconds before takeoff, he had overlapped Gilmour and was luffing. Gilmour dodged, turning Baird's stern into the ship. The collision occurred and the referees punished both crews. Baird because he hadn't given the enemy enough space to evade, Gilmour because he had evaded too violently. It was probably a compromise decision. "If you have a section in the rules, you never know how that is interpreted," says Baird.
"The referees must have been unsure," says Gilmour, wondering about the decision. Then he caught the right side of the cross on the left and sailed towards a hard-defended 17-second victory.
The rest was the freestyle. In the semifinals Gilmour knocked out New Zealander Dean Barker 3-2, and then he had the longer breath in the final against local hero Magnus Holmberg of Victory Challenge. He also needed the maximum number of five races to win 3-2.
In view of this dominance against the best America’s Cup crews, it is a miracle that the Australian is still not on a current cup team. After all, Gilmour also cut a fine figure as head of the potent One World team in 2003, until his financier ran out of cash after a stock market crash.
But the 45-year-old will be returning to Perth for the time being. His wife Christine, three sons (14, 12 and 8 years old), his farm with 800 cattle and several thousand sheep and his business as a stock investor are waiting there. He has a private turnover of more than two million dollars.
Results:
1. Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-LSailing Team ($ 35,400 prize money) Crew Rod Dawson, Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Yasuhiro Yaji 2nd Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge, ($ 17,900) Crew Anders Dahlsjo, Lars Linger, Oskar Ljung, Mattias Rahm 3. Dean Barker (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand ($ 11,000) Crew Don Cowie, James Dagg, Jared Henderson, Terry Hutchinson 4. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi ($ 8,700) Crew Rodney Ardern, Murray Jones, Matt Mitchell, Lorenzo Mazz5. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi ($ 7,200) Crew Nils Frei, Yann Gouniot, Dean Phipps, Piet van Nieuwenhuyzen 6. Russell Coutts (NZL) Coutts Racing ($ 6,300) Crew Michael Arnhild, Jes Gram-Hansen, Christian Kamp, Rasmus Kostner 7. Bertrand Pacé (FRA), BMW Oracle Racing, ($ 5,700) Crew Eric Doyle, Zack Hurst, Dirk de Ridder, Brad Webb 8. Kelvin Harrap (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand ($ 4,400) Crew Ray Davies, Tony Rae, Rob Salthouse, Chris Ward