Day 2 of the Bermuda Gold Cup saw a southwesterly wind between 10 and 16 knots propel six crews into the Quarterfinal Round.
Britain’s Ian Williams’ Team GAC Pindar, led Torvar Mirsky’s Mirsky Racing Team and Taylor Canfield’s Stars+Stripes in Group B, while Chris Poole’s Riptide Racing, Phil Robertson’s China One Ningbo and Eric Monnin’s Capvis Swiss Match Race Team advanced from Group A.
The six will be joined by two crews from Wednesday’s Repechage Round.
Williams has blended speed with positioning brilliantly through the first seven races, and did it again versus Mirsky.
He trailed for three-quarters of the match, although never by more than two boatlengths, and then struck when he was able to get his bow inside Mirsky’s transom (left) when both were on starboard jibe heading down the run to the finish.
The next five minutes to the finish happened in a flash. First, Williams got a penalty for luffing too quickly after establishing the overlap. Then Williams luffed again and this time the on-water umpires penalized Mirsky for not keeping clear.
With the penalties offset, Williams merely had to hold his position to keep Mirsky outside the pin end. Mirsky aided Williams’s effort by having a lapse in crew work.
“We rounded top mark right behind (Mirsky) and managed to lengthen up the starboard jibe and get into a situation where we were jibing across his air and trying to get hooked into leeward on starboard,” Williams said. “That’s a great spot to be, and the game from there is to hold him hot and prevent him from getting to the pin end.”
70th Bermuda Gold Cup – Leading Round Robin Standings (16 entries):
1. Chris Poole (31, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA) – Riptide Racing, 6-1
2. Ian Williams (43, Lymington, England) – Team GAC Pindar, 6-1
3. Phil Robertson (33, Auckland, New Zealand) – China One Ningbo, 6-1
4. Torvar Mirsky (34, Sydney, Australia) – Mirsky Racing Team, 6-1
5. Eric Monnin (45, Immensee, Switzerland) – Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team, 5-2
6. Taylor Canfield (31, Miami, USA) – Team Stars+Stripes, 4-3
