Argo Group Gold Cup stage one qualifying groups unveiled

Argo Group Gold Cup Sailing Instructions have been posted on the event website at http://www.argogroupgoldcup.com/race-info/sailing-instructions and with them the all important 10-team Groups for the qualifying Round Robin have been set.

Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone, the reigning champion and #1 in the ISAF Open Rankings leads Group 1. Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar, #2 by ISAF, current leader on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour heads up Group 2. Both are past King Edward VII Gold Cup winners.

The unranked ‘wildcard’ Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR) Ben Ainslie Racing Team (BART), sponsored by Argo Group— a two-time winner of the Gold Cup, five time Olympic medalist and 2013 America’s Cup winner— fell into Group 2 with countryman Williams. Mathieu Richard (FRA) GEFCO Match Racing Team, another previous Gold Cup winner, also landed in Group 2.

Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX is seeded second in Group 1. He is ranked 33 by ISAF because he has been relatively inactive in match racing outside of the Tour events and hasn’t accumulated points. Minoprio is tied with Canfield in the number 2 spot on the Tour. He was knocked out in the 2012 Quarter Finals by Williams.

Also in Group 1 is Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team. He was the 2008 Gold Cup winner and was beaten by Canfield in the 2012 finals. Berntsson likes the IODs and will be looking for his first win on the Tour this year.

Stage 1 for the Gold Cup is the Qualifying Round-Robin. Each team will race each of the other teams in its group once. The top four from each group move up to the Quarter Final Series. The Quarter Finals are a ‘first to three points’ knock out series.

The winners in the Quarters move on to the Semi Finals. They are also ‘first to three points’ knock outs. The Quarter and Semi Finals are scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The ‘first to two points’ Petite Finals and ‘first to three points’ Finals are scheduled for Sunday.

GROUP 1

SKIPPER TEAM COUNTRY

Taylor Canfield USone ISV

Adam Minoprio Team Alpari FX NZL

Keith Swinton Black Swan Racing AUS

Johnie Berntsson Stena Sailing Team SWE

Francesco Bruni Luna Rossa ITA

Simone Ferrarese Ferrarese Racing Team ITA

Eric Monnin Swiss Match Race Team SUI

Marek Stanczyk POL

Christopher Poole Riptide Racing USA

Lance Fraser Digicel Business BER

GROUP 2

SKIPPER TEAM COUNTRY

Ian Williams Team GAC Pindar GBR

Bjorn Hansen eWork Sailing Team SWE

Phil Robertson  WAKA Racing NZL

Mathieu Richard GEFCO Match Racinåg Team FRA

Pierre-Antoine Morvan Vannes Agglo Sailing Team FRA

Ben Ainslie Ben Ainslie Racing Team GBR

William Tiller  Full Metal Jacket NZL

Nicolai Sehested TREFOR DEN

Chris Steele  36 Below Racing NZL

Joshua Greenslade  RBYC Sailing Academy BER

Bermuda Weather Service forecast calls for windy conditions early in the week. A frontal passage later on Thursday will bring northerly winds to Bermuda.

Tuesday -  Winds southeasterly 16 to 22 knots...  Scattered showers with a risk of thunder and fair to poor visibility...

Wednesday -  Winds south-southeasterly 12 to 18 knots, with strong gusts in showers, veering south-southwesterly 10 to 15 knots later...

Thursday -  Winds southwesterly 10 to 15 knots, veering northwesterly 8 to 12 knots later...

Previews and daily videos will be posted on the Argo Group Gold Cup Website at http://www.argogroupgoldcup.com/argo-group-goldcup-video and on the Tour site at http://www.wmrt.com/

The Renaissance Re Jr Gold Cup is scheduled for Oct 10 – 12 in Bermuda’s Great Sound and concludes on the Hamilton Harbour Gold Cup course Sunday, Oct 13. With 13 international champions and entries from 17 countries overall, the world’s best will compete in a regatta that includes some 40 Bermudians ranging in age from nine to 15. For more on the Jr Gold Cup, go tohttp://renrejrgoldcup.com/

Visit Bermuda for the Argo Group Gold Cup

October is a perfect month to vacation in Bermuda and the Argo Group Gold Cup is a showcase event culminating in the finals weekend October 12th-13th. Special rates for Gold Cup week are available at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel. http://www.fairmont.com/hamilton-bermuda/

This year will mark the 63rd staging of the King Edward VII Gold Cup, with previous winners including some of the greatest names ever to match race. Since the event was reformatted to be an event under the Match Racing Association in 1985, multiple winners include Chris Dickson (NZL), Russell Coutts (NZL), Peter Gilmour (AUS), and Ben Ainslie (GBR).

The 2013 Argo Group Gold Cup runs from October 8th with Finals scheduled for October 13th. Spectator friendly racing is held in Hamilton Harbour, adjacent to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Marina, a spectacular attraction for tourists and Bermuda residents alike.

The Argo Group Gold Cup is the penultimate fifth stage of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, in which the teams compete for the ISAF Match Racing World Championship. Match racing for The King Edward VII Gold Cup is recognized as one of the classic heritage events on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour.