Josh earns shot at Gold

Joshua Greenslade clinched a much-coveted place in the 2013 Argo Gold Cup at the Bermuda Sailing Association’s Match Racing National Championships hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

Going up against fellow skippers Lance Fraser and former Olympian Jesse Kirkland, the trio produced some intense, competitive sailing in Hamilton Harbour in the IOD Class knowing the reward was the chance to pit their wits against the likes of sailing legend Ben Ainslie in the prestigious October event.

Greenslade enlisted the help of RBYC senior instructors Tom Herbert-Evans and Sean Evans along with IOD stalwart and Gold Cup veteran Blythe Walker on mainsail, while Kirkland was supported by Somers Kempe, RBYC Vice Commodore and multiple Gold Cup participant, and  Peter Martin and Cameron Pimentel.

Greenslade  earned an early win over Kirkland before the latter was beaten by the experienced Fraser — currently ranked 79th in the World Match Racing Rankings — in the second match. Greenslade then sent out an impressive message with victory over Fraser. 

After rotating boats, the second round robin saw a repeat of the earlier results, with Greenslade having a commanding four points over Fraser and Kirkland at 2 and 0 respectively. 

In deference to the light conditions and concern over completing a semi-final and final series, the semi-final was dispensed with, meaning a disappointed but accepting Team Kirkland was finished for the day.

Greenslade and Fraser, therefore, moved on to a best-of-five finals with course changes adding to the challenge of a rapid-fire series that was stretched to the full five races. After falling behind 2-1 in the first three, Team Greenslade showed superior boat speed and, making fewer mistakes, regrouped to win the final two races and take the Championships.

Fraser said: “We were out-sailed today. It ended up being a hard-fought finals, coming down to a sudden-death final race, and he won the start and we couldn’t get by him. He really deserves the win and I wish him the best of luck in the Gold Cup.”

Leatrice Roman, current BSA President and RBYC Rear Commodore of sailing added:  “It was a great competition. Well done to Josh Greenslade and the winning team and to teams Lance Fraser and Jesse Kirkland for making it a highly-contested event. 

“I was able to watch the entire event and each race had moments of triumph and let-down. 

“Thank you to our race officer Tom Clarke and his team along with chief umpire Bob Duffy and his team of Olympian and match racer Paula Lewin, Graham Hillier and Jon Corless. It’s great to have the next generation of youth sailors competing in match racing and competing for the highly-coveted Argo Gold Cup.”

The Gold Cup takes place from October 8-13 in Hamilton Harbour. 

Match information courtesy of the Bermuda Sailing Association.