Yachting: Breathless day helps Holmberg win

By JULIE ASH

Oracle Racing's Peter Holmberg is the new leader of the international match racing tour after his team of New Zealand sailors clinched a win in Auckland yesterday.

Holmberg won the Steinlager Line 7 Cup, which ended in anti-climax after light conditions ruled out a final between Holmberg and Denmark's Jes Gram-Hansen.

Holmberg and his team of John Cutler, Robbie Naismith, Mike Sanderson and Brad Webb were awarded the win after a countback of points in the round-robin competition.

In the semifinals, Holmberg downed Prada's Rod Davis 2-1 and Gram-Hansen beat Italian Paolo Cian 2-0. Gram-Hensen finished second, Cian third and Davis fourth.

Holmberg's place at the top of the leaderboard comes at the expense of Sweden's Magnus Holmberg (no relation), who had held the position for the past 19 months.

It was Holmberg's second tour event victory, after winning the Bermuda Gold Cup last October.

He now holds a 12-point buffer over the "other" Holmberg and the pair are well clear of their challengers.

Peter Holmberg said: "You would have to say this is one of the best ones to try to win and with the field this year I'll count this as a wonderful experience.

"I have to thank my crew because I feel in this regatta, without a chance to practise beforehand, I had to rely on my veteran crew to do a good job." Holmberg, who is still recovering from a broken collarbone received while mountain biking, said he hoped to compete in as many of the last four Swedish Match Tour events as he can.

"We are doing the Congressional Cup [in California] next month and are looking at Croatia and Sweden.

"It is an America's Cup year and it is great for us all to be out there competing.

For Gram-Hansen, an amateur skipper, finishing second was an outstanding achievement.

He was the only non-America's Cup skipper to make the quarter-finals.

"We are very pleased with the way we have sailed here," he said.

"It has been a good week for us.

"Of course it is always a disappointment not to race in the final when you reach it, but there'll be another final some day."

Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker finished ninth out of 12 entrants in the regatta.

That means he has dropped from fourth equal to fifth equal with Morten Henriksen (Germany) and Jesper Bank (Sweden) on the tour leaderboard.

New Zealand's Gavin Brady, a part of the Prada syndicate, is third and Gram-Hansen fourth.

Results:

Semifinals: P. Holmberg (Oracle) bt R. Davis (Prada) 2-1, J. Gram-Hansen (Denmark) bt P. Cian (Mascalzone Latino Challenge) 2-0. Holmberg won title on a countback.

Overall circuit standings: P. Holmberg 80 points, 1; M. Holmberg (Sweden) 68, 2; G. Brady (Prada) 42, 3; J Gram-Hansen 40, 4; J. Bank (Victory Challenge), D. Barker (Team NZ), M. Henriksen (Germany) all 20, equal 5; E. Baird (US) 15 8.

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