American Ed Baird wins both the Nippon Cup and the top rank on the current Swedish Match Tour for the second time.
December 16, 2004 (Press Release) --
2004 Nippon Cup - sixth sense for the wind lets Gram-Hansen down
American Ed Baird wins both the Nippon Cup and the top rank on the current Swedish Match Tour for the second time. Jes Gram-Hansen won two of three pre-starts and all first crosses, he led at the windward mark each time - and still lost the Nippon Cup final 2004 to Ed Baird 0-3.
Sunday brought the same weak winds to Hayama, Japan, which had favoured the Danish crew over Peter Gilmour's in the semi-final. But to the all-rounder Ed Baird, Sunday's eight knots from the North, turning to five South after three hours of calm, were just perfect.
In light air, the Floridian had already won the Congressional Cup and the Portugal Match Cup earlier this year. "It's hard to feel comfortable in the light stuff," Baird said though. "One puff or shift can propel you to victory just as easily as it can take it away."
The Pacific breeze brought Baird his second Nippon Cup after 1995, including US-$ 15.000 of prize money, and 25 points in the Swedish Match Tour Ranking. So halfway through the sixth Tour season, Ed Baird has a 20-point lead over the top-eight field and is the top contender for the champion's bonus of US-$ 60.000 and a BMW 545i Touring from Tour partner and official car BMW.
To the Viking crew, the defeat was a bit of a blow. "We're very disappointed," said Gram-Hansen's headsail trimmer Christian Kamp. "We led in every race and got to choose where to go, but made the wrong decisions. It's sad to lose when you're leading." At least, Gram-Hansen's team now joins second place in the Tour ranking with Russell Coutts.
Another leader who lost big is Peter Gilmour, the current Swedish Match Tour champion, who had started out to win a record ninth Nippon Cup in 2004. After a flawless round robin, Gilmour ended up in fourth place when Kiwi Dean Barker beat him 2-1 in the Petit Final on Sunday. As the wind sagged, all efforts by Gilmour and his two longtime Japanese crew members Yaji und Sofuku to draw on their experience were frustrated.
========**********=============
Final Standings of the Nippon Cup 2004 (as by November 21)
1. Ed Baird (USA) 15-2
Crew Andy Horton, Piet van Nieuwenhuyzen, Jon Ziskind
2. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) 11-5
Crew Morten Halkier, Christian Kamp, Rasmus Kostner
3. Dean Barker (NZL) 8-6
Crew James Dagg, Ray Davies, Jared Henderson
4. Peter Gilmour (AUS) 13-3
Crew Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Yasuhiro Yaji
5. Philippe Presti (FRA) 8-5
Crew Antoine Breger, Gilles Andre, Fred Guilmin
6. Michele Ivaldi (ITA) 6-7
Crew Tom Burnham, Manuel Modena, Tatsuya Wakinaga
7. Gavin Brady (NZL/BMW ORACLE Racing) 6-5
Crew Sean Clarkson, Chris Dickson, Dirk de Ridder
8. Geoff Meek (RSA) 4-7
Crew Mark Lagesse, Gui Verhoevert, Alex Runseman
9. Yasutaka Funazawa (JPN) 4-7
Crew Masaki Kobayashi, Masahiro Nagao, Kiyotoshi Tanaka
10. Takumi Nakamura (JPN) 2-9
Crew Yasuhiro Okamoto, Kunio Suzuki, Daichi Wada
11. Sven-Erik Horsch (GER) 1-10
Crew Mirko Masek, Alexander Nibbe, Felix Simmendinger
12. Kazuto Seki (JPN) 1-10
Crew Toshiro Honda, Masahiro Ogawa, Shigenobu Sago
From BMW Offical Site.
(http://www.bmw.com/generic/com/en/general/news/)
American Ed Baird wins both the Nippon Cup and the top rank on the current Swedish Match Tour for the second time. Jes Gram-Hansen won two of three pre-starts and all first crosses, he led at the windward mark each time - and still lost the Nippon Cup final 2004 to Ed Baird 0-3.
Sunday brought the same weak winds to Hayama, Japan, which had favoured the Danish crew over Peter Gilmour's in the semi-final. But to the all-rounder Ed Baird, Sunday's eight knots from the North, turning to five South after three hours of calm, were just perfect.
In light air, the Floridian had already won the Congressional Cup and the Portugal Match Cup earlier this year. "It's hard to feel comfortable in the light stuff," Baird said though. "One puff or shift can propel you to victory just as easily as it can take it away."
The Pacific breeze brought Baird his second Nippon Cup after 1995, including US-$ 15.000 of prize money, and 25 points in the Swedish Match Tour Ranking. So halfway through the sixth Tour season, Ed Baird has a 20-point lead over the top-eight field and is the top contender for the champion's bonus of US-$ 60.000 and a BMW 545i Touring from Tour partner and official car BMW.
To the Viking crew, the defeat was a bit of a blow. "We're very disappointed," said Gram-Hansen's headsail trimmer Christian Kamp. "We led in every race and got to choose where to go, but made the wrong decisions. It's sad to lose when you're leading." At least, Gram-Hansen's team now joins second place in the Tour ranking with Russell Coutts.
Another leader who lost big is Peter Gilmour, the current Swedish Match Tour champion, who had started out to win a record ninth Nippon Cup in 2004. After a flawless round robin, Gilmour ended up in fourth place when Kiwi Dean Barker beat him 2-1 in the Petit Final on Sunday. As the wind sagged, all efforts by Gilmour and his two longtime Japanese crew members Yaji und Sofuku to draw on their experience were frustrated.
========**********=============
Final Standings of the Nippon Cup 2004 (as by November 21)
1. Ed Baird (USA) 15-2
Crew Andy Horton, Piet van Nieuwenhuyzen, Jon Ziskind
2. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) 11-5
Crew Morten Halkier, Christian Kamp, Rasmus Kostner
3. Dean Barker (NZL) 8-6
Crew James Dagg, Ray Davies, Jared Henderson
4. Peter Gilmour (AUS) 13-3
Crew Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Yasuhiro Yaji
5. Philippe Presti (FRA) 8-5
Crew Antoine Breger, Gilles Andre, Fred Guilmin
6. Michele Ivaldi (ITA) 6-7
Crew Tom Burnham, Manuel Modena, Tatsuya Wakinaga
7. Gavin Brady (NZL/BMW ORACLE Racing) 6-5
Crew Sean Clarkson, Chris Dickson, Dirk de Ridder
8. Geoff Meek (RSA) 4-7
Crew Mark Lagesse, Gui Verhoevert, Alex Runseman
9. Yasutaka Funazawa (JPN) 4-7
Crew Masaki Kobayashi, Masahiro Nagao, Kiyotoshi Tanaka
10. Takumi Nakamura (JPN) 2-9
Crew Yasuhiro Okamoto, Kunio Suzuki, Daichi Wada
11. Sven-Erik Horsch (GER) 1-10
Crew Mirko Masek, Alexander Nibbe, Felix Simmendinger
12. Kazuto Seki (JPN) 1-10
Crew Toshiro Honda, Masahiro Ogawa, Shigenobu Sago
From BMW Offical Site.
(http://www.bmw.com/generic/com/en/general/news/)
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