Baird beats Coutts

In grand finale of Match Race Portugal

The sixth Swedish Match Tour has just begun, and if the remaining eight events bear any resemblance to the Portugal Match Cup it’s going to be an exciting season.

Ed Baird and Russell Coutts put on a thrilling final series, one featuring numerous lead changes, seven penalties and enough match-race strategy to make a chess grand master envious.

The two were the best performing skippers all week. Coutts entered the final undefeated in 11 races. Baird had lost only two in 13 starts. But in the end Baird defeated Coutts, 3-0.

Baird and his Team Musto crew of Andy Horton, Dean Phipps, Guy Salter and Jon Ziskind - won 40,000 Euros (£33,000) of the 150,000 Euro (£100,000) prize purse.

“Russell, you’re the standard we try to reach,” Baird said upon accepting the winner’s trophy and prize money. “It’s wonderful to have you in the final and finally beat you.”

Baird won his second Swedish Match Tour event of the year (he won the Congressional Cup last April) one week after winning his third match-racing world championship. Earlier in July Baird and Team Musto finished fifth at the Swedish Match Cup.

With the victory, Baird scores 25 points towards the Swedish Match Tour championship and takes pole position in the race for the BMW 545i Touring that will be awarded to the champion next July in Sweden.

Coutts and his Danish crew - Michael Arnhild, Jes Gram-Hansen, Christian Kamp and Rasmus Kostner - didn’t fare too badly. The final was much closer than the lopsided score indicated, and they won 25,000 Euros (£16,500) for placing second. Uncharacteristic mistakes on their part doomed the outcome.

“We didn’t sail well today,” said Coutts, the most winning skipper in America’s Cup history. “Ed and his guys deserved to win. They sailed very well and we weren’t very impressive.”

Despite being an inaugural event, every sailor (no exaggeration) praised the organizers of the Portugal Match Cup, Justino de Sa Machado of the Sun Sailing Team and the Naval Club of Cascais, for an outstanding regatta.

“Even on the first occasion, it’s one of the best events on the Swedish Match Tour,” said fourth-placed Jesper Radich (DEN). “They listened to what the sailors had to say. These guys have done it all and seen it all, so they know what’s right. It was nice to see.”

And, despite no time to shake out the new Swedish Match 40, the specially-designed match-racer proved popular with the crews.

“It’s a very good boat for match-racing,” said Coutts.

The third and deciding race of the final was a mirror of the first two in its excitement and suspense. Coutts lost two leads. But so did Baird.

Twice there were hunting situations upwind where Baird, on starboard, dialed down at Coutts trying to force him into an error. There were four penalties issued by the on-water umpires, but neither competitor did any penalty turns as each alternating penalty cancelled the previous.

“When ahead we just tried to sail our own race,” said Horton, Baird’s tactician and main trimmer.

The wind conditions for the final were as difficult as the first four days, even if it was from a different direction and with less pressure. The wind for the final was from the north/northwest, left of the first four days, and blowing between 6 and 8 knots. And with the racecourse again placed in the Bay of Cascais, off of Cascais Marina, there were wild shifts and large windless patches to contend with.

“It was scary because there was never an obvious situation with the wind,” Baird said. “There were lots of indicators of what the wind might do, but they weren’t reliable. We just tried to get off the line cleanly and toward the next puff. The team was wonderful today. They never got down.”

Baird, Horton and Ziskind have been together for all three regattas they’ve raced this month, with varying supporting casts. Although they finished fifth at the Swedish Match Cup, that was due more to one bad day than a poor regatta. They finished with a 10-2 record.

At the Worlds last week in Russia, they won a light-air regatta sailed on a lake with huge windshifts.

“I think the past regattas helped us carry a level of comfort into this event,” Baird said. “We’ve been through some tough races in the last few weeks. We knew to stay patient and keep fighting.”

“Ed’s been sailing fast all year,” said Ziskind, the headsail trimmer. “He’s just putting the bow down and letting the boat rumble along. Plus, the three of us have been together for two years now. It’s finally coming together for us.”

Baird and Team Musto made it to the final after beating Radich and his Team Denmark crew (Jann Neergaard, Chresten Plinius, Pete Poulsen, Rasmus Winston) 3-1 in the semifinals.

“We had to beat all the Vikings today,” said Horton, referring to the nine Danes of the 10 sailors they raced on the final day.

Coutts and his Danish crew defeated Peter Holmberg (USVI) and the Team Alinghi crew (Rodney Ardern, Murray Jones, Lorenzo Mazza and Pete Van Nieuwenhuyzen) 3-0 to make the final.

In the Petit Final, featuring two skippers who have been out of match-racing for awhile, Holmberg defeated Radich 2-0.

“It was good to end with a couple of wins,” said Holmberg, who only began match-racing again this month after a year and a half layoff. “I think we sailed our best after losing to Russell.”

Radich hasn’t match-raced in the last three months, but was also happy with his performance. “Actually, I’m very pleased,” he said. “We beat some of the top guys like Peter Gilmour.”

PORTUGAL MATCH CUP
Final Standings (July 31, 2004)

Skipper (Country) Team, Record, Prize money*
1. Ed Baird (USA) Team Musto, 14-2, €40,000 (£26,400)
Crew Andy Horton, Dean Phipps, Guy Salter, Jon Ziskind

2. Russell Coutts (NZL), 11-3, €25,000 (£16,500)
Crew Michael Arnhild, Jes Gram-Hansen, Christian Kamp, Rasmus Kostner

3. Peter Holmberg (USVI) Team Alinghi, 8-7, €20,000 (£13,200)
Crew Rodney Ardern, Murray Jones, Lorenzo Mazza, Piete Van Nieuwenhuyzen

4. Jesper Radich (DEN) Team Denmark, 7-7, €15,000 (£9,900)
Crew Jann Neergaard, Chresten Plinius, Pete Poulsen, Rasmus Winston

5. Peter Gilmour (AUS) Pizza-La Sailing Team, 7-5, €10,000 (£6,600)
Crew Rod Dawson, Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Yasuhiro Yaji

6. Philippe Presti (FRA) le Défi Français, 9-7, €9000 (£6,600)
Crew Jean-Marie Dauris, Fred Guilmin, Maurier Husson, Christian Scherrer

7. Staffan Lindberg (FIN), 7-8, €8000 (£5,200)
Crew Johan Karlsson, Martin Krite, Daniel Mattsson, Daniel Wallberg

8. Bertrand Pacé (FRA) BMW Oracle Racing, 4-6, €7000 (£4,300)
Crew Benoit Briand, Thierry Fouchier, Fabrice Levet, Romain Troublé

9. Chris Law (GBR) The Outlaws, 4-6, €6000 (£4,000)
Crew Oscar Angervall, Daniel Bjorndal, Anders Dahlsjo, Henrik Walderyd

10. Michael Dunstan (AUS) OzBoyz Challenge, 2-8, €5000 (£3,300)
Crew Jeremy Elliot, Wade Morgan, Ben Morrison-Jack, Nick Partridge

11. Geoff Meek (RSA) Shosholoza Challenge, 2-8, €3000 (£2,000)
Crew Ian Ainslie, Marc Lagesse, David Rae, Mark Sadler

12. Francisco Neto (POR) Team Henri Lloyd, 1-9, €2,000 (£1,300)
Crew Tiago Marcelino, Joaquim Moreira, Bruno Santos, Miguel Veludo