Saturday, March 12, 2011

COLUMBIA 8.7

Boat: COLUMBIA 8.7

Builder: Hughes Boat Works

Designer: Alan Payne

More: COLUMBIA 8.7 Specifications

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Swedish Match Danish Grand Prix Preview


Author: John Roberson

Skovshoved, Copenhagen, Denmark.

AMERICA'S CUP AND OLYMPIC SKIPPERS HEAD DANISH LINE UP

Bertrand Pace of France, New Zealand's Cameron Appleton, Englishman Andy
Green, Peter Holmberg of the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Ed Baird, all
know the thrill of America's Cup racing, and they are all at the Danish
Open 2000.

Australian Neville Wittey and local hero Jesper Bank both have Olympic gold
medals on their mind, and they are at the Danish Open too.

Add to these such veterans of the match racing scene as Sweden's Magnus
Holmberg and Sten Mohr, another Danish sailing hero.

Then for good measure throw in rising young talent like Denmark's Jes Gram
Hansen and Jesper Radich Johansen, plus Swedish "wild card" entry Mikael
Lindqvist, and you have a potent line up.

Just like the six previous events on the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing
Tour, there will be no easy matches at the Danish Open, which starts off
the Copenhagen suburb of Skovshoved on Thursday 17th August.

For the two Olympians, this is the last international match racing event
before they do battle on Sydney Harbour in the Olympic Games, which start
in less than a month.

For the America's Cup skippers it is either part of the on-going battle to
prove their credentials as they position themselves for the Cup in 2003, or
for those already signed with a team, a vital part of their training.

For all the skippers it is about grabbing the maximum share of the prize
money, the US$25,000 on offer here in Denmark, and the US$150,000 for the
Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour.

With only one more event to go in the first year of the Swedish Match Grand
Prix Sailing Tour, Bermuda's Colorcraft Gold Cup, the points situation is
critical.

Under most pressure are Bertrand Pace and Cameron Appleton, the Frenchman
because he can grab the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour first prize,
and the Kiwi, because he has to stop him, and keep the door open for a Team
New Zealand win.

A good, or bad, result for Neville Wittey and Jesper Bank could have a big
effect on their mental attitude, when they launch their boats for the first
race of the Olympic regatta in Sydney.

To pick a favourite for this event is difficult, on current form Bertrand
Pace, Sten Mohr, Magnus Holmberg and Peter Holmberg are all strong.

Jesper Bank won this event last year, and always gets a boost from the home
crowd, as will the other two young Danes, Jes Gram Hansen and Jesper Radich
Johansen.

All this adds up to what promises to be an enthralling regatta, which takes
the form of a single round robin, in which each skipper sails against all
of the others once, followed by semi-finals, with the finals scheduled for
Sunday 20th August.

SKIPPERS:



More Information:

  • Swedish Match Cup Website

See also: COLUMBIA 8.3 for sale