Congratulations to Sweden’s Johnie Berntsson, who has won the King Edward VII Gold Cup Match Racing Championship (SSL 1000) sailed in Bermuda, the oldest match racing trophy in the world.
The event had to be curtailed after the Quarterfinals due to the passage of Tropical Storm Philippe. It was hoped to race the Semifinals and Finals on Saturday (October 7th), but with 35 knots of wind on Hamilton Harbour this wasn’t possible in the classic International One-Design yachts.
Berntsson won thanks to being undefeated through the Round Robin and Quarterfinal stages. Taylor Canfield’s (USA) Stars+Stripes USA team finished second with SSL Team Great Britain Captain Ian Williams’ (GBR) Chinaone.Ningbo team third.
It is the third time Berntsson has lifted the trophy, having previously won in 2008 and 2014, and he was overjoyed to win it again:
“I’m so proud to be part of the history of the King Edward VII Gold Cup. There have been so many great sailors racing and winning here. I’m really proud to be part of that nice, successful group of sailors. It’s very good feelings.”
71st Bermuda Gold Cup Overall Results:
1. Johnie Berntsson (51, Stenungsund, Sweden) Berntsson Sailing Team – 11-0, $25,000
Crew: Herman Andersson, Björn Lundgren, Patrik Sturesson
2. Taylor Canfield (34, Miami, USA) Stars+Stripes USA – 9-2, $12,000
Crew: Robby Bisi, Mike Buckley, Ian Liberty, Erik Shampain
3. Ian Williams (46, Lymington, England) Chinaone.Ningbo – 8-2, $10,000
Crew: Jon Gunderson, Gerard Mitchell, Richard Sydenham
4. Harry Price (28, Sydney, Australia) Down Under Racing – 8-4, $8,000
Crew: Taylor Balogh, Julia Lines, Connor Mashlan
5. Eric Monnin (47, Immensee, Switzerland) Capvis Swiss Match Racing Teamn – 8-4, $5,000
Crew: Simon Brügger, Hugo Feydit, Marc Monnin, Ute Monnin-Wagner
6. Gavin Brady (49, Annapolis, Md., USA) True Blue Racing – 6-5, $5,000
Crew: Chris Cullen, Tom Powrie, Dave Sweete
7. Jeppe Borch (25, Copenhagen, Denmark) Borch Racing – 5-5, $5,000
Crew: Thor Malthe Andersen, Sebastian Pieters, Gustav Wantzin
8. Nick Egnot-Johnson (25, Auckland, New Zealand) KNOTS Racing – 4-7, $5,000
Crew: Sam Barnett, Bradley McLaughlin, Zak Merton
9. Anna Östling (39, Lerum, Sweden) WINGS – 3-4
Crew: Annika Carlunger, Anna Holmdahl White, Elisabeth Nilsson, Linnéa Wennergren
10. Chris Poole (34, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA) Riptide Racing – 2-5
Crew: Joachim Aschenbrenner, Matt Cornwell, Mal Parker, Luke Payne
11. Pauline Courtois (34, Brest, France) Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team – 2-5
Crew: Louis Acker, Clara Bayol, Maelenn Lemaitre, Laurane Mettraux
12. David Hood (Long Beach, Calif., USA) DH3 Racing – 2-5
Crew: Ricky McGarvie, Chris Steele, Will Tiller
13. Jeffrey Petersen (21, Santa Ana, Calif., USA) Golden State Match Racing – 2-5
Crew: Will Birch-Tomlinson, Tyler Walk, Josh Wijohn
14. Celia Willison (25, Auckland, New Zealand) Edge Racing New Zealand – 1-6
Crew: Alison Kent, Charlotte Porter, Rosie Rowell, Ruby Scholten
15. Peter Holz (30, Chicago, Ill., USA) Windy City Match Racing – 1-6
Crew: Sam Gilmour, John Hammond, Ellis Tonissi
16. Joshua Greenslade (32, Pembroke, Bermuda) 0-7
Crew: Dale Brangman, Ruairi Brown, Peter Dill