Six unseeded skippers have advanced from the qualifying round to join the eight seeded skippers waiting in the wings for the start of the Swedish Match Tour’s Bermuda Gold Cup Championship, scheduled to begin Wednesday and hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

Rounding out the draw will be the top two finishers from the Bermuda International Women’s Match Racing Championship, to be determined later today.

American Andy Horton is the top qualifier out of Group 1, but the big news is the return of local skipper Peter Bromby and his Team Ace Group to the Bermuda Gold Cup proper. Bromby, a local favourite and three-time world champion in the International One Design (IOD) class, used his familiarity with the local conditions and comfort with the boats, to finish as second qualifier in his group and move on.

Bromby won both of his final round robin matches yesterday, including the highly anticipated duel with fellow Bermudan skipper Adam Barboza. Bromby and Barboza have been friendly rivals since childhood, with today’s match the latest in a long line of local and international clashes between the two.

‘Beating Adam was bittersweet today, but we were in a situation where it was kill or be killed,’ explained Bromby. ‘We have a lot of respect for Adam and were sad to see him go but hopefully we can represent him well from here on out.’

Also advancing out of Group 1 was Mason Woodworth, who came to Bermuda fresh off his third place finish at the UBS Challenge US National Championships, held in Newport in July. Woodworth, an American engineer living in the UK, rallied to win his final four matches of the unseeded round to proceed.

‘The biggest thing all week was at least once in every match we would remember we were in Bermuda,’ said Woodworth. ‘It?s been a great week, with great racing and beautiful weather and we’re glad to be able to extend our stay.’

In Group 2, local skipper Glenn Astwood, helming one of two Team Bacardi entries, advanced atop his Group. Tied with Astwood on six wins, but having fallen to the native in the round robin, are American Tucker Thompson and his Team T2 Productions.

Thompson, a regular member of Chris Law’s The Outlaws, who are the third and final qualifier in Group 2, squared off with his some-time boss in the opening match of yesterday’s Group 2 racing. In this instance, the protégé upstaged the mentor.

‘It was definitely the match I was most looking forward to all week,’ said Thompson. ‘We’ve done a couple of events with Chris on the Swedish Match Tour and have learned so much from him. It was great to see that we’ve retained some of what we’ve learned and are able to apply it. Unfortunately for Chris, it was at his expense today.’

In the final round robin racing of the Bermuda International Women’s Match Racing Championship, local skipper Paula Lewin dropped her first match of the regatta to finish as the top semi-final seed, 6-1, overall.

Meanwhile, Sweden?s Marie Bjorling of Team Goteborg Energi rebounded from her disappointing winless performance the previous day to sweep all three of her matches yesterday afternoon and advance to the semi-finals as the second qualifier.

Joining Lewin and Bjorling in the semi-finals is Klaartje Zuiderbaan of the Netherlands, fresh off the Volvo Ocean Race and taking a two-year hiatus from match racing, and Deborah Willits of the USA.

After losing her first two matches of the regatta, Zuiderbaan rebounded to win four of the final five races, advancing on countback over Denmark’s Lotte Pederson, who lost all three of her matches yesterday, to round out of the roster of semi-finalists.

The semi-finals and finals of the Bermuda International Women’s Match Racing Championships will be held today as well as the practice round for the seeded skippers in the Bermuda Gold Cup.

Standings

Round Robin (Group 1)

1. Andy Horton (USA) 6 wins, 1 loss

2. Mason Woodworth (United Kingdom) 5,2

3. Peter Bromby (BER/Team Ace Group) 5,2

4. Adam Barboza (BER/Team Bacardi) 4,3

5. Marten Hedlund (SWE/Team Victory Lane) 4,3

6. Michael Green (St. Lucia) 2,5

7. Sally Barkow (USA/Team Seven-Barkow Racing) 2,5

8. Bill Buckles (USA) 0,7

Group 2

1. Glenn Astwood (BER/Team Bacardi) 6,1

2. Tucker Thompson (USA/Team T2 Productions) 6,1

3. Chris Law (Great Britain/The Outlaws) 4.5,2

4. Karl Ziegler (USA) 3,4

5. Scott Dickson (USA/Dickson Racing Team) 3,4

6. Andy Lovell (USA) 3,4

7. Anthony Kotoun (U.S. Virgin Islands) 2,5

8. Tino Ellegast (Germany) 0,7

Results

Group 1

Flight 6

Horton def. Green

Woodworth def. Hedlund

Barkow def. Buckles

Bromby def. Barboza

Flight 7

Woodworth def. Horton

Barboza def. Barkow

Bromby def. Buckles

Hedlund def. Green

Group 2

Flight 6

Thompson def. Law

Lovell def. Ziegler

Kotoun def. Dickson

Astwood def. Ellegast

Flight 7

Thompson def. Ziegler

Astwood def. Dickson

Kotoun def. Ellegast

Law def. Lovell

International Women’s Match Racing Championship

Round Robin Standings

1. Paul Lewin (BER/Team Ace Group) 6,1

2. Marie Bjorling, (SWE/Team Goteborg Energi) 5,2

3. Lotte Pedersen (Denmark) 4,3

4. Klaartje Zuiderbaan (Netherlands) 4,3

5. Deborah Willits (USA) 4,3

6. Elizabeth Kratzig (USA/Team Kaenon) 3,4

7. Elizabeth Baylis (USA) 2,5

8. Sandy Hayes (USA) 0,7

Flight 5

Kratzig def. Ballis

Willits def. Pedersen

Lewin def. Zuiderbaan

Bjorling def. Hayes

Flight 6

Willits def. Lewin

Zuiderbaan def. Pedersen

Bjorling def. Kratzig

Ballis def. Hayes

Flight 7

Zuiderbaan def. Willits

Bjorling def. Ballis

Hayes def. Kratzig

Lewin def. Pederson