In a stunning upset to the three leaders of the World Match Racing Tour, Mattias Rahm (SWE), Johnie Berntsson (SWE) and young Adam Minoprio (NZL) have all advanced to the Semi-Final round of the King Edward VII Gold Cup. World Tour leader and reigning World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) fell prey to Match Cup Sweden winner Rahm in five matches, the longest of any in this round. And two teams of the seemingly invincible French Match Racing Team – Mathieu Richard and Sebastian Col – fell in four matches to Berntsson and Minoprio, respectively. Racing on Sarurday 11 Oct was delayed for an hour awaiting the easterly breeze to fill fully in Hamilton harbour, but once in it developed into a pleasant 8-10 knots, perfect for match race sailing. Shifts and puffs were still determining factors in many matches, however, so like in the three earlier days in this competition the leaders were rarely safe without having substantial margins over their rivals, and the action was often quite close in all four pairs. The upsets continued on Sunday as Johnie Berntsson (SWE) and Adam Minoprio (NZL) advanced to Final round. On yet another spectacular day of match race sailing on Hamilton Harbour, Johnie Berntsson (SWE) has defeated Adam Minoprio (NZL) in a decisive 3-1 Final. In Petite-Final action, Ben Ainslie (GBR) and his Team Origin held off an aggressive Rahm to win the first-to-three point series in three straight matches.
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