With a northeasterly breeze blowing off the land early this morning, the racing got underway at 9:30am local time with the final flights from round robin one taking place in a solid breeze that fluctuated from 15 to 25 knots. Progress was made through to the final race in the second flight of round robin two. This was abandoned when the wind died completely. With no breeze on the race course coinciding with lunchtime, the boats returned to ACI Marina only to leave again mid-afternoon to await a sea breeze that only partially materialized.

A cheer went up from local spectators when in the first flight of the second round robin local Split sailor Frane Brate managed to dispatch Swedish Match Tour leader Jes Gram-Hansen of Denmark. This is Brate’s only win in the competition to date.

“We have small luck in this position, because he was the first boat and towards the last mark the wind came from behind and we go quickly this way and slowly meter by meter we overtake him,” explained Brate, 28. “We feel very happy because this is my first time match racing and my crew haven’t been training.” Ironically Brate was en route to his second win in his match against Jesper Radich when the wind died and the race was abandoned before lunch.

Losing to the novice Croatian was just one of a catalogue of disasters for Jes Gram-Hansen, the present Swedish Match Tour leader, who today dropped matches to Paolo Cian – the Mascalzone Latino America’s Cup team skipper also not on form – and to fellow Swede Mattias Rahm. Gram-Hansen is now lying eighth in the overall results after three days of racing.

Meanwhile Chris Law staged a come back with his band of Outlaws, who aside from Law comprise tactician Dobbs Davis and three local sailors, Ante Vanjaka, Ivan Kljakovic-Gaspic and Darko Supuk.  Law today beat Magnus Holmberg, Allan Coutts and Paolo Cian, only losing to James Spithill.

“We had a miscommunication of time,” said Law of his loss to the young Australian skipper. “The watch stopped or went forward or something because he called me over the line by 20 seconds. We also had miscommunication today. In the heat of the moment I go ‘hold the jib’ and the Croatian for ‘release’ or ‘cut the jib’, is very similar to the word ‘hold’. So they thought I meant ‘release’. But otherwise they are great.”

This afternoon’s racing barely took place. The last abandoned match of the second flight between Jesper Radich and Frane Brate was held in good breeze and was won by Radich.

Principle Race Officer Alen Kustic then decided to get the third flight underway. “We opened the third flight between James Spithill and Paolo Cian and as soon as I let the procedure go and when they entered, the wind was dying,” recounted Kustic. Cian failed to enter the start area correctly and picked up a penalty but was able to recover his ground during the race. Unfortunately during the race the wind again died and shifted around the clock. The race was completed but was painstakingly long. Racing for the day was subsequently cancelled.

In the post-race wrap-up there was discussion about whether or not a time limit should be set for the completion of individual races as there is in the America’s Cup. 

Split Hospital received another customer from the ACI HTmobile Cup today in the form of Swiss Alinghi crewman Nils Frei sailing with skipper Allan Coutts. Frei developed a bursitis on his elbow – a pingpong ball-sized growth. As the boats returned at lunchtime, Frei was rushed to hospital where the bursitis was cut open and drained. “I had it during the America’s Cup and then it went off completely, but there was a risk that it would come again and that risk was now,” said Frei, his elbow now heavily bandaged. He returned to the boat without missing a race.

At present James Spithill with 10 wins in 13 races holds a narrow lead over Poland’s Karol Jablonski who has won 9 races of 11 sailed. Tomorrow the race committee will have their work cut out to complete the second round robin before launching into the quarter-or semifinals on Saturday.

For all the latest news and information about the Swedish Match Tour, visit www.swedishmatchtour.com.

ACI HTmobile Cup Leaderboard

Skipper                                                                                   Wins            Losses
1.James Spithill (AUS/Team Spithill)                                            10            3

2.Karol Jablonski, (POL/Jablonski Sailing Team)                          9            2

3.Magnus Holmberg, (SWE/Team Holmberg)                              8            4 

   Jesper Radich (DEN/Team Radich)                                            8            4

5. Chris Law (GBR/”The Outlaws”)                                           7            5

6. Mattias Rahm (SWE/Team Stena Bulk)                                    6            6

7.Jes Gram Hanson (DEN/Team Victory Lane)                         5            7

   Paolo Cian (ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team)                      5            7

9.Johnie Berntsson (SWE)                                                              4            8

10.Allan Coutts (NZ/Alinghi Team)                                              3            9

11.Frane Brate (CRO)                                                                  1            11

ACI HTmobile Cup Round Robin Results

Round Robin One

Flight 10

Law def Holmberg

Spithill def Coutts

Gram Hansen def Berntsson

Jablonski def Rahm

Radich def Cian

Flight 11
Law def Coutts

Spithill def Brate

Berntsson def Rahm

Cian def Gram Hansen

Jablonski def Radich

Round Robin Two

Flight 1

Jablonski def Berntsson

Spithill def Law

Radich def Coutts

Rahm def Holmberg

Brate def Gram Hansen

Flight 2
Berntsson def Spithill

Law def Cian

Holmberg def Coutts

Rahm def Gram Hansen

Radich def Brate

Flight 3
Spithill def Cian

Source: Shawn McBride