| STAMFORD, CT, USA-(12-1-2003) It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows match racing that Oracle BMW Racing starting helmsman Peter Holmberg has advanced to the cusp of the sport’s brightest stage in Auckland.
Holmberg, who has ridden his aggressive style of match racing, particularly in the pre-start sequence, to the Swedish Match Tour 2001/2002 Championship, winning three consecutive events in the process, will handle starting duties for his team in the first-to-five-wins Louis Vuitton Cup Finals.
In the Oracle BMW Racing afterguard mix, Holmberg, who describes his approach to match racing as “street fighting” will hand over helming duties to native-Kiwi Chris Dickson following the starts, allowing Dickson, who grew up sailing on the Hauraki Gulf, to match his wealth of experience and knowledge of the local waters against that of two-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts, skipper of the Alinghi Team.
While boat speed and reading windshifts are keys to success in Cup matches, winning the start can provide a mental boost and set the tone of a match. Recognizing this, Holmberg and Oracle BMW Racing committed to competing on the Swedish Match Tour 2001/2002 as part of their preparation for the Louis Vuitton Cup.
During their time racing on Swedish Match, Holmberg and crew thoroughly dominated the world’s premier professional sailing series while also fine-tuning the communication and teamwork so critical to match racing success.
Along the way, Oracle BMW Racing posted a 55-26 match record, a .679 winning percentage, against other America’s Cup 2003 skippers. The result of this combined success was the crowning of Holmberg as the champion of Swedish Match Tour 2001/2002, adding himself to an honor roll featuring Magnus Holmberg of Sweden’s Victory Challenge (2000) and Bertrand Pace of Team New Zealand (2000/2001).
The always humble Holmberg consistently deflected credit for Oracle BMW Racing’s success to his crew of John Cutler (tactics), Brad Webb (bow), Mike Sanderson (mainsheet), Robbie Naismith (trimmer) and Henry Menin (rules advisor).
“It was a team effort all year,” said Holmberg. “Everyone on board, from John calling tactics to Brad on the bow contributed to our success. We worked so well together and many times that made the difference.”
The Swedish Match Tour has the best teams in the world at each and every event. To finish on top of a leaderboard with these teams is a real credit to Oracle BMW Racing and our efforts all year,” concluded Holmberg.
About the Swedish Match Tour
· The Swedish Match Tour is comprised of nine of the world's leading professional sailing events and is proving to be the ultimate battleground of sailing.
· In addition to more than US$500,000 in individual event prize money, the Swedish Match Tour awards US$200,000 to the top eight sailors on the Swedish Match Tour, with the first-place skipper netting US$60,000.
· In addition to a US$60,000 first prize, the winner of the Swedish Match Tour receives the official Swedish Match Tour Championship Trophy, 15`` (30 cm) high with 22 carat gold gilding, produced by Swedish Match Tour sponsor Wedgwood. Additionally, Wedgwood supplies runner-up prizes for second and third places as well as commemorative plaques to each event organizer.
· The Swedish Match Tour produces 155 hours of television coverage reaching more than 426 million households worldwide annually.
· Swedish Match Tour partners include Swedish Match, Octagon and the Match Race Association.
· Swedish Match Tour sponsors include Colorcraft, Champagne Mumm, Musto and Wedgwood.
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