PERTH, Western Australia — After the first day of action in the Sun Microsystems Australia Cup, three match-racing teams remain undefeated with two victories apiece: Australian Peter Gilmour, Peter Holmberg of the US Virgin Islands, and New Zealander Dean Barker.
Instead of getting a visit from the region?s renowned "Doctor" (the moniker given to the 20 to 25-knot sea breezes that occur here), the competitors in this second event of the Swedish Match Tour competed in 6 to 10-knot southwesterlies. The conditions made it difficult for anyone to have a breakaway race, and thus in 10 of the 16 races run yesterday on the Swan River, competitors finished within 20 seconds of each other. Those margins, however, are also an indication of the competitive intensity among the fleet.
Gilmour, a three-time winner at this event, shares a similar motivation with Holmberg, each seeks to avenge their poor performances at last week?s Steinlager/Line 7 Cup in Auckland, where both finished well out of the money. Racing among the 12 sailors continues today through Saturday.