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Brits and 'what ifs' GBR sets sights on America's Cup semifinalsPosted: Wednesday October 23, 2002 7:23 PM
By Matt Sheahan, Yachting World Given the stiff competition, GBR Challenge finished the first Round Robin in good form, fourth equal with Dennis Conners' Stars & Stripes. But from now on the heat's turned up, if only just a little, with one team having to pack their bags by the end of the round. At the moment, the points on the board seem to indicate that it'll either be the French or the Italian "B" team Mascalzone Latino that will be heading home for Christmas, but few from the fourth boat down are counting their chickens just yet. But just as looking nervously over your shoulder at your opposition on a downwind leg is a guaranteed way of ensuring they catch you, so the Brits have been busy looking forward at what they have to do to achieve their longer term goal of getting to the semifinals. And it's not as straightforward as you might think. Bill (Complicated) Edgerton, GBR's sailing coach talked me through the "ifs" and "buts" of the next round and how best to progress through to the semis. The bottom line is that finishing the next round in either fourth or fifth is what they're aiming at. But it's not quite as simple as that. Finishing fourth would mean that they would have to go up against the top scoring boat of Round Robin 1 in the quarterfinals. Assuming they lost this match, (as it's most likely to be One World or Alinghi), they would then be up against the second points rated boat in the quarterfinal repechage group. Once again, this would most likely mean meeting either One World or Alinghi -- not an easy route to the semis. On the other hand, if they were to finish fifth, they would most likely be up against the lowest scoring boat. Winning this match would then put them up against the fourth scoring boat in the repechage. A success here would then lead them through to the semis. There is an even simpler way to look at their strategy, though. Three victories and no losses would probably get GBR Challenge a fourth in the next round robin. Two wins and a loss would get a fourth or fifth and one win and two losses, (the opposite of what we achieved in the previous Round Robin), would get a sixth place. Of course much of this is based on certain assumptions, not least of all who the first and fifth on points chose to race in the quarterfinals. But what does all this mean when it comes to the boats themselves? Taking a punt in the America's Cup is a dangerous thing, but based on the points so far, the chat around town, a hint of patriotism and expert advice from my nine-year-old daughter and some of her school friends, I'd hazard a guess at the following:
Quarterfinals
One World vs. Stars & Stripes
Quarterfinals repechage
Stars & Stripes vs. GBR Challenge
Semifinals
One World vs. Alinghi
There goes my reputation! Courtesy of Yachting World.
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