One flight of the 2014 Argo Group Gold Cup Quarter Finals was sailed following the completion of the Qualifying Rounds and the selection of opponents and draw for boats.
The Quarter Finals set Ian Williams against Marek Stanczyk, Taylor Canfield against Steffan Lindberg, Eric Monnin against Pierre Morvan, and an all Swedish pairing of Bjorn Hansen against Johnie Berntsson. One match was sailed on Friday before the pro-am sponsor racing.
The Quarter Finals are a first to 3-point knockout. Four winners will move on to the Semi Finals and four will go to the Consolation Round to decide places 5-8.
Current 2014 Argo Group Gold Cup Quarter-Finals Standings after 1 Flight
Ian Williams leads Marek Stanczyk 1 - 0 Taylor Canfield leads Steffan Lindberg 1 - 0 Eric Monnin leads Pierre Morvan 1 - 0 Johnie Berntssen leads Bjorn Hansen 1 - 0
Qualifying Round – Round Up
Earlier in the day, Ian Williams the top seed in Group 1, finished the Argo Group Gold Cup Qualifying Round with a perfect 9 wins. His only blemish in the first three days of Stage 6 of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour was a half-point deduction for his damage collision with Francesco Bruni. For finishing first in Group 1 Williams got to pick from the other seven qualifiers for the Quarter Finals.
Taylor Canfield, who only lost his initial match of the competition and had eight wins in a row, led the other seven qualifiers, Eric Monnin, Bjorn Hansen, Marek Stanczyk, Staffan Lindberg, Pierre Morvan and Johnie Berntsson.
Three of the Quarter finalists are previous King Edward VII Gold Cup Winners. Williams won in 2006, Berntsson in 2008 and Canfield in 2012. Two other previous winners— Mathieu Richard (2007) and Francesco Bruni the defending champion— failed to make the cut.
Three of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour Card Holders lead the Quarter Final competition— Williams, Canfield and Hansen. The other five failed to make the Quarter Final cut— Richard, Swinton, Robertson, Gilmour, and Bruni.
