Johnie Berntsson won the 2014 Argo Group Gold Cup and $50,000 of the $100,000 prize purse. Berntsson defeated Eric Monnin 3-1 in brilliant match racing conditions on the Hamilton Harbor. This is the second time the jovial Swede has won the cup, repeating his triumph of 2008.
Ian Williams and Taylor Canfield were the two competitors who had reached the Semi-Finals with the best record. Coming into the Argo Group Gold Cup they were ranked 1 and 2 on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. They lost to Monnin and Berntsson in the Semi Finals. In the Petite Finals, Canfield defeated Williams 2-1 to claim third place, leaving Williams in fourth.
Two special trophies are presented at the Argo Group gold Cup. The Wedgwood Heritage Trophy was first presented at the 1990 King Edward VII Gold Cup competition. It is presented to the sailor who best represents the traditional values and history of sailing. This year’s winner is Eric Monnin as a consistent presence at the Gold Cup, always gracious and always a gentleman.
The Jordy Walker Trophy recognizes Marek Stanczyk of Poland as the most improved young match race sailor who competes in World Match Racing Tour events or other events that automatically qualify a skipper for a Tour event. He comes from Poland and has less opportunity to sail in international match racing events and but has improved his skills tremendously.
Berntsson said, “We are so lucky, happy to win this time. We were never safe. The races we won we had to fight hard for. Eric Monin’s team really drive the boat so fast. We were lucky to win by such small margins really by inches.
My crew did such a good job calling tactics and keeping us going fast. In the end, it was not easy racing today and by the finals the conditions changed from the light shifty conditions in the morning. It had all changed and we sailed well in this breeze.
As far as winning the King Edward VII Gold Cup, this is the top event for us. This is a huge win for us. One of the best events for us and one of the greatest wins we will ever have. We will be back.”
Monnin said, “I have been to the Gold Cup 11 times, and have been in the finals four times before. We finished fourth each time. Today, we finished in second place. It meant so much to our team to reach the finals. Next year we hope to come back and finish the job.
I am happy we played the shifts and worked the way we did as a team. Perhaps our luck changed a bit as the day went on but we felt all day that the corners were better than the middle of the course. We chose to play the wind and not sail as close. That was our strategy.”
