3:11 AM Sun 23 Nov 2008 GMT
In the last week before the 2008 Monsoon Cup, two of the competing skippers, the triple Olympic Gold Medalist Ben Ainslie and the rising star of the World Match Racing Tour New Zealand's Adam Minoprio will be racing in the 2008 New Zealand Match racing Championships.
Ainslie is the skipper of the GBR America's Cup team, Team Origin, and will lead a crew comprising 2008 Olympic Gold Medallist in the Star Class, Iain Percy and 2008 Australian Olympian, Finn sailor Anthony Nossiter. Christian Kemp will be trimmer and Matt Cornwell (bowman). Ainslie was backup helmsman for Team New Zealand in the 2007 America's Cup, while Percy was the helmsman of the Italian challenger +39 in the same event.
Ainslie's main competition is expected to come from Adam Minoprio and Dean Barker.
Minoprio is currently fourth on the Tour lists and he beat Ainslie in the semi finals of the Bermuda Gold Cup.
Keen to continue their habit of taking some big scalps of the match racing world Skipper Adam Minoprio and his BlackMatch Racing Team with Tony Rae (main), David Swete (pit), Tom Powrie (trimmer) and Nick Blackman (bow). A product of the RNZYS Youth match racing program this team are now aligned with Emirates Team New Zealand.
Dean Barker, the Emirates Team New Zealand skipper will be sailing with four of the NZL-92 crew aboard - Don Cowie (main), Ray Davies (tactician) James Dagg (trimmer) and Jeremy Lomas (bow).
The other dark horse will be Rod Davis, with Olympic Gold and Silver medals in his drawer, the match racing veteran and America's Cup skipper was winning match races back in the 1980's as well as skippering America's Cup campaigns in 1987 and 1992.
Davis won this regatta last year, to the surprise of some, but showing that his experience takes a lot of rubbing out. He will have Graeme Sutherland (main), Brett Eliot (pit) and the athletic NZL-92 bowman Richard Meacham as trimmer.
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World
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