St. Thomas’ Peter Holmberg captures his 4th Bitter End Pro Am Regatta

North Sound, Virgin Gorda, BVI
November 2 - 5, 2010

St. Thomas’ Peter Holmberg beat a deep field of 7 professional skipper’s from around the world at the 24th Annual Bitter End Pro Am Regatta held in Virgin Gorda, BVI November 2-5 to capture his 4th crown at the unique event.

 

Led by four time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts, the four (4) highest ranked sailors from the first two days of fleet racing progressed to a match racing semi and finals to determine the final placing.

 

Holmberg, having tied for 2nd place, drew American Ken Read as his semi finals opponent and beat him 2-0 in a hard fought battle that showcased Holmberg’s downwind speed and match racing prowess.

 

In the other semi final, Paul Cayard (USA) fought back from 0-1 to beat New Zealander Russell Coutts 2-1 and move into the finals to race against his old BMW Oracle team member, Peter Holmberg.

 

Big winds rolled through North Sound and provided the ingredients for a truly spectacular final and petit-finals.  All skippers had a challenging task of controlling their vessels, which were crewed by amateur but skilled sailing guests of the Bitter End Yacht Club. 

 

After several penalties, over the line early calls, and knock downs, it was St. Thomas native Peter Holmberg who came out on top of American Paul Cayard, wining both final races (2-0) and taking the crown.  Read and Coutts tied for an even third place with a (1-1) score.

 

Holmberg’s next event will be the Carlos Aguilar Match Race to be held in St. Thomas Dec 2-5, 2010.

 

 

 

Photo by Chris Smith – Caption: Peter Holmberg driving upwind with his guest crew during the 24th Annual Bitter End Pro Am Regatta finals.

 

Source: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=10730

Event schedule: http://www.beyc.com/index.php/week-at-a-glance.html
Event website: http://www.beyc.com/index.php/proam.html

Additional Information on Peter Holmberg:  http://www.peterholmberg.com/

Submitted By:  

Denise Balzac, press officer, Southgate Racing Inc. 

340-775-1926 

peter@peterholmberg.com