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23 March 2002, 08:56 pm

Davis, Holmberg, Gram-Hansen Through to Semi Finals

Davis beats Holmberg

Steinlager Line 7 Cup

Westhaven

The quarter-finals really produced the excitement of the day, with so many cliff-hanger matches it is impossible to choose a match of the day, though probably the skipper of the day is Denmark's Jes Gram-Hansen.

The young Dane, the only non-America's Cup skipper to make the quarter-finals, scraped his way into the semis after a come from behind win in the third and deciding race against Luc Pillot of France.

Gram-Hansen and his crew came off the starting line behind Pillot, and with two penalties against him, he took one immediately, then set out to catch and overtake his opponent, and opened up a big enough gap to take his second turn, and grab victory from the jaws of defeat.

An elated Gram-Hansen said,

World Sailing TV

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.

A tight group of five young Papua New Guinean (PNG) Laser sailors are stepping up their 2015 Pacific Games competition program using this week's ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. PNG is one of 33 countries represented at the important Oceanic event, the largest Olympic sailing regatta in the southern hemisphere.