Team Caribbean Takes Lead
Going into Golden Gate Semis

San Francisco, CA-May 16- Following the completion of Saturday's Round Robin II, sailed in 15-20 knot winds and stiff currents on San Francisco Bay, the Team Caribbean America's Cup Challenge match racing team took the lead in the Golden Gate Invitational Match Race hosted by The St. Francis Yacht Club.

Team Caribbean helmsman Peter Holmberg defeated Jeff Madrigali (Flight 1) of San Francisco, Andy Green (Flight 2) of Great Britain, and American Will Benedict (Flight 3), before dropping races to American Tony Rey (Flight 4), representing the Young America America's Cup team, and Cameron Appleton (Flight 5) representing Team New Zealand.  Bouncing back toward afternoon, Holmberg defeated Australian Dave Clark (Flight 6) and San Franciscan Melissa Purdy (Flight 7) to end Saturday's Round Robin II with a 5-2 win/loss record.

"Morgan Avery's doing a great job as trimmer," says Holmberg, who explains that much of Team Caribbean's success on the starting line is due to the utilization of a new tactic that calls for the bow man to remain in the cockpit to trim the J-24's mainsail, while freeing the helmsman to maneuver.

Heading into Sunday's championship rounds, Holmberg stands alone with 11 points. Tied with 10 points each are Madrigali and Rey, who also earned a spot in the Semi-Finals, along Andy Green who's currently credited with 8 points. Holmberg is expected to pair-off against Green in Sunday's morning first match.

Holmberg, ranked number 4 in the World Match Race Rankings, is sailing with Ben Beer and Morgan Avery from St. Thomas, and John Cutler, a native New Zealander who is vice president of design and technology for the America's Cup syndicate.  Holmberg's last match racing event in the U.S. ended with his victory in the Grade One Congressional Cup last March.