A new champion will be crowned in the King Edward VII Gold Cup tomorrow afternoon.

Scott Dickson saw to this yesterday with a mammoth upset, despatching defending title-holder Peter Gilmour in a five-race dogfight on the high seas in Hamilton Harbour.

Battling off the canvas, the gritty Gilmour bounced back twice from 0-1 and then 1-2 down before finally succumbing 2-3 to the calm and soft-spoken Dickson in a fireworks-filled decider in which the loser copped two penalties; one for a crash as he tried to outfox Dickson.

It would not be a happy case of d?j? vu for the Australian who took last year?s top honours. Having survived a first-round scare to edge out unseeded qualifier Anthony Kotoun 3-2 on Wednesday, Gilmour could not dodge the bullet of a second unseeded skipper.

He did not go quietly though, fighting all the way to the finish, trying to get within striking distance of Dickson as he sought to offset the second of his penalties. However, it was not to be and the 2003 winner duly exited the regatta.

Dickson?s progression into the semi-finals also marked some mafia-style revenge for his New Zealand clan as he avenged big brother Chris? demise to Gilmour in last year?s finale.

?That wasn?t really on my mind . . . but I?m sure Chris will be pleased by little brother?s result today,? quipped the 33-year-old smiling.

Stating that, given their performances all week, he ?knew it was possible? to beat Gilmour, Dickson noted it was a matter of sticking to the basics, taking one?s chances and offering few.

?I didn?t feel too comfortable at times. There was one start (fourth race) where we clearly got flushed and looked pretty ordinary but our team was solid the whole way through and we?re very pleased with the result.

?(With) Peter Gilmour ? you give him an inch he will take a mile ? so we were very pleased to hang onto what turned out to be a very slim lead. He still had a penalty to do at the finish but when he is right next to you, his bag of tricks is bigger than most so we were happy to keep our nose in front and sail clean,? said Dickson, adding that ousting such an esteemed rival was superb preparation for tackling compatriot Russell Coutts in today?s semi-finals.

Regarding what it will take for him to break into the top realm of international match racing, the impressive skipper, who has now sent two seeds packing, replied: ?You?ve asked the question I asked myself eight months ago. I have done a lot more match racing this year and my goal is to be ranked in the top 60 by year-end.

?My ranking now is about 100 but I?ve had some good results in recent weeks and I suspect, now that we?re in the final four of this Grade One event, my ranking might be as high as 40 when the next rankings come out.

?We are working on a two-year objective of building up to the top 20. This is the first year and it?s gone very well, better than planned.?

A subdued Gilmour noted the outcome could have gone either way once it was deadlocked at 2-2.

?We didn?t sail particularly well in that fifth and final one although we had our fair share of chances. We made a couple small mistakes.

?You need to start to the right of your opponent and get off to a good start. We could certainly have done with starting a little better. We weren?t starting that well today,? the 44-year-old observed, congratulating the man who defeated him.

Meanwhile, Coutts, 42, avoided going home before the weekend as he staved off a mighty challenge from the French connection led by Mathieu Richard. The three-time Americas Cup victor came alive at 0-2 down to whip rising sensation Richard in the next three races; the last two by several boat lengths.

?Richard and his team have been sailing well all year. They just came off a win in Spain so we knew they would be tough. It took us two races to really get going and then, fortunately for us, they made a big mistake in the pre-start of the last race when it was 2-2 and it was pretty much over then,? said a clinical Coutts.

Richard, 28, lamented being unable to translate his strong position into victory.

?It was a great match and I am disappointed. We won two races and we had the opportunity to beat the king Russell Coutts in the third one when we were leading,? he said, adding that he is optimistic of reversing the result on another occasion.

The top half of the draw was hardly as dramatic.

World number one, Ed Baird of the USA, brushed aside the spirited but less-experienced challenge of Klaartje Zuiderbaan 3-0. The former hardly broke sweat in ending the Dutch team?s campaign ? one in which they wrested the International Women?s Match Racing Championship ? in a match-up cheekily described by commentator Andy Green as ?Brawn versus Bikinis? as the girls shed their orange T-shirts in favour of eye-catching swimwear.

?It was great racing him and we put up a good fight. It was close at some points but his experience counted and we can?t be too disappointed,? said Zuiderbaan who is looking forward to the 2005 Gold Cup already.

Australian James Spithill will clash with Baird in today?s other semi-final after giving spectators reason to pun on his quarter-final opponent Staffan Lindberg?s Finnish nationality, swiftly routing him 3-0.