Defending Argo Group Gold Cup champion Taylor Canfield (USoneSailing) threw the race for the 2013 Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT) championship wide open in Hamilton Harbor today.The US Virgin Islands skipper entered this year’s Gold Cup trailing reigning world match racing champ Ian Williams (GAC Pindar) by nine points in the Tour standings.But a convincing 3-1 demolition of Williams in today’s semi-finals — contested for in fluky conditions — means Canfield will go top of the pecking order after the regatta is completed, albeit by a slim margin.Canfield sealed the deal in the penultimate match which saw his rival flagged for a penalty behind the line in the pre-start.Williams failed to stay clear of Canfield’s bow while attempting to tack to port to avoid crossing the pin end of the line early.Thereafter Canfield led every leg and didn’t afford his rival any room to complete his penalty turn before crossing the finish.Also navigating safely through to the semis was two-time Gold Cup winner Ben Ainslie (Ben Ainslie Racing Team) who came from behind to defeat Bjorn Hansen (eWork Sailing Team) 3-1.The four-time Olympic gold medallist shook off a penalty he incurred during the pre-start to clinch the series with a match to spare.Storming into the semi-finals was Francesco Bruni (Luna Rossa) who recorded a 3-0 shut-out win against Phil Robertson (WAKA Racing).It is the second time the Italian skipper has made it this far in the Gold Cup.Past Tour champ Adam Minoprio (Alpari FX Trading) secured the remaining semi-final spot after edging out Keith Swinton (Black Swan Racing) 3-2 in a quarter-final series that went down to the wire.Tomorrow’s semi-final match-ups will see Ainslie take on Minoprio while Canfield will lock horns with Bruni.• Campbell Patton lost precious ground on the leaders on day two of the RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup.He slipped seven places down the leaderboard from third to tenth.He ended the day on a high, though, scoring his second bullet of the regatta which went some way towards compensating for a string of disappointing finishes that triggered the slide.Patton still leads the local fleet after nine races and one throw-out.Adam Larson (15th) and Felix Cutler (18th) are the next highest local sailors in the 49-boat fleet.Swede Emil Jarud currently leads the regatta by a slim margin.