And then there were four . . .

The $100,000 Brut Gold Cup edged further towards its zenith yesterday with four skippers occupying starring roles, while a similar number were unceremoniously dumped into the submerged burial ground of Hamilton Harbour.

Leading the way was three-time winner and number one seed Russell Coutts of New Zealand, who showed why he is the best match racer in the world with a convincing 3-0 triumph over Germany's Jochen Schumann in their best-of-five series.

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Schumann entered the day's action on a roll, having won 10 of 11 matches, and in prime position for an upset of Coutts, who had not looked his best during Tuesday's Bermuda Commercial Bank challenge nor the first round.

However, the form books were discarded as the Kiwi and his Team New Zealand team-mates put Schumann to the sword.

Coutts narrowly edged out the German in an intriguing opening match, but it was the second outing that set the tone and spelled doom for the last of the unseeded skippers.

Trailing from the start, Coutts fell behind by four boat lengths after three legs of the six leg, windward/leeward course and it looked like a done deal, Schumann would level the series.

But not according to Coutts, who roared back into contention with a spectacular second downwind leg, literally taking the wind from Schumann's sails, grabbing the lead and going on to victory.

A stunned Schumann never recovered from the loss, with the third race a mere formality as Coutts won easily.

"Yes, I think the second match hurt them, that's for sure, they certainly should have won it,'' said Coutts, the only one to manage a sweep during the semi-finals. "The last race they didn't sail to their normal game plan and changed a few things.

"We never expected to go through 3-0 because Jochen was on a roll and is one of the best sailors in the world and when you look at his Olympic history there's not too many people who wouldn't trade records there.'' Coutts will tomorrow meet Britain's Chris Law in a repeat of last year's semi-final, which Law won in an upset.

The Briton, though, needed all of his guile and skill to reach the final four, coming back from 2-1 down against Thierry Peponnet of France to triumph 3-2 in a five match thriller.

More will be needed against a revenge-seeking Coutts and Law admitted the earlier display by Coutts, particularly in the second match, to have given him `food for thought'.

"The Kiwis, if you watched them in the America's Cup, have the guts and the confidence to extend when they think it's the right thing to do,'' said Law, who highlighted his three man crew of James Stagg, Andrew Hemmings and Marco Constant as a key to his progression.

"When you look at the less experienced sailors, they try and spend the whole time covering and trying to keep on their opponents' breeze all the time. Well that isn't going to work against the good guys and you've got to have the confidence to extend and we've learned that from watching the Kiwis.'' The other semi-final series will feature defending champion Peter Gilmour of Australia and German Markus Wieser, the seventh seed.

Wieser edged out number two seed and top American skipper Ed Baird 3-2, demonstrating superior tactics and selecting the right side of the course at the right time in coming from 2-1 down.

Gilmour, sailing with three Japanese crew, used his knowledge of the International One Design (IOD) craft and the venue to full effect in ousting Peter Holmberg of the United States Virgin Islands 3-1.