 |  |
Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur - Day 3
7-22 November 2009By Louis Vuitton Trophy media 09 Nov 2009 16:57
 Read article |  Photo gallery |  Discuss |  Email to a friend |  Printer friendly |  Send us an event report |
Azzurra joins unbeaten at Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur
Emirates Team New Zealand also stays perfect after thrilling win over Synergy
Italy’s Azzurra of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda won today its first match of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur while Emirates Team New Zealand survived a hair-raising finish to keep its record perfect.
Azzurra scored the victory it was denied on Saturday when it defeated BMW ORACLE Racing of the U.S. Two days ago the Italian crew, led by skipper Francesco Bruni, was 200 metres from the finish line when the 20-minute leg time limit expired.
Today, the Italians scored an emphatic win of 2 minutes and 56 seconds to the pleasure of YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadero, who rode with his team as 18th man, and displeasure of BMW Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who was among his team’s afterguard.
“The team did a very good job all over the course,” said Bruni, the skipper from Sicily. “We didn’t feel robbed Saturday; we understand rules are rules. We wished the race committee had shortened the course, but we’re all learning. We are very happy about this point, it was very important for us.”
The two crews took split tacks onto the racecourse with BMW Oracle on starboard and Azzurra on port. Each crew got the side it wanted, but the wind shifted to the right and gave the Italians an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish.
“They got the first good shift and we were behind from there,” said BMW Oracle strategist Cameron Dunn of Australia. “We were happy coming off the line where we were, but the conditions were changing very quickly. When we came back at them the wind shifted right and they were wound up to layline. From there it was a soldier’s course, marching along. They sailed very well, so good on them.”
Emirates Team New Zealand entered its match against Russia’s Synergy Team with a perfect 2-0 mark while Synergy was 0-1. For a while it appeared that each team’s zero would be wiped from its scoreline. In the end this turned out to be the most exciting match of the regatta still in its early days.
Synergy led Team New Zealand by four to five boatlengths within 10 lengths of the finish line in very light and shifty winds. Then the Kiwis found a private puff and rolled over the top of the Russian team, which was dead in the water, and won by 22 seconds.
The Kiwis kept their record perfect at 3-0 and Synergy dropped to 0-2. The loss was crushing for Synergy skipper Karol Jablonski of Poland, who rallied his crew to lead the match after being over early at the start.
“Yeah it hurts,” said Jablonski, a match race world champion and three-time DN Ice Boat world champion. “I knew it was going to be tough to the finish because I could see the finish line and there was no wind at it. Everything can happen in one puff. We couldn’t do anything.”
The Kiwis kept their heads down and persevered. After rolling Synergy the spinnaker blew back into the rig, so the crew dropped it on deck and crossed the finish line without a headsail.
“We’ll take the point, but it’s not the kind of conditions we want to sail in,” said Dean Barker, Emirates Team New Zealand skipper. “We worked hard to get back at them. They would gain, then we would take back some of it, but it looked like there was no way around them.”
The two matches were the only ones completed as regatta organizers were once again frustrated by very light and shifty winds. Racing for the day was postponed at 1430 CET when the Bay of Angels was calm. Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio holds out the hope that tomorrow he can complete four flights, or eight races.
“If the breeze cooperates we can do four flights; that’s not an issue,” said Reggio. “We’re starting to see the sun shine now and we haven’t had that all weekend. We’re hoping the sun will do its work and make the area come true to form with a northerly in morning and southeasterly in afternoon.”
Standings after Day 3:
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) - Dean Barker, 3-0
Swedish Challenge Artemis (SWE) - Paul Cayard, 1-0
TEAMORIGIN (GBR) - Ben Ainslie, 1-0
ALL4ONE (FRA/GER) - Jochen Schuemann, 0-1
Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) - Karol Jablonski, 0-2
Team French Spirit (FRA) - Bertrand Pacé, 0-1
Azzurra (ITA) - Francesco Bruni, 1-0
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) - Gavin Brady, 0-1
Tomorrow’s schedule:
Flight 3
M1: TFS – Pages Jaunes vs. TeamOrigin
M2: ALL4ONE vs. Artemis
Flight 4
M1: ALL4ONE vs. BMW ORACLE Racing
M2: Artemis vs. Azzurra
Flight 5
M1: Azzurra vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
M2: BMW ORACLE Racing vs. TFS – Pages Jaunes
Flight 6
M1: Artemis vs. Synergy
M2: ALL4ONE vs. TeamOrigin
Full results on the Louis Vuitton Trophy website.
Light winds curtail programme again (from TEAMORIGIN)
Just one flight, two matches, were sailed today in Nice on Day 3 of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice. The sailing conditions in early November have proven to be more than challenging for the Race Committee and it has been impossible to imagine holding races in the conditions.
The first pair of matches that were sailed this morning were raced in really poor conditions with massive 100 degree windshifts and winds dropping down to just 2-3 knots at times, not really conducive to the kind of accurate course laying that match racing in ACC yachts requires.
The weather forecast for Tuesday is slightly better. TEAMORIGIN was scheduled to race once on Monday. Tuesday's race programme is planning to sail two races for TEAMORIGIN - the first and the last races of the day - let's hope the weather plays ball.
Related Articles:
Hong Kong Harbour with its unique skyline and ’always busy’ waterways is one of the most iconic maritime settings in the world.
In just six weeks time, during the Southern hemisphere Summer, eight of the best sailing teams in the world will race a Louis Vuitton Trophy match race regatta in Auckland New Zealand.
Dubai to host Middle East venue of Louis Vuitton Trophy - 17 Jan 2010Dubai was today unveiled as the Middle East venue selected to host the Louis Vuitton Trophy, a two-week carnival of elite sailing which will put the global spotlight on the UAE.
The World Sailing Teams Association (WSTA) and Louis Vuitton today announced more Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas for 2010 and early 2011. These new international events follow the successful regatta held in Nice, France, last month.
Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur - Overall - 22 Nov 2009Even before the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur began, Azzurra skipper Francesco Bruni spoke of his passion and honour to be leading an iconic sailing brand back into the fray after a long absence. This afternoon he could barely describe his joy.