Trofeo Desafío Español at Club Nautico Español de Vela Day 1
by Neus Jordi 8 Nov 2008 07:13 GMT
7-9 November 2008
The four ACC yachts line up on day one of the Trofeo Desafío Español © Jose Jordan / Trofeo Desafío Español
Alinghi and TEAMORIGIN lead
The thrill of America’s Cup Class yacht racing is back in Valencia, home to the 32nd America’s Cup. The defender, Alinghi and TEAMORIGIN are on equal points and leading the fleet after the first two races. Both teams provided some great racing and a spectacular show fighting for the lead.
The cruiser-racer class starts racing for the Trofeo Desafío Español tomorrow and a record 87 boats have entered; although many more can as the deadline for entry only closes at noon tomorrow.
On board Desafío Español, Laureano Wizner was at the helm, while on Alinghi, TEAMORIGIN and Luna Rossa; Murray Jones, Ben Ainslie and Peter Holmberg were steering respectively.
The newcomers in the class, TEAMORIGIN, surprised everybody in the first race. The British team, helmed by Gold medalist Ainslie, beat Luna Rossa by 44 seconds and Alinghi just astern of the Italians.
“What a nice start for TEAMORIGIN: to win our first ever ‘Cup’ race is pretty special. That said, the highlight for me was the team spirit onboard, a really special atmosphere and energy throughout the whole boat. Long may it continue!”, said Mike Sanderson, team director.
The Swiss defender ripped three spinnakers through the gybes in race one, but lead the Spanish team home; the local team suffered from choosing the wrong side of the course off the line.
“It was a combination of things; like everything you need time practicing. It was probably something to do with the rate of turn with me steering the boat and the timing of when you let the sheet go and bring in the other one. We need to work on it; we’ll have a look at the videos tonight and figure out where we went wrong”, explained Murray Jones about the spinnakers problem. And added: “The boat was going nicely especially in the second race when the breeze picked up a little bit”.
In the second race, the Swiss sailed well and won with style one minute ahead of Desafío Español and with a healthy margin on TEAMORIGIN and Luna Rossa.
Tomorrow, counting the crew members on board the America’s Cup Class yachts and the teams sailing in the cruiser-racer fleet, there will be almost 1,000 sailors racing in Valencia!
Race 1: (start time: 2.50 PM)
1. TEAMORIGIN: 16:02:52
2. Luna Rossa: 16:03:36 (+44)
3. Alinghi: 16:03:46 (+54)
4. Desafío Español: 16:04:07 (+75)
Race 2: (start time: 4.25 PM)
1. Alinghi: 17.19.24
2. Desafío Español: 17:20:23 (+59)
3. TEAMORIGIN: 17:21:45 (+2.21)
4. Luna Rossa: 17:22:13 (+2.49)
Provisional Results after Day 1: (2 races)
1. Alinghi, 4pts
2. TEAMORIGIN, 4 pts
3. Desafío Español, 6 pts
4. Luna Rossa, 6 pts
TEAMORIGIN joint overnight leaders after day one (from Annabel Merrison)
TEAMORIGIN wins first ‘Cup’ race in the CNEV regatta in Valencia and takes third place in race two to share the overnight leaderboard with Alinghi who finished third and first.
Race 1
The first start was delayed by one and a half hours due to lack of wind and the first race finally got underway at 14:45 in 8 knots of breeze. The four boats approached the line on port tack with TEAMORIGIN winning the start with a great pin end position.
Desafio Español tacked off to the right side of the course and seemed to lose wind and pace out that side. Luna Rossa kept to the middle of the beat and TEAMORIGIN hugged the left hand side with Alinghi close at hand. TEAMORIGIN managed to pull ahead reaching the windward mark in first place, Alinghi in second, Luna Rossa in third and the Spanish in four.
On the first downwind, TEAMORIGIN held off Alinghi who experienced their first ripped spinnaker of the day on their first gybe. The sail ripped along the leech tape which appeared to get caught on the jumper strut. TEAMORIGIN pulled ahead at the leeward mark rounding first, Luna Rossa still in third place closing the gap to Alinghi slightly.
The second beat was light and shifty, TEAMORIGIN maintained cover but appeared to have to do a double tack near the top end of the beat which allowed Alinghi to close right up to them. TEAMORIGIN rounded in first with Alinghi hot on their heels.
Alinghi’s spinnaker ripped again on the next gybe where the sail appeared to get caught yet again. A new spinnaker (now on number 3!) was hoisted quickly but Luna Rossa was closing in. On approaching the finish line, all four boats put up staysails and on the final gybe in to the mark, Alinghi spinnaker rip number three happened and Luna Rossa managed to overtake Alinghi to take second place. The Spanish also closed right in to take fourth place.
Race two
Race two started pretty quickly after the end of race one with a very similar start line-up with TEAMORIGIN taking the leeward pin end, squeezing the Spanish out and causing them to tack away. TEAMORIGIN and Alinghi stayed on the left hand side of course on port. Alinghi looked higher and faster, and pulled ahead leading into the first windward mark with ease. Desafio Español, Luna Rossa and TEAMORIGIN were pretty close up the first beat. The Spanish rounded second, then TEAMORIGIN and finally Luna Rossa.
TEAMORIGIN stayed right without gybing for longer than the others and lost out on distance slightly. Alinghi stretched their first place and led comfortably at the leeward gate. TEAMORIGIN retained third position but with Luna Rossa hot on their heels, the only team to select the left hand gate mark.
The second beat saw the Spanish covering TEAMORIGIN and Luna Rossa so that the pack of three stayed close together, all rounding the second windward mark in the same positions.
On the final downwind leg, Alinghi stayed ahead with the final positions remaining unchanged: Second Desafio, third TEAMORIGIN and fourth Luna Rossa.
Desafío Español, third after the first two races (from Paco Tormo)
Day one of the 2nd Trofeo Desafío Español began with light conditions, typical of Valencia at this time of the year. The first AC class race was postponed until 14:50 when the AP was finally dropped and racing got underway.
On the start line, ESP97 took the right side of the race course and paid a high price. At the first mark, Desafío Español was lying in fourth position. The Spanish boat held this position to the finish. TEAMORIGIN won the first race of the 2nd Trofeo Desafío Español, followed by Luna Rossa and Alinghi.
The second race started just 20 minutes later and this time Paul Cayard helmed ESP97 into second place just behind Alinghi. This result puts Desafío Español in third place overall, just two points behind the leader, Alinghi and TEAMORIGIN in second. Luna Rossa is fourth.
Laureano Wizner, helmsman of ESP97 on this first day of racing, said: “Both starts were pretty bad for us, especially the first one. We had a big shift to the left and we lost all our chances to win. In the second race we fought against Alinghi but they were a bit faster. It’s going to be a fun weekend; everybody is sailing very close and full speed.”