Louis Vuitton Pacific Series at Auckland, New Zealand Day 9
by Keith Taylor 8 Feb 2009 10:42 GMT
30 January - 14 February 2009
Alinghi is Challenger finalist
Switzerland’s Alinghi secured her berth in this week’s challenger final with a victory in today’s Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, while two newcomer teams each racked up wins against long-time campaigners.
Guided by Kiwi skipper and tactician Brad Butterworth and steered by American helmsman Ed Baird, Alinghi won her third race in four days of Gold Fleet competition.
Although she will race Italy’s Luna Rossa tomorrow, Alinghi has already amassed top points for the round and cannot be beaten. She is now a finalist in the sailoff later this week to decide which challenger will meet host Emirates Team New Zealand in racing for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Trophy. Four other Gold Fleet teams and two Silver Fleet teams will race in a sudden-death sail off and ladder competition to decide the other challenger finalist.
After declining to race against Emirates Team New Zealand yesterday for tactical reasons, Alinghi came out loaded for bear today in a race against BMW Oracle Racing, steered by Russell Coutts, winning by 13 seconds.
In the closest race of the day, TEAMORIGIN’S Ben Ainslie scored a narrow victory over his old team mate Dean Barker in close racing, winning by just six seconds. It was a hollow victory for the new points-starved British team because victories against Emirates Team New Zealand are not counted in this round.
The two Italian syndicates racing in Auckland met in the first race of the day. The veteran Luna Rossa with Peter Homberg as its new helmsman sailed against the fast-rising newcomer Damiani Italia Challenge, skippered by Vasco Vascotto and steered by Francesco Bruni. The newcomers leveraged a small advantage at the start line into a 1min40sec victory after four legs.
Today’s results:
Damiani Italia beat Luna Rossa by 1min 42sec
Alinghi beat BMW Oracle Racing by 28sec
Team Origin beat Emirates Team New Zealand by 7sec
Tomorrow’s draw:
Luna Rossa v Alinghi
Team Origin v Damiani Italia Challenge
BMW Oracle Racing v Emirates Team New Zealand
Gold Fleet scores:
Alinghi, 3 pts
BMW Oracle Racing, 2 pts
TEAMORIGIN, 1.5 pts
Damiani Italia Challenge, 1 pt
Luna Rossa, 0pts
(Emirates Team New Zealand is not awarded points in this round)
Silver Fleet:
China Team, 3 pts
Pataugas K-Challenge, 2 pts
Greek Challenge, 1 pt
Team Shosholoza, 0 pts
The event web site www.louisvuitton-pacificseries.com has content in English French and Italian. Race reports, press reports, features and photographs are being updated daily. The site includes a link to live streaming radio commentary about the racing originating from Auckland’s radio BSport Sailing 103FM.
The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series is organised in association with the New Zealand Government, Emirates Team New Zealand, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Auckland City and SKYCITY Entertainment Group.
Breeze dictates the day (from Warren Douglas, Emirates Team New Zealand)
Race Day 9 of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series and a soft and shifty breeze again kept crews on their toes.
It was a day when a small early advantage could, with determined defence against sustained aggression, win the race. It turned out to be a day without passing lanes.
The first race started on time at 11am and saw Damiani Italia Challenge beat Luna Rossa by 1.42. Then came the waiting.
Race 2 start was delayed until 4.50 pm by which time the southerly had finally filled in. It was a keenly anticipated match between BMW Oracle and Alinghi.
Alinghi won the start and controlled the match to the finish. Oracle came tantalisingly close to breaking through on several occasions but could not. Alinghi won by 28sec.
The Emirates Team New Zealand match against Team Origin finally got underway at 6.30 pm. Both yachts got a clean start, Dean Barker with the right he wanted, and Origin to leeward and slightly ahead.
A shift to the left gave Origin a good lift and enough leverage to exercise control. Barker and his crew attacked, determined to get out from under, but the British team held firm and led around the first mark by 12 sec.
On the run, Barker had better speed and made some gains but it was not enough and Origin rounded the right-hand mark 10 sec clear. Origin defended hard up the beat and ETNZ again attacked but British skipper Ben Ainslie’s afterguard kept their cool and extended slightly to round 15 sec in front.
The final run was a thriller and left Barker and crew wishing the legs were just a little longer. Great crew work whittled Origin’s lead down from more than 100 metres to less than a boat length. At the finish Origin crossed the line only 7 secs ahead.
“Origin sailed a great race,” Barker said. “We don’t like losing, but it was still good practice for the guys. Tomorrow is the last chance to do any racing before the final. We are looking for another pressure race.
“It’s good to work at making opportunities from behind. It’s the strength of the team to battle back into the race… we did some very nice work on them on the last run but we ran out of runway.”