Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin 1 Race 2
by Warren Douglas 10 Jul 2013 10:47 BST
9 July 2013
Emirates Team New Zealand raced alone again today in the second scheduled race of the Louis Vuitton Cup round robin.
Today's opponent, the Swedish team Artemis, is not ready to race and will not be on the race course for a while yet.
But at 12.15pm it was business as usual on the race course: the race rounding marks were set, race officials were on station and spectator and marshal boats were ready to watch the action.
Early morning fog was burning off and the breeze was filling in. Conditions were for racing.
In 16-17 knots of breeze, the AC72 crossed the start line at 32 knots and 45min 38 sec later it crossed the finish line after putting on a stunning display of speed and boat handling on San Francisco Bay.
The team therefore picked up its second unopposed point in the Louis Vuitton Cup first round robin.
Tactician Ray Davies said: "There was a little bit more breeze today, probably a knot or two on average compared with the other day.
"We took a few things away from that first day, and worked on it; studied the video. It's good to have proper video footage, so we can analyse things better. It's an opportunity to watch, learn and improve."
The yacht stayed on the course to complete some tests before returning to base.
Safety with Ray Davies
Emirates Team New Zealand will race again on Saturday (San Francisco time).