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Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin 4 Race 1

by Emirates Team New Zealand & Luna Rossa Challenge 24 Jul 2013 07:47 BST 23 July 2013

Emirates Team New Zealand now cannot be beaten in the Louis Vuitton Cup round robins. The team beat Luna Rossa by 7min 14sec on Tuesday, to put it beyond the reach of Luna Rossa and Artemis, which has yet to sail a race.

Artemis launched its boat on Monday and is expected to be sailing tomorrow. The team has announced its intention of being on the race course for the Louis Vuitton semi-finals.

The team was happy about today's performance, but skipper Dean Barker is still not a totally contented man.

"We are always happy when we sail the boat well... in general today we made no glaring errors.

"However, the level of performance that we are trying to achieve is still well above where we are now.

"There's still much to be done in terms of boat systems and the way we manage it round the course."

"We know we can do better."

Today's race was over in the pre-start. He said Luna Rossa had few options after losing the start. "If you're behind at the bottom mark options are quite limited. It's very hard to pass on the beat."

In the pre-start, Barker placed the AC72 in front of Luna Rossa, making life difficult for the Italians. Both teams were late to the start, but the Kiwis were in a good position and crossed the line 15 sec ahead.

"We had a nice entry and they were a little late, so we ended up close on their stern after the jibe," Barker said. "It's a strong position it's a case of making sure we end up late. We don't care how late we are, just as long as we're pushing them back.

"We probably could've gone harder at the line a bit earlier, but we wanted to make sure we put them in a tough spot."

Update from Luna Rossa

The third match between Luna Rossa Challenge and Emirates Team New Zealand had the Italian team entering the prestart box on port. The Kiwis quickly gained a tactical advantage and crossed the starting line 15 seconds in front, forcing the Italian team to chase.

At the downwind gate Luna Rossa rounded with 1 minute and 2 seconds delay. On the first beat the New Zealanders, at ease also in light conditions, sailed faster than the Italian team and rounded the windward gate 3 minutes and 29 seconds ahead.

On the second downwind leg Luna Rossa attempted to recover the distance by choosing the left side of the course, but was unable to close the gap and rounded the downwind mark 4 minutes and 2 seconds behind. From that point, up to the arrival, the Kiwis increased their lead and crossed the finish line 7 minutes and 14 seconds ahead. The Italian team was therefore considered DNF as per the rule for exceeding the 5-minute delay between the two yachts.

Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena stated: "It was disappointing to see how fast the Kiwis are even in lighter wind conditions. We now look forward to testing our new daggerboards in order to reduce the gap and be competitive in the coming races. We remain focused on our objective."

Today's crew for Luna Rossa Challenge was: Max Sirena (skipper and pitman), Francesco Bruni (tactician), David Carr (pitman/grinder), Pierluigi de Felice (trimmer), Wade Morgan (primary grinder), Chris Draper (helmsman), Xabi Fernandez (wing trimmer), Nick Hutton (bowman), Lele Marino (wing grinder), Manuel Modena (freestyler), Giles Scott (hydraulic grinder).

Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin Standings:

1. Emirates Team New Zealand 7-0 – 7 points (3 races remaining)
2. Luna Rossa Challenge 3-4 – 3 points (3 races remaining)
3. Artemis Racing 0-6 – 0 points (4 races remaining)

Round Robin 4 Race 1 Statistics:

  • Seven-leg America's Cup course
  • Course length: 15.43 nautical miles
  • Elapsed time: ETNZ – 46min 53sec
  • Total distance sailed: ETNZ – 19.0 nautical miles
  • Average speed: ETNZ – 24.41 knots (28 mph)
  • Top speed: ETNZ – 41.16 knots (47 mph)
  • Wind speed: average 15 knots; peak gust 22 knots

Schedule: (all starts scheduled for 12:15 pm PT)

  • Thursday, July 25, Artemis Racing vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
  • Saturday, July 27, Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Artemis Racing
  • Sunday, July 28, Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
  • Tuesday, July 30, Artemis Racing vs. Emirates Team New Zealand

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