Louis Vuitton Cup Finals - Race 3
by 34th America's Cup media 20 Aug 2013 08:18 BST
18 August 2013
Emirates Team New Zealand moved 2:1 ahead of Italy's Luna Rossa
Weather: sun, 17-18 knots wind from South West, flat sea, ebb tide 0.1 knots
Race start: 12.10 local time
The first-to-seven wins series will select which challenger will meet the defender, ORACLE TEAM USA, in the America's Cup finals starting September 7th.
Race 3 of the Louis Vuitton Cup final saw a strong start by Luna Rossa's helmsman Chris Draper (GBR) over his opponent Dean Barker (NZL) and a good, tight contest for the first two legs of the course. The Italian crew showed continued improvement against the dominant Kiwis.
Soon after the start of Leg 3, Luna Rossa's crew were trimming-in the wingsail when they heard a 'bang', audible to the onboard broadcast cameras and microphones, as part of the wing control system failed. All 11 crewmen looked around at the source of the noise in the wingsail.
Unable to control the 13-story high wing properly, Luna Rossa's race was effectively over.
Emirates Team New Zealand completed the five-leg course to go-ahead on points. Races 4 & 5 are scheduled for Wednesday August 21st.
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Race 3 and another point (from Emirates Team New Zealand)
Emirates Team New Zealand collected another point in race 3 of the Louis Vuitton Cup finals today to go up 2-1.
Luna Rossa retired from the race with a problem involving their wing-control system at Mark 2 and Dean Barker and crew completed the five-leg course by themselves.
Both teams felt the frustration of breakdown. For the third day in succession one of the boats did not finish the race and for the third time the scheduled second race of the day was postponed because wind limits had been exceeded.
Today's start was even with Luna Rossa to windward. Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the first mark only a second ahead and extended on the run to round the second mark with a 21 sec delta. With Luna Rossa crippled, Emirates Team New Zealand cruised to the finish to collect the point.
Technical issue forces withdrawl (from Luna Rossa)
Today Luna Rossa Challenge raced against Emirates Team New Zealand in race 3 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals. Race 4 did not start due to winds exceeding the set limit.
Luna Rossa entered the pre-start box on port tack and Emirates Team New Zealand tried to control the Italian team on leeward; Luna Rossa helmsman Chris Draper however maintained the control and won the start, crossing the line on windward and ahead the Kiwis.
The two boats sailed overlapped for the entire reaching leg and maintained the same average speed (34.26 knots Luna Rossa and 34. 27 knots Emirates Team New Zealand) as they rounded the reaching mark with the Kiwis on the inside.
On the downwind leg the two teams still sailed at similar speeds and with less than a 50-metre gap. Team New Zealand took the lead with a better manoeuvre but Luna Rossa kept the contact on her opponent and rounded the downwind gate 150 meters behind.
On the windward leg Luna Rossa tacked immediately inshore after the gate but was forced to stop due to a technical problem to the wing that forced her to withdraw. Emirates Team New Zealand closed the race in 22 minutes and 28 seconds and scored the point in Race 3 (2-1).
Max Sirena, Luna Rossa skipper, declared: "Chris (Draper) made an excellent start and as long as we stayed in the race we proved ourselves competitive. Unfortunately today we experienced another technical issue that forced us to stop and withdraw from the race. But today we proved to everyone that we have made a huge step forward in our performance, maneuvers and boat handling. We are not so far now and will keep on putting pressure on our opponents".
Luna Rossa Challenge will race again against Emirates team New Zealand on Wednesday August 21st for the fourth and fifth match of the Louis Vuitton Cup finals.
Today's crew was: Max Sirena (skipper and pitman), Francesco Bruni (tactician), David Carr (pitman/grinder), Pierluigi de Felice (trimmer), Giles Scott (primary grinder), Chris Draper (helmsman), Xabi Fernandez (wing trimmer), Nick Hutton (bowman), Lele Marino (wing grinder), Marco Montis (freestyler) and Wade Morgan (hydraulic grinder).