Nouvelle défaite tricolore face aux Italiens de Luna Rossa

Photo : Franck Socha

• Match 1 Luna Rossa ITA 74 wins against Le Defi FRA 69 (1’ 04")

The match between Luna Rossa and Le Defi starts on perfect time at 10:40. Rod Davis, at the helm of ITA 74, takes the pin end of the line while Le Defi chooses the Committee Boat end.

The French get an eary lead over ITA 74 as they head towards the right side of the course to pick the first wind shift. Francesco de Angelis is able to close the gap towards the end of the first beat and manages to squeeze into the inside lane at the mark rounding. Le Defi, however, is 5 second ahead of Luna Rossa at the mark.

During the first spinnaker run, ITA 74 and FRA 69 sail on parallel tracks, with the French leading by one boat length. Towards the end of the leg, the Italians decide to cross to the left of the course and are able to close the gap. The second mark rounding is as close as the first, but this time it’s ITA 74 that is leading by 7 seconds. The wind on the race course oscillates between 13 and 17 knots.

Luna Rossa consolidates her lead during the second and final beat, controlling each move of her opponent. ITA 74 rounds the last mark with a comfortable 38 second advantage over Le Defi. Luna Rossa further consolidates her lead in the last leg and cuts the finish ahead of Le Defi by 1 minute and 4 seconds.

Luna Rossa sustained damages to a winch and did not race her second match of today. The French boat Le defi Areva also sustained some damage to the top part of her mast during the first race preventing her from taking the start of her second race. As a result the matches scheduled for the afternoon between Luna Rossa and Alinghi and between Le Defi and GBR Challenge, part of Flight 4, have been postponed to a further date.

 Matteo Plazzi - Luna Rossa : "We had a couple of technical problems on our boat today. At the first tack we broke the starboard pedestal of the primary winch. Then, on the downwind leg, we broke the transmission between the pedestal and the secondary winch. We could not make the necessary repairs on board and the Committee granted us the postponement. However, these breakages are easy to fix on shore with enough time for the glue to cure. Unfortunately, at times the boats suffer some damages and there is no reason to start a race if the boat is not 100% competitive".

Source Prada Luna Rossa

L’étrave d’Alinghi pince la plume à Auckland

Photo : Franck Socha

• Match 2 Alinghi SUI 64 wins against Mascalzone Latino ITA 72 (2’ 11")

Working the right hand side of the first beat, Russell Coutts and his crew onboard Alinghi sailed a near faultless first leg, to round the first mark 53 seconds ahead of the ’Latin Rascals’. The opening gambit of the pre-start was a ’dial up’ that allowed Coutts to sail astern to get into a position to force Paolo Cian at the helm of Mascalzone Latino to tack off. He then jumped onto the stern of the Italian boat to take up a controlling position. Alinghi broke off the control with 50 seconds to go, opting to set up a committee boat end start, leaving the Italians a free run to start at the pin end. The Swiss boat hit the line at speed and quickly took the lead after making the most from the first right hand wind shift. Tactician Brad Butterworth did a splendid job of covering the Italians’ every move, as well as calling the shifts and knowing when to separate to make a bigger gain in the shifting wind. Alinghi’s superior boatspeed helped the Swiss extend and by a third of the way down the first run, they looked unassailable and slowly extended further to win by a convincing margin.

Source Louis Vuitton Cup

• Match 3 Orm SWE 73 wins against Stars & Stripes USA 66 (13")

Stars and Stripes

Photo : Franck Socha

Sweden’s Victory Challenge scored its second triumph over Team Dennis Conner simply by being in better position on the racecourse and using solid match-race tactics. The Swedes, led by Danish helmsman Jesper Bank, started to the left of Ken Read and Stars & Stripes. While Read was forced to tack away shortly after the start, Bank continued on starboard and took up the left side of the beat. At the first cross there was nothing in it, but at the second cross about halfway up the beat Orm had opened a two-boatlength lead. The Swedish boat showed good form upwind. Conversely, Stars & Stripes gained on both runs. But Orm’s upwind pace outweighed Stars & Stripes downwind advantage, and the Scandinavian crew held on for their second win in a row while Stars & Stripes dropped its third straight.

Source Louis Vuitton Cup

• Match 4 OneWorld USA 67 wins against Wight Lightning GBR 70 (1’ 05")

OneWorld had the starboard entry into the start, but the crew of GBR70 managed to escape James Spithill’s clutches and claimed the pin end of the line as the gun went. OneWorld tacked to the right hand side and crossed one second later. After two minutes, both boats tacked and it initially appeared as though Harrison’s men would cross ahead.

As the boats approached each other Wight Lightning tacked on the lee bow of OneWorld, with the American team reacting by tacking off to the right. GBR Challenge tacked again, and both boats then sailed to the right hand side of the course. OneWorld displayed better boat speed to establish a lead and force the British team to tack off.

At the windward mark, OneWorld held a 35 second lead over Wight Lightning. Harrison’s men initially looked to claw into this lead, regaining around 70 metres in a four minute period. However, the American team found some extra pressure and rebuilt their lead to 43 seconds by the leeward mark.

On the second beat, OneWorld again covered GBR 70, to extend and round one minute and seventeen seconds ahead. Harrison’s men attacked on the final run, reducing the deficit to 65 seconds at the finish.

Source GBR Challenge

Flight Four

After Prada Luna Rossa and Areva, Stars and Stripes team asked to postpone their match against Oracle BMW Racing. But Larry Ellison’s men and the race Comitee were ready to launch the race even after the 4:00 pm limited time. Oracle BMW Racing then decided to protest against Team Dennis Conner.

• Match 4 Orm SWE 73 wins against Mascalzone Latino ITA 72 (1’ 17")

After an aggressive early pre-start by Paolo Cian helming Mascalzone Latino, Orm’s Jesper Bank did well to wriggle free from the clutches of the Latin Rascals and got the best start at the pin end with better boat speed. The Swedish boat soon built a commanding lead and took their second gun of the day. Mascalzone Latino’s owner, Vincenzo Onorato helmed for the final downwind leg, but was unable to dent the Swedish lead.

Source America’s Cup