• Match 1 Luna Rossa ITA 74 wins against Mascalzone Latino ITA 72 (1’ 42")

The all Italian match between Luna Rossa and Mascalzone Latino starts at 12:35. Rod Davis, at the helm of ITA 74, crosses the line at the pin end while Paolo Cian chooses the right next to the Committee Boat.

After a first upwind leg with frequent changes of lead due to the shifty wind, Mascalzone Latino rounds the first mark with a 32 seconds edge over Luna Rossa. The breeze dies to 8-9 knots.

The wind has shifted so much to the right that the first run downwind is sailed without gybing. Luna Rossa has no option other than trail behind her opponent. At the bottom mark Mascalzone Latino is still leading Luna Rossa by 58 seconds.

Luna Rossa accomplishes a steady come-back in the second windward leg and rounds the last mark only 6 seconds behind Mascalzone Latino. In the last leg Luna Rossa is still trailing behind Mascalzone on the right side of the course. Luna Rossa jibes and shortly after Mascalzone jibes too to control her.

Luna Rossa initialy is able to close the gap, then Paolo Cian strethes away again. At this point Francesco de Angelis comes back from behind with a series of close gybes. Mascalzone Latino is in trouble with the gennaker that gest all tangled up and Luna Rossa just literally sails past her, taking the lead. In the last portion of this run, Luna Rossa extends her lead and goes to win the race 1 minute and 42 seconds ahead of Mascalzone.

 Patrizio Bertelli, Prada : "Once again the Hauraki Gulf has proved to be a racing area of great complexity. The wind shifts during the first beat forced us to chase our opponent, but the outcome of the race proved the determination and cohesion of the whole team in reaching their goal".

 Francesco de Angelis - Luna Rossa : "It was a difficult day because the wind has always been very unstable and racing on the shorter course made things even more complicated. Just before the race we believed the conditions were showing a possible wind shift to the left, instead what followed was a big right shift. As a consequence Mascalzone, who was on the right took the lead and we had to chase them down the course during the first run. At the beginning of the second beat the race was still wide open and the passage of a huge cloud, associated with another wind shift, allowed us to get closer to Mascalzone, rounding the last mark just behind them. In the last run we kept close to our opponent at first then split. Halfway down the leg we were again close and seeing that the wind had gone lighter, we did a gybe peeling which gave us a double advantage because we did not have to gybe the sail from one side to the other and we hoisted a lighter gennaker, more adapted to the conditions of the moment. This, together with the problem Mascalzone incurred during their gybe, allowed us to pass them and then the greater maneuverability of the lighter sail allowed us to gain further in the last part of the course and we got to the finish with a good advantage over Mascalzone Latino".

Source Prada Luna Rossa

Stars and Stripes a dominé OneWorld pour la première fois

Photo : Franck Socha

• Match 2 Orm SWE 73 against Oracle BMW Racing USA 76 (match abandoned due to lack of wind)

After a delay of nearly two hours as the wind Gods played havoc with the weather on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, ORACLE BMW Racing’s (USA-76) flight five match up against the Swedish ’Victory Challenge’ (SWE-73) got underway in nine knots of shifty and diminishing breeze.

ORACLE BMW Racing enjoyed the starboard hand advantage at the start, and the Afterguard of USA-76 were in full concentration mode as they aggressively entered the starting box at unwavering and intense speed. USA-76 followed SWE-73’s tail that transpired into an initial dial down. This gave the push and shove position firmly to ORACLE BMW Racing who controlled the starboard hand advantage as SWE-73 struggled to get away from USA-76’s stranglehold. With few options left to them the Swedish sailboat initiated a dial up that USA-76 held for over one minute before SWE-73 was forced away to below the pin end of the line. Then with perfect time-on-distance, USA-76 with Peter Holmberg at the helm led back onto the pin end. SWE-73 had no option but to avoid USA-76’s bow and crossed on port to prematurely cross the start line.

The 19-second advantage to USA-76, following their text book start, was initially negated early on the first beat. SWE-73 headed out to the right hand side of the course, covered by ORACLE BMW Racing, and were first to pick up an outrageous 30-degree windshift. However, the afterguard of ORACLE BMW Racing kept cool and called for an early tack banking on the wind shifting even further. It was a masterstroke and by the windward mark overturned SWE-73’s lead as USA-76 sailed the Swedish team high above the layline and held the inside overlap to round 15-seconds up.

A drag race occurred down to the first leeward mark and under asymmetric gennakers USA-76 rounded 14-seconds up. SWE-73, helmed by Jesper Bank, then initiated a fierce tacking duel at the start of the final beat. ORACLE BMW Racing reacted calmly and swiftly by breaking away and opened up a six boatlength lead that effectively spelt - game, set, and match to USA-76.

At the final windward mark, ORACLE BMW Racing had extended their lead showing awesome pace as the breeze settled in between 7-10 knots. The Americans rounded one minute and 45-seconds up having survived some gamesmanship from SWE-73 who tried to force an error from USA-76 as they sailed to windward. The port and starboard incident was green flagged by the on-the-water judges, and the ORACLE BMW Racing team sailed away in a dying breeze to the downwind finish line.

The race wasn’t over yet as the wind Gods again had the final say. With USA-76 holding a healthy lead only three boatlengths prior to the finish line, the race committee abandoned the race as the time limit expired. It was cruel luck for ORACLE BMW Racing who had sailed a brilliant race and maintained complete calm under pressure.

Source Oracle BMW Racing

PAs de vent pour Oracle et Victory dans la baie d’Hauraki

Photo : Franck Socha

• Match 3 OneWorld USA 67 against Stars & Stripes USA 66 (match abandoned due to lack of wind)

Stars & Stripes, representing the New York Yacht Club was one minute and 45 seconds from the finish line, with a narrowing lead, when the time limit for the last leg expired. It was the fourth time in this series that a race has been abandoned while Stars & Stripes was leading.

 Bill Trenkle - Stars and Stripes : "It was an extremely difficult day, but the guys in the back of the boat did a great job in getting us in front and keeping us there."

Source Team Dennis Conner

Les Suisses n’ont pas été inquiétés par les Anglais

Photo : Franck Socha

• Match 4 Alinghi SUI 64 wins against Wight Lightning GBR 70 (7’ 45")

In 8-9 knots from 330 degrees, GBR Challenge entered from the unfavoured port hand side of the starting box. After a short dial up, both headed to the right hand side of the course with SUI64 the leeward boat and therefore in control. Wight Lightning headed towards a photographers boat and headed up above the vessel to escape from Russell Coutts‚ control. As both boats gybed, the British team sailed very deep to put pressure on SUI 64 as the boats headed back towards the line. GBR70 then ducked behind Alinghi’s stern to earn the left hand side of the line, as SUI 64 tacked off to the right.

As the gun went GBR 70 headed off to the left hand side of the course. Alinghi sailed to the right hand side for a minute, before tacking onto starboard to follow GBR Challenge. That was to be the only tack of the beat for either boat, as a gradual 90 degree windshift came through and enabled the teams to lay the windward mark. As Alinghi was on the inside of the shift, SUI 64 sailed a shorter distance to cancel GBR Challenge’s early lead and take a one minute 42 second lead at the first mark.

The boats then reached straight towards the new leeward mark, where confusion reigned on all of the boats on Juliet course. Red flags started to appear on all of the teams, whilst Alinghi extended their lead. SUI 64 rounded two minutes and twenty seconds ahead of GBR Challenge, as a squall came through, again shifting the breeze and increasing its strength for five minutes. The better pressure enabled the Swiss team to increase their lead as the wind started to die off.

The wind died down the final run, as GBR 70 took a flier on the right hand side of the course. The match ahead fell victim to the 45 minute leg limit rule, but a new band of pressure allowed Alinghi to finish just in time.

Source GBR Challenge