La dernière confrontation entre Oracle et OneWorld s’est encore soldée par une défaite des hommes de Seattle

Photo : F.Socha

As OneWorld rounded the top mark buoy that was festively attired with a Santa Claus hat, their lead stood at 59-seconds. ORACLE BMW Racing closed the gap down to 28-seconds by the first leeward mark, and the race tempo increased up the second windward leg. USA-76 closed to with-in two boat lengths, however OneWorld sailed smartly and kept a close cover. Near the top mark OneWorld made a big gain on the port layline to the second windward mark. Rounding mark three with a 48-second lead, OneWorld gybe-set and headed out to the right side of the course.

Team Skipper Chris Dickson and the Afterguard of ORACLE BMW Racing then made a crucial call. USA-76 trailed to the port side of the downwind run, whilst OneWorld remained on starboard gybe, effectively separating the sailboats. A little extra wind-pressure filled in on ORACLE BMW Racing’s side of the course and allowed the team to seize the lead half way down the run. At the final leeward mark, USA-76 rounded with a 38-second lead.

For ORACLE BMW Racing, it was just a matter of keeping a tight cover on OneWorld for the last two legs and not permitting them any possibility for passing. USA-76 rounded the final windward mark with a 41-second lead. USA-76 covered OneWorld’s every move downwind to cross the finish line with a one minute and four second winning margin.

ORACLE BMW Racing now advance to the Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup where they will face the Swiss ’Alinghi’ syndicate for the right to challenge Team New Zealand for the America’s Cup America's Cup #AmericasCup . The Louis Vuitton Cup Finals begins on January 11, 2003 and will be a best of nine race series.

TEAM QUOTES :

CHRIS DICKSON, TEAM SKIPPER : "It is great to get the Semi-Finals Repechage over before Christmas and allow the team to spend some time with their families. The quality of the Repechage competition was high, and it has honed our match racing skills in preparation for the Finals when we meet Alinghi."

PETER HOLMBERG, AFTERGUARD : "We were on the ropes early in the race and it was a really good test for us to come from behind. We just had to be patient and wait for the opportunities. The left side had been winning all day but our weather team told us to keep a look-out for pressure on the right, and it was a call that paid off."

Source Oracle BMW Racing

Chris Dickson a écrasé OneWorld

Photo : F.Socha

  ORACLE BMW RACING MAKES IT A CLEAN SWEEP ONEWORLD IS ELIMINATED

Facing elimination today, the Seattle Yacht Club’s OneWorld Challenge couldn’t hold on to a 200-metre lead halfway through the race, and fell to Oracle BMW Racing who won the race to sweep the series.

The Oracle BMW Racing team were tenacious when they trailed and were relentless when they led, maintaining textbook tactics to take their fourth win of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Final Repechage.

After losing eight consecutive races to USA-76, it had looked as though this would be OneWorld’s day. Helmsman James Spithill didn’t hesitate at all on the start, hitting the line right at the gun just one day after being called back for starting prematurely.

OneWorld skipper Peter Gilmour followed up that good start by consolidating a nice lead off the first big shift and his OneWorld crew led around the top mark for the first time in this series.

But Dickson’s team never surrendered on a very shifty, puffy day on the Hauraki Gulf.

Trailing by nearly one minute at the start of the second run, Oracle BMW Racing split off to the right side of the course, and found increased pressure that never reached OneWorld. Dickson’s squad made the pass on that leg, and covered OneWorld the rest of the way for a fantastic win.

With the loss, OneWorld is eliminated from the Louis Vuitton Cup. Oracle BMW Racing, representing San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club now advance to the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals, where they will meet the Alinghi Challenge, from the Switzerland’s Société Nautique de Genève.

On January 6th the teams will declare what boat they use for the Finals. January 7th is unveiling day and Race One of the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals is scheduled for January 11th.

• USA-76 BEAT ONEWORLD (USA-67) - DELTA 01:04

Oracle BMW Racing wins the best of seven Repechage 4 to 0*

*Following the America’s Cup America's Cup #AmericasCup Arbitration Panel decision of 9th December 2002, OneWorld Challenge would have had its first point deducted.

Photo : F.Socha

An extraordinary race saw OneWorld lead around the first three marks, only to see USA-76 sail around them on the second downwind leg and shoot into the lead.

In a split tack start, OneWorld hit the line at the pin end exactly on the gun on starboard tack, with USA-76 crossing slightly behind at the committee boat end. The left side immediately paid off and OneWorld moved into a comfortable lead, rounding the first windward mark 59 seconds ahead of USA-76.

OneWorld have shown a tendency in the past to allow their opponents to split off and go it alone. Coming into this race however, it was a matter of do-or-die for the Seattle-based OneWorld team. Oracle BMW Racing were on match point and the expectation was that if OneWorld gained the lead they would protect it tenaciously.

Instead, the OneWorld team rounded the second windward mark with a lead of seven boatlengths, swung into a gybe set and headed to where the breeze looked most promising on the left side of the track. USA-76 opted for a bearaway set and headed off on its own, hooked into better pressure and powered down the run and into the lead. By the time the yachts rounded the mark, OneWorld’s seven-boatlength lead had been reversed and USA-76 was ahead by seven boatlengths.

From then on, the USA-76 crew were merciless, covering tightly all the way round the track and leading across the finish line by 1 minute 04 seconds.