by Louis Vuitton Trophy WSTA9-21 March 2010
YANDY.CO.UK mobile sailing news
Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland - Day 1
by Louis Vuitton Trophy WSTA
9-21 March 2010
Azzurra delivers stand-out performance on opening day
Azzurra, the Italian boat with the old name and the young crew, defeated Britain's TEAMORIGIN in the closest of four hard-fought races on the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland.
Italian skipper and helmsman Francesco Bruni snatched a victory from Britain's three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie at the first weather mark of their race as their boats rounded the mark overlapped. Sailing above the mark, Ainslie tried to luff his opponent only to see the Italian execute a swift spinnaker set, sail clear and go on to win.
“Azzurra sailed a good race today, they seem to have a knack of overtaking us which is getting very frustrating!” Ainslie said. “We were fully in contention at the top mark and tried to hold them up, we were unfortunately set up for a gybe set and they were set up for a straight hoist which allowed them to gain some distance.”
In their efforts to stay on schedule, the race committee spent a long first day on the water. In the morning, cloudy skies killed any chance of a sea breeze developing and delayed racing. The Rangitoto Channel entrance to Auckland Harbour was so glassy at late morning that Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio joked that it appeared to have been paved.
The long wait for wind ended at 2:45pm as the first pair started on the Blue Course at the mouth of the channel between Rangitoto Island and the Takapuna cliffs. The breeze was five to seven knots from the northwest. After a second race in similar conditions, the breeze switched to the south for the third race inside the harbour. The last race didn't start until 7:10pm and finished after sunset just before 8:00pm
Race One: All4One def. Mascalzone Latino Audi Sailing Team, 00:44
In the draw last night, the German/French boat All4One chose the starboard entry for the start and they protected the right side in the pre-start today. They split before the gun with All4One going out to the right on port tack, while Mascalzone Latino Audi enjoyed an early lead on starboard. All4One skipper and strategist Jochen Schümann said a man up the mast had spotted wind out to the right and they chose to concede an early lead to reach the stronger pressure. All4One eventually tacked to starboard to cover and Gavin Brady steering the Italian boat initiated a tacking duel. However Sébastien Col on the helm of All4One had already worked out to a controlling lead on the right that he never relinquished.
Race Two: Azzurra def. TEAMORIGIN, 00:53
Great Britain's TEAMORIGIN enjoyed the starboard entry in its match against Italy's Azzurra and used it to advantage in a dialup that took both boats well above the line before they sailed back with Ben Ainslie on the British boat chasing Italian Francesco Bruni. Ainslie grabbed the right as they split away at the gun but Bruni kept it close and when they crossed for the first time Ainslie on starboard came down and hunted the Italian who tacked close to leeward and forced the British boat away. It happened again before they came into the weather mark overlapped, with Ainslie holding his opponent out from rounding. They tacked above the mark and the British boat luffed the Italian until Bruni capitalized on a miscommunication on Ainslie's boat. Bruni was first to set a spinnaker and rolled over TEAMORIGIN forcing the British boat to gybe away. From there the Italians controlled the next three legs, finishing with a comfortable 53 second margin.
Race Three: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Artemis, 01:40
Dean Barker overcame the handicap of a port entry in the pre-start to grab the right side of the course off the start line. Strong outgoing current and shifty breezes played a major role as Terry Hutchinson steering Artemis took the fight to Emirates Team New Zealand but trailed by 55 seconds at the weather mark. Artemis came charging back on the run to close within 12 seconds at the leeward gate but then lost ground in lighter air under North Head. The Kiwis extended to win comfortably.
Race Four: ALEPH Sailing Team def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 03:26
The Russian boat steered by Karol Jablonski dominated Bertrand Pacé's French entry in the pre-start only to see ALEPH wriggle clear and lead by three boat lengths at the gun. Jablonski kept it very close, pressuring Pacé on the first beat and was only 11 seconds astern at the top mark. As the sun set over the Auckland City skyline it was also sunset for the Russians as they ran over their spinnaker at the leeward mark. The French sailed away to a comfortable victory.
LIVE Sport Sailing 103.0 FM is featuring all-day live coverage of the Louis Vuitton Trophy. On television, during the seven days of the round robin, TVNZ is carrying nightly reports on its sports news. From March 16, during the elimination rounds, TVNZ will feature nightly half-hour reports. For the finals on 20th and 21st March there will be live coverage of the racing from noon to 4:00pm.
Live Event Video Player:
Race schedule for tomorrow: (Wednesday 10th March)
Race 1: TEAMORIGIN (GBR) vs All4One(FRA)
Race 2 : Mascalzone (ITA) vs. ETNZ (NZL)
Race 3: Azzurra (ITA) vs Synergy (RUS)
Race 4: Aleph (FRA) vs Artemis(SWE)
More information on the event website.
Tricky conditions on day one for TEAMORIGIN (from Leslie Greenhalgh, TEAMORIGIN)
Lighter winds favour the Italian Team Azzurra
In light and shifty conditions TEAMORIGIN lost to their first opponent, the Italian Azzurra team.
In the other races today All4One took victory from Mascalzone Latino, Emirates Team New Zealand took a decisive win from the Swedish Artemis team and the French team Aleph beat the Russian Synergy team.
On the first day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta the wind did not appear until well into the afternoon. Although bright sunshine and late summer temperatures greeted the sailors it was not until 14:30 that the first match, between ALL4ONE and Mascalzone Latino got underway in a seven knot Northerly over a 1.5 mile leg length course in the Rangitoto Channel. All4One, the French/German team, won the right hand side and lead at the first windward mark by 19 seconds going on to extend their lead to take the race and win their first point by 44 seconds.
TEAMORIGIN were scheduled to race in the second start against the Italian team AZZURRA, the team that won the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice regatta in November last year.
Skipper Ben Ainslie made a good entry from the starboard end and fought for and won the right hand side which had appeared favoured in the first race on the same course. The Italian team, on the left hand side of the course, managed to keep the battle close up the first beat, the pair converging twice before the power of the right hand side forced the Italian team back away to the left. The Italians did however manage to stay very much in touch.
Whilst TEAMORIGIN led around the first windward mark, holding Azzurra up to weather and beyond the buoy, when they both eventually turned downwind Azzurra made a quicker spinnaker hoist as they were set up for a bear away hoist whilst TEAMORIGIN had set up for a gybe hoist. Azzurra managed to cast a wind shadow on TEAMORIGIN forcing TEAMORIGIN into a slow gybe away. At that point Azzurra took the lead. TEAMORIGIN worked hard to stay in contention and made some gains on the last run but Azzurra and went on to sail defensively and into an unassailable lead of 53 seconds at the end of the second lap.
Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Helmsman commented after the race, “Azzurra sailed a good race today, they seem to have a knack of overtaking us which is getting very frustrating!. I was happy with the start and 1st beat call, we were fully in contention at the top mark and tried to hold them up, we were unfortunately set up for a gybe set given the wind direction and they were set up for a straight bear away hoist which allowed them to gain some distance and take the lead. We pushed hard to keep it close for the rest of the race especially on the final run but a couple of shifts went their way and they took the race win. For sure there were some positives from the day but we have to work on not losing the leads. Tomorrow is another day.”
In the final race of the day, Emirates Team New Zealand took a race win over Artemis. The Swedish Artemis team made great inroads into ETNZ on the 2nd downwind leg but the kiwis stretched out again on the next beat and went on to win by 1 min 40 s.
Team Feature of the Day:
Pawel Bielecki: Grinder, Poland - Our ‘strong man' and powerhouse!
Pawel is our ‘strong man', our powerhouse, weighing in at 140 kgs and capable of bench pressing 210 kgs, he has a fascinating background coming into sailing via a very different route to most of our sailing team. He was the winner of a local strong man competition in 2000, and 2nd in the Junior National Championships for shot put in 1998. He moved into the sailing world 2000 with Karol Jablonski, and then took on his first America's Cup with the Italian +39 team. He joined TEAMORIGIN in 2007 and forms an essential part of our team.
Quote from Pawel : “I joined TEAMORIGIN because I saw the sailors they had lined up and wanted the opportunity to sail with such a talented bunch of guys. I really believe that if we work hard, we can be good enough to win this Cup and I will be training as hard as possible to make sure our manoeuvres are better than everyone else's!”
Emirates Team New Zealand has opened its Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland campaign with a win over the Swedish Artemis (from Warren Douglas, Emirates Team New Zealand)
In an early evening race, Emirates Team New Zealand sailing NZL92 played the shifts and the tidal current to cross the line 1min 40secsec ahead of the Swedes.
Skipper Dean Barker and his afterguard played a patient game, prepared to take some temporary pain for later gain, as he and the trimmers combined to keep the yacht moving at maximum speed in the patchy south-west breeze.
A lack of breeze delayed racing until 2.45 pm. The first two matches were sailed in a light north-east breeze. By the time the ETNZ-Artemis match came around the breeze had swung to the south-west. A new course was laid in the inner harbour with the top mark near the Orakei wharf.
ETNZ led off the start, gaining a small advantage, and then Artemis took the lead in the left. Tactician Ray Davies held his nerve, got the shift he was expecting, and NZL92 opened up a 55sec lead at the first mark.
Artemis came back at New Zealand on the first run. Bringing up the breeze, they ate into the ETNZ lead, and by the bottom mark the advantage had been whittled away to only 12sec.
It was all on again. Davies, strategist Adam Beashel and navigator Jules Salter got NZL92 around the mark in good shape. Artemis went left and ETNZ went right. That turned out to be the crucial tactical decision of the day.
ETNZ got the breeze and extended, rounding the second top mark 1 min 21 sec ahead. By the finish the margin was 1min 40sec.
The Maestro stops the Rascals (from Mascalzone Latino Audi Team)
No one on board Mascalzone Latino Audi Team thought that the first race would be easy. The French-German team led by Schuemann, a three time olympic gold medallist and one time silver, and with the "enfant terrible" Sebastien Col at the helm, won the race by choosing the right side of the course.
Mascalzone Latino managed very well the handicap of having to enter the start box on port tack, by entering aggressively yet without risking a penalty. It was a split tack start, with Mascalzone Latino Audi Team going for the left side of the course, where the current from Rangitoto Canal is weaker. All4One started at the Committee end, choosing the right side of the course.
Mascalzone Latino was in advantage over All4One for the first part of the upwind leg, until the wind rotated to the right side of the course. At the first mark, Mascalzone Latino was trailing 19 seconds, which stretched to 44 seconds on the finish line. A real shame, considering the flawless maneuvering of the crew, showing that a good chemistry has been rapidly achieved on board. Race results do not follow certain rules, tomorrow is another day. Every team will see victories and defeats - sometimes inevitable and sometimes unexpected. Mascalzone Latino will have to face the All Blacks of sailing, the New Zealanders of Emirates Team New Zealand.
The other matches of the day saw ETNZ over Artemis, while Azzurra overtook the British of Team Origin. The last race between the Russians of Synergy and the French of Aleph started after 19:00pm, illuminated by a splendid sunset over the bay of Auckland. The French had an unexpected win over the Russians.
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