Alinghi leads BMW ORACLE Racing in the second and final race of the Challenger Finals. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
Alinghi dominated in the pre-start and pinned BMW Oracle out at the start taking an early lead.
by Daphne Morgan-Barnicoat
Alinghi vs. BMW Oracle Racing
Challenger Final, second race
Alinghi has port entry
Alinghi races NZL92
Conditions: Northerly 20knots
Alinghi won the LVPS Challenger Finals today beating BMW Oracle Racing 2-0 and completing the final race 1minute 7seconds ahead. This means Alinghi will race Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Cup which starts tomorrow.
The Alinghi crew controlled the start on Day 2 of the Challenger Final shutting BMW Oracle out at the committee boat end and leading off the line by a couple of boat lengths with speed. Ed Baird, helmsman for Alinghi commented on a formidable opponent: “A team like BMW Oracle is always a massive threat and you have got to do everything correctly to be able to beat them." With this in mind, Alinghi kept close cover up the beat, extending the lead to three boat lengths. BOR split away to the right and the Swiss continued out to the left-hand lay line to round the first windward mark ahead by 28 seconds. Downwind, Alinghi stretched out the lead to round the left-hand gate with 38seconds in hand. The crew sailed the shifts back up the right-hand side before punching out to the left lay line and rounding windward mark two with a 58second advantage. There was no coming back for the Americans after that as the Swiss charged down the run to cross the finish line 1minute 7seconds ahead. "I really compliment our team for sailing a very smooth and intelligent race today against a very difficult opponent,” said Ed Baird.
Quote from the race boat – Ed Baird gives some insight on a win and passage into the LVPS Final:
“I tell you it was one of the more challenging pre-starts, the tide was changing, the race course was very tight on the right, in fact if you looked straight up wind from the starting line, the yellow restriction marks were straight upwind from us, so everything left of that about a minute off the line was a place you couldn’t go. In this situation it was quite important to have control of your world in the start. In the end the way it happened for us in the last moments before the start, was that we had BOR right on our hip pushing us in, but they realised that if we let them go through to the left hand side they might be in trouble as well. meant we could take the lefft off the line and that was really the race. Once that happened it was very difficult for them to have a passing lane.”
Q: In a situation like that with such a formidable opponent, what is the strategy?
EB: “Generally you try to push your opponent to the shortest side of the race track and keep them corralled behind you. In this situation apparently BOR had a little problem with the trim tab just as they started the race and they had to repair that and they were losing distance at an unusual rate. But they got that sorted and it worked out from there on. You are right that a team like BMW Oracle is always a massive threat and you have got to do everything correctly to be able to beat them, so I really compliment our team for sailing a very smooth and intelligent race today against a very difficult opponent.”
Q: Finally a look forward at the LVPS tomorrow against Emirates Team New Zealand?
EB: “TNZ has always shown themselves to be the best team going in the Cup boats, they qualified in the AC Challenger Series and raced the Cup against us last time. Here we are sailing their boats, in their bay, in their current so it is going to be really exciting to see how it goes, they do a great job. They are all our good friends and it is great to go out against a team like that and have a nice, clean, fun and exciting match.”
Deltas
Mark 1: 28seconds
Gate: 38seconds
Mark 2: 58seconds
Finish: 1minute 7seconds
Alinghi
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