BMW ORACLE Racing streaks ahead of the French on Day 4 of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
by Jane Eagleson
BMW ORACLE Racing took another step up the leaderboard in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series today with a 54-second win over the French Pataugas K-Challenge team.
"This was probably our best day so far," said BMW ORACLE Racing tactician Hamish Pepper. "We are improving every day, but we need to. All the teams are improving as the regatta goes on."
The start of racing on Day Four of the first round robin of the series being sailed in Auckland, New Zealand, was delayed for four hours while a very light southerly breeze gave way to a new breeze from the northeast. The Race Committee took the yachts out of the Waitemata Harbour and into the Hauraki Gulf in the search for wind and, when racing got under way, a superb sailing breeze of 12 - 14 knots was established.
"The long wait was no drama for us," said Pepper. "We waited on shore until the breeze came in. Once we got under way, it was a nice wind - quite stable with just small oscillations."
The match today pitted the BMW ORACLE Racing crew, led by Russell Coutts, against a French crew skippered by Sebastian Col, who is the current top-ranked match racer on the world circuit.
In the pre-start, the battle was to gain command of the favoured right hand side of the course and BMW ORACLE Racing was able to secure that advantage. "In the dial-up, the French crew went a little forward of us and when we peeled away we were in the controlling position. By the time we came up to the line, we were able to push the French down towards the pin and we had the right hand side."
The yachts left the startline on split tacks with BMW ORACLE Racing on port at the Committee Boat end and K-Challenge on starboard at the pin end. Both teams displayed the courage of their separate convictions by maintaining their tacks until a lateral separation of 1,000 metres had opened up between them.
When they reconverged towards the top of the first windward leg, BMW ORACLE Racing had established a lead and rounded the mark with 13 second advantage. Down the first run the French crew kept up the pressure, looking for opportunities to make gains. At the leeward gate, the right hand side was favoured and both yachts took that option, with BMW ORACLE Racing's lead extending to 27 seconds.
On the remaining two legs, Russell Coutts and the BMW ORACLE Racing crew continued to make gains, rounding the final mark with a 37 second margin and further stretching to a 54 second margin at the finish.
BMW ORACLE Racing meets the Damiani Italia Challenge team in tomorrow's racing.
BMW ORACLE Racing
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