Damiani Italia Challenge against the backdrop of Auckland's Sky Tower. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Damiani Italia Challenge.
by Gabriele Cutini (in translation)
On the third day of racing in the second round robin of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series the second consecutive defeat arrived for Damiani Italia Challenge. Vasco Vascotto's crew was up against BMW ORACLE Racing, which had on board the five times winner of the America's Cup, Russell Coutts, and the former Star world champion, Hamish Pepper.
The match was disputed in light winds. The Italian team paid heavily for a small mistake of evaluation in their actual position with respect to the starting line. In comparison with Russell Coutts, Damiani Italia Challenge began the race three boatlengths in arrears.
Despite the significant separation, the Bruni-Vascotto duo attacked and recovered a lot of the ground on the beat.
Unfortunately, because of a halyard that slowed down the gennaker hoist, BMW Oracle Racing returned to sail faster almost immediately. From that moment every effort of the Italians was in vain and the race concluded with the men of Larry Ellison ahead by a handful of seconds.
Tomorrow, there are matches between Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing, Damiani Italy Challenge and Luna Rossa Challenge, today beaten by just 4 seconds by Team Origin. The match between the two Italian teams will be fascinating.
Michele Paoletti, of Damiani Italia Challenge: "At the start we did make strategic mistakes. In the first meeting on the beat we tucked in beneath them. Tomorrow's race: the match against Luna Rossa will be very important for our overall result. The all-Italian duel always carries a special glamour, in addition".
Damiani Italia Challenge
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