LVT: Azzurra Chalks Up Two Wins, One Defeat

Azzurra racing off Nice. Image copyright Steffano Gattini/Azzurra.

by Jill Campbell

Azzurra (ITA) now has two victories under her belt after beating Artemis (SWE), with Paul Cayard and Terry Hutchinson aboard, in the fourth race of the day. She also, however, suffered her first defeat in the Louis Vuitton Trophy at the hands of Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), with Dean Barker at the helm and Ray Davies on tactics, in today’s fifth match race. Breezes were slightly stronger than in recent days, ranging from 7 to 12 knots, but generally more stable and the Race Committee were able to fit in eight matches.

Azzurra Vs Artemis: Artemis took a penalty in the pre-start which was then nullified by a penalty against Azzurra as she tacked too close heading for the first windward mark. Once round the mark Azzurra had a technical problem and was unable to lower the genoa for several minutes allowing Artemis to steal ahead. As Azzurra followed the Swedes around the bottom mark Cayard’s boat hit a windless hole and the Italians took the lead. Azzurra crossed the line with a 2 minute, five second lead.

Azzurra Vs Emirates Team New Zealand: The Italian team led by Francesco Bruni made a fatal mistake in the pre-start to cross the line early and consequently had to turn back, losing ground to ETNZ. Azzurra held her ground for the duration but was unable to make up the 30 seconds lost at the start line.

Francesco Bruni, Skipper and Helm of Azzurra is pleased with the team’s overall performance so far. “We are happy with our efforts. The error at the start of the match with ETNZ was certainly regrettable but our performances in general have been good and I am optimistic about the next races if the conditions remain the same, the 12 knots we had today were ideal for this type of race.”

As was Tom Burnham, Strategist: “Even in the third race we were always pushing them, we sailed really well as a team and stayed close to ETNZ. We never quite got around them but we were always in a position to capitalize on any errors and that’s about all you can do. The team is doing really well and we are learning from our mistakes and hopefully won’t be making them again!”.

Azzurra is scheduled to race Russian team Synergy in tomorrow’s third race and French Spirit in the sixth. Conditions are predicted to be similar to today.

Today’s races
Match 1: TEAMORIGIN beat TEAM PAGES JAUNES
Match 2: ALL4ONE beat ARTEMIS
Match3: BMW ORACLE RACING beat ALL4ONE
Match 4: AZZURRA beat ARTEMIS
Match 5: ETNZ beat AZZURRA
Match 6: BMW ORACLE RACING beat TEAM PAGES JAUNES
Match 7: ARTEMIS beat SYNERGY
Match 8: TEAM ORIGIN beat ALL4ONE

Provisional standings
EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND Wins/Defeats 4/0
TEAMORIGIN Wins/Defeats 3/0.
AZZURRA Wins/Defeats 2/1.
BMW ORACLE RACING Wins/Defeats 2/1.
ARTEMIS Wins/Defeats 2/2.
ALL4ONE (Host Team) Wins/Defeats 1/3.
TFS PAGES JAUNES Wins/Defeats 0/3.
SYNERGY RUSSIAN SAILING TEAM Wins/Defeats 0/3

Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy