LVT: Azzurra Defeated by TeamOrigin

Azzurra. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.

by Jill Campbell

Fifteen to 18 knots of easterly winds, the strongest seen yet on the French Riviera during the Louis Vuitton Trophy (7th to 22nd November), accompanied the second match race of the semi-finals between Azzurra (ITA) and Team Origin (GBR). The British Team skippered by Ben Ainslie dominated the match from start to finish bringing the pair to equal points with all to be decided in tomorrow’s third and final race. The winner of tomorrow’s race will progress to the finals to face either Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) skippered by Dean Barker or Karol Jablonski’s Synergy (RUS) who at the time of writing are disputing a protest with the International Jury.

Azzurra Vs Team Origin: Ainslie’s aggressive tactics forced Azzurra over the line early and inflicted two penalties on the Italian team skippered by Francesco Bruni. After coming back round the committee boat to cross correctly and completing one of the two penalty turns, Azzurra had lost approximately 200 metres on Origin. The British team rounded the first mark 59 seconds ahead and maintained their lead throughout. On the final downwind leg Azzurra’s spinnaker ripped to leave them limping across the finish line 2 minutes 29 seconds behind Team Origin.

Skipper and helmsman Bruni “We made a lot of mistakes in the final two minutes of the pre-start and with adversaries like these you pay dearly for any mistake. We are still in the game and it is important to put this disappointing race behind us and concentrate on tomorrow.”

The bottom five places were decided in today’s knock-out matches: 5th All4One (Sebastian Col), 6th BMW Oracle (Gavin Brady), 7th Artemis (Paul Cayard), 8th PagesJaunes (Bertrand Pace).

Azzurra is scheduled to race TeamOrigin at 8.30 am on 21st November.

Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy