Azzurra. Image copyright Stefano Gattini.
by Jill Campbell
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Team Origin (GBR), Azzurra (ITA) and Russia’s Synergy are the four teams which will progress into the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice. Surprisingly both Artemis (SWE) with Paul Cayard and Terry Hutchinson on board and BMW Oracle Racing (USA) failed to make the cut, finishing in fifth and sixth place respectively.
Azzurra qualified in third place with seven victories out of 11 matches raced. The team races under the burgee of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, the Club which promoted the first Italian challenge for the America’s Cup in 1983, and the direction of Team Principal Giovanni Maspero, who was understandably pleased with the team’s performance in the first two Round Robins: “I’m obviously very pleased with the positive work that’s been done so far. The core team, which has now taken on the historic Azzurra name, already raced together last season and includes some important names such as Tommaso Chieffi. The teamwork is very good although we have plenty of room to improve and grow. Reaching the semifinals was an important goal for me and now we have high expectations for the next races. We will probably be up against the English aboard Team Origin, we’ve done well against them in the past. I have faith in the team and I am optimistic about the next matches.”
Azzurra raced in two very close matches this morning beating BMW Oracle Racing by 1 minute and one second but losing to Synergy by one minute and two seconds.
Azzurra Vs BMOR: Gavin Brady aboard BMW Oracle dominated the start and led for most of the upwind leg until a slight wind shift allowed Azzurra to inch ahead and round the first mark 9 seconds in front of the American team. Azzurra steadily increased their lead on the downwind leg to round the bottom mark 25 seconds ahead and finished by crossing the line just over one minute ahead of BMW Oracle.
Azzurra Vs Synergy: Once again Azzurra’s adversary took the better start and the Russian team, led by Karol Jablonsky and with Rod Dawson on tactics, controlled Francesco Bruni’s team on the first windward leg to round the mark 8 seconds ahead. Little changed on the downwind leg but Synergy lengthened their lead slightly to 15 seconds around the second upwind mark. Azzurra was closing in on the Russian team on the final run when her spinnaker tore putting an end to the race.
Francesco Bruni, Azzurra skipper found the race as exhilarating as any raced in the event: “That was one of best races I’ve ever sailed in Cup boats. I really enjoyed it. Every leg was close and each crew did a fantastic job.”
Tomorrow’s schedule sees Emirates Team New Zealand meet Synergy for the final race of the second Round Robin. Azzurra has no races tomorrow and as Wednesday is a scheduled lay day the team will be back on the water for the semifinals on Thursday 19th November.
Monday’s Races
AZZURRA beat BMW ORACLE RACING
TEAMORIGIN beat ALL4ONE
SYNERGY beat AZZURRA
ARTEMIS beat TFS-PAGES JAUNES
BMW ORACLE RACING beat ARTEMIS
Provisional Standings pt. (W-L)
Emirates Team New Zealand pt. 9 (9-1)
Team Origin pt. 8 (8-3)
Azzurra pt. 7 (7-4)
Synergy pt. 6 (6-4)
Artemis pt. 5 (5-6)
BMW Oracle Racing pt. 4 (4-7)
All4One pt. 3 (3-8)
TFS PagesJaunes pt. 1 (1-10)
Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy
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