Azzurra leads TFS - Pages Jaunes downwind off Nice. Image copyright Staffano Gattini.
by Jill Campbell
Azzurra may be one of the newer teams competing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice but she is certainly proving to be one to watch. On day five of the America’s Cup style match race event the Italian team, led by Francesco Bruni with Tommaso Chieffi on tactics, took victory in both of her scheduled races against Synergy (RUS) and Team French Spirit – Pages Jaunes (FRA).
Azzurra vs Synergy: The Russian team led by Karol Jablonski won the start and led the race for the first half of the windward leg, Azzurra managed to overtake Synergy in light and shifty northerly winds to round the first mark 14 second ahead. The rest of the race was more or less faultless for the Italians who crossed the finish line 1 minute and 9 seconds ahead.
Azzurra vs TFS Pages Jaunes: Racing was very close up the first windward leg and Azzurra was just a few seconds ahead of the French team skippered by Bertrand Pace around the top mark. TSF – Pages Jaunes then had a problem raising their genoa and lost many valuable seconds with no headsail. Azzurra took full advantage of the situation to surge ahead. The French team was unable to make up the distance and Bruni’s men crossed the finish line with a lead of more than one minute and 30 seconds.
“I’m very pleased with the way both races went today. The team is becoming stronger and closer with every race and our results show that. I have a great respect for both of the skippers we raced against today and I am pleased that we did such good work.”
Azzurra is currently sitting third in the provisional rankings behind the unbeaten Emirates Team New Zealand and Team Origin (GBR) and ahead of BMW Oracle Racing.
Tomorrow’s schedule sees Azzurra race against host team All4One with Sebastian Col at the helm, skippered by Jochen Schuemann.
Wednesday's Races
1 EMIRATES TEAM NZ beat ARTEMIS
2: ALL4ONE beat TFS-PAGES JAUNES
3:AZZURRA beat SYNERGY
4: TEAMORIGIN beat BMW ORACLE RACING
5: SYNERGY beat ALL4ONE
6: AZZURRA beat TFS-PAGES JAUNES
Provisional Ranking
1) EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND 5/0
2) TEAMORIGIN 4/0
3) AZZURRA 4/1
4) BMW ORACLE RACING 2/2
5) ARTEMIS 2/3
6) ALL4ONE (Host Team) 2/4
7) SYNERGY RUSSIAN SAILING TEAM 1/4
8) TFS PAGES JAUNES Punti 0/6
Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy
No comments:
Post a Comment