BMW ORACLE Racing loses out to Synergy. Image copyright Bob Grieser/OutsideImages.co.nz
by Peter Rusch
The loss in the final match of the first Round Robin dropped the team into a three-way tie on points with Artemis and Synergy but the tie-breaking mechanism favoured the other two, dropping BMW ORACLE Racing into sixth place at the conclusion of the opening round.
The team will now have an uphill climb. The modified format for the second round will see them race each of the top teams once. After the second round, the top four teams qualify for the Semi Finals, while the bottom four in the fleet race for the minor placings.
"It's not where we want to be," said Andrew Taylor, a veteran of eight America's Cup campaigns. "But at the end of the day, you've got to beat all of those guys (the top teams) if you want to win the regatta. If we win our races, we'll be okay."
In a familiar scenario, Saturday's match was sailed in light, shifty conditions. Following a postponement, the teams split off the starting line, with BMW ORACLE Racing out to the left. The separation between the boats built up quickly and when the wind shifted to the right, the Synergy team took a commanding lead. BMW ORACLE Racing made a push to close the gap later in the race, but couldn't get around the Russians.
The next stage of the regatta started immediately afterwards, but BMW ORACLE Racing won't race it's first match of the second round until Sunday.
The BMW ORACLE guys came off the water just before noon today, and headed for a gym session after their race debrief. They gathered later in the afternoon for a team-bonding session to watch the All Blacks rugby game, and will find out this evening who their race partners are for Sunday's session.
Round Robin 1 Standings
1. Emirates Team New Zealand; 6-1
2. Azzurra; 6-1
3. TeamOrigin; 5-2
4. Artemis; 3-4
5. Synergy; 3-4
6. BMW ORACLE Racing; 3-4
7. ALL4ONE; 2-5
8. TFS - Pages Jaunes; 0-7
BMW ORACLE Racing
Louis Vuitton Trophy
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