Bow action on board Emirates Team New Zealand. Image copyright Chris Cameron.
by Emirates Team New Zealand media
Emirates Team New Zealand got away to a good start in the Louis Vuitton trophy with a 1min 36sec win over French Spirit.
Skipper Dean Barker and crew got the best of the light conditions. They took control on the first beat after getting a good shift in the left and were never really threatened.
Barker said they had had an “interesting day”. We were second race away and we knew conditions could difficult.
“As the morning progresses the breeze from the land slowly dies away and the afternoon thermal breeze pushes in from the sea. The boys did well to read the conditions... we took control early on the first beat and extended all the way.
Tactician Ray Davies: We got the start we wanted on the left and got a good shift early on and built up a 140m lead. Then French Spirit, only a couple of hundred metres away got an entirely different breeze and started eating into us. But we were on the lay line and got away rounding 40sec ahead.
“On the run they made a mistake with a gybe and lost a minute. And in the light there was no chance they could recover.”
The third race of the day the Italian Azzurra team and BMW Oracle was abandoned when the wind died. The yachts having struggled through the marginal conditions were only 200 metres from the finish.
Race officials were presented with their first problem even before the regatta started when one of the four yachts was damaged during a practice race.
ITA99, one of two yachts on loan from the Mascalzone Latino team, was damaged during practice. The French/German team ALL4ONE scraped the stern of the race committee boat opening a two-metre cut in the hull.
The yacht is expected to be ready for racing on Monday, In the meantime the race committee has only two yachts at its disposal, putting pressure on to get racing underway in light conditions.
In the day’s first race, Team Origin (GBR) beat Synergy (RUS) by 59sec.
Emirates Team New Zealand
Louis Vuitton Trophy
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