Azzurra defeats TEAMORIGIN on Day One. Image copyright Stefan Gattini/Azzurra.
by Alessandra Ghezzi
Great start for the all-Italian team Azzurra of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda which today conquered its first win in the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy against Team Origin, helmed by Ben Ainslie who has three gold and one silver Olympic medals to his credit. The all-Italian crew of Azzurra, who in this series will face seven of the strongest helmsman of the international racing circuit, led a very clean and composed race showing great tactical knowledge.
The skipper of Azzurra, Francesco Bruni, confirmed the form demonstrated at the last Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice where the Italian crew defeated by 2:0 the favourite Emirates Team New Zealand. Bruni is clearly very happy with the outcome of this first nerve-wracking day where the wind kept everyone waiting: “we were very happy to break the ice in this way. At the beginning we were a bit nervous but in the end everything went really well. It’s been a great match, even with the light w ind. All the crew did an excellent job. We hope to keep on going like this. We have a very long series ahead of us.”
The defining moment of the race for Azzurra came at the first mark rounding where Bruni, with America’s Cup veteran Tommaso Chieffi calling the tactics, gained the lead with a perfectly executed spinnaker hoist. Team Origin was forced to gybe-set and lost ground during this maneuver which can be long when executed in light air. From then on Bruni and his crew comfortably controlled their rival throughout the race. Giovanni Maspero, Team Principal of Azzurra, followed the race as 18th man on board, a spectator guest who cannot take part in any maneuver. Riccardo Bonadeo, Commodore of Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and President of team Azzurra, arrived yesterday in Auckland and followed the matches from the team’s chase boat.
The Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland is part of an international series that enables the best skippers and crews of the world to challenge each other with the highly successful formula of match racing. At last night’s opening press conference, held at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the line up of the eight skippers competing in the Auckland event was to say the least impressive. Dean Barker, skipper of Emirates Team New Zealand, the great favourite of this event, was cautious: “the level is definitely higher than last year. We need to race well since every team can win”.
Azzurra vs. TEAMORIGIN. Image copyright Stefan Gattini/Azzurra.
In Auckland the teams will race on the two America’s Cup boats that Emirates Team New Zeland, NZL84 and NZL92, provides for the event. To reach the end of the series these boats will have to withstand the tear and wear of more than 50 matches (round robin, semifinals and finals). This year the boats have been equipped with new identical sails in order to even their performance. The races are held on the beautiful waters of the Hauraki Gulf that have staged many hard fought Louis Vuitton Cup and America’s Cup matches.
Tuesday the wind kept everybody waiting but in the end the Race Committee was able to complete all four scheduled races. The French/German team All4One with skipper Jochen Schümann, German triple Olympic champion and twice winner of the America’s Cup, defeated the other Italian team Mascalzone Latino Audi Team who has only three Italian sailors on board out of 17 and has New Zealander Gavin Brady at the helm. Then it was the turn of of Azzurra, the only crew besides the home kiwi team to have a strong national identity.
In the third match Emirates Team New Zealand skippered by Dean Barker defeated the Swedes of Artemis led by American legend Paul Cayard who has seven world titles, five America’s Cup campaigns, two round the world races and two Olympic games to his credit. In the final match of the day America’s Cup veteran Bertrand Pacé at the helm of Aleph Sailing team defeated the Polish skipper Karol Jablonski of the Russian team Synergy.
Tomorrow Azzurra will face Team Synergy in the third match of the day. The weather forecast calls for light variable winds increasing to 10-15 knots in the afternoon.
Teams will take turns racing the two boats in four matches a day to complete a round robin seeding series before a ladder elimination culminating in the finals on Sunday, 21st March.Great start for the all-Italian team Azzurra of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda who today conquered its first win in the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy against Team Origin, helmed by Ben Ainslie who has three gold and one silver Olympic medals to his credit. The all-Italian crew of Azzurra, who in this series will face seven of the strongest helmsman of the international racing circuit, led a very clean and composed race showing great tactical knowledge.
The skipper of Azzurra, Francesco Bruni, confirmed the form demonstrated at the last Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice where the Italian crew defeated by 2:0 the favourite Emirates Team New Zealand. Bruni is clearly very happy with the outcome of this first nerve-wracking day where the wind kept everyone waiting: “we were very happy to break the ice in this way. At the beginning we were a bit nervous but in the end everything went really well. It’s been a great match, even with the light wind. All the crew did an excellent job. We hope to keep on going like this. We have a very long series ahead of us.”
Azzurra Crew
Francesco Bruni – Skipper/Helmsman
Tommaso Chieffi – Tactician
Tom Burnham – Strategist
Bruno Zirilli – Navigator
Daniele De Luca – Mainsail trimmer
Stefano Rizzi – Jib Trimmer
Pierluigi De Felice – Spi trimmer
Gabriele Bruni – Runner trimmer
Piero Romeo – Runner grinder
Nicola Pilastro – Mainsail grinder
Massimo Galli – Left grinder
Francesco Scalici – Right grinder
Cristian Griggio – Pitman
Luca Albarelli – Mast
Pietro Mantovani – Mid Bow
Matteo Auguadro – Bowman
Michele Cannoni – Pit Assist
Gabrio Zandonà – Coach
Ben Durham – Reserve
Michele Gnutti – Reserve
Giuseppe Leonardi – Reserve
Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy
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