Francesco Bruni on board Azzurra in Sardinia. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.
by Jill Campbell
Day seven of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in La Maddalena saw the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s team Azzurra waiting in vain for most of the day for their scheduled match with Britain’s Team Origin. The Race Committee was forced to delay racing for over four hours due to a lack of wind before starting the first race at 2.15 p.m.
The north westerly wind then built to approximately 20 knots but the progress of the six scheduled matches was hampered by technical difficulties on the ACC boats used for the event. At 3.30 p.m. Azzurra was advised that their match would not be disputed today.
Azzurra therefore remains on two points with four matches still to dispute out of nine scheduled in the Round Robin phase of the event taking place until 6th July.
The racing programme has been slowed considerably due to two of the four boats provided by the organizers having been damaged during a collision between Azzurra and the French team Aleph. Some teams have disputed as many as seven matches while others such as Azzurra and Artemis have a number of races still to complete. The classification in this first phase of the event is therefore still wide open.
Racing at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.
In the two races which were completed today BMW Oracle Racing was defeated by Russian team Synergy but went on to take victory over Emirates Team New Zealand.
Principal Race Officer Peter “Luigi” Reggio has his work cut out for him to complete the programme of 45 matches in the round robin for the ten participating teams thanks to a combination of technical problems and unusually unstable wind conditions in northern Sardinia.
Tomorrow’s forecast does not look promising with light east south-easterly breezes of 5 to 9 knots and isolated showers predicted.
This evening all of the participating teams will attend the Louis Vuitton Crew Party, a noted social event in the regattas sponsored by the renowned French brand. The party will be held in a secret beach location on the island of La Maddalena.
Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy
