Louis Vuitton Trophy racing. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.
by Jill Campbell
As predicted, Sardinia’s infamous mistral wind arrived on day nine of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in La Maddalena where ten of the world’s top match racing teams are competing until 6th June. The north-westerly wind, which in this part of Sardinia regularly reaches 40 knots, allowed only one of today’s scheduled races to be held before the Race Comittee was forced to abandon racing for the day.
Emirates Team New Zealand defeated BMW Oracle Racing in approximately 18 – 20 knots this morning before the mistral built to over 25 knots and it was decided to return to base with no further races to be held. Shortly afterwards, in view of the very strong winds predicted for the next 36 hours, the Race Committee cancelled racing for tomorrow, Monday 31st May.
Jochen Schümann and Francesco Bruni. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.
The crew of Azzurra, which is based at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo, will take advantage of the time to analyze the matches held up to now and prepare for the two important races still to be held in this round robin phase of the event. The eight highest-scored teams will proceed to the quarter final stage in which the top classified teams will compete against the lowest.
This evening Azzurra and official supplier EA7 Emporio Armani will welcome all of the participating teams together with sponsors, organizers, journalists and friends to the Azzurra Crew Party held aboard a tug boat moored in Porto Massimo, La Maddalena.
Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy
