Mascalzone Latino Audi Team winning against Aleph. Supplied image.
by Lorenza Priamo
It was a thrilling day for the numerous fans Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, that grabbed victory on the photo finish, by a mere second, over the French of Aleph, recovering in that way from the defeat in the previous match against BMW ORACLE, the America’s Cup Defender.
The four-day break from sailing the Mascalzone Latino crew was forced to take due to the capricious breeze in La Maddalena was undoubtedly a non-negligible factor in the interruption of the positive streak the team has shown so far. In the prestart of the first match, an aggressive Spithill pushed hard and force a double penalty on Gavin Brady. The race is practically over in that moment for Mascalzone and even after trying hard to close the deficit the Italian crew doesn’t succeed in making the America’s Cup Defender lose its calm. BMW ORACLE crosses the finish line with a 26-second lead.
In quick succession, Mascalzone Latino faces Aleph, the French team helmed by Bertrand Pacé, in the second match. Despite the fact they are at the bottom of the leaderboard, due to the 4 penalty points for the collision that knocked the two American boats out, the French have shown they are an advancing team, able of beating high-caliber teams such as Team Origin and BMW ORACLE; therefore a tough “client” for Mascalzone Latino Audi Team.
With a fresh Mistral of 16 knots, perfect conditions for racing, Mascalzone Latino pushes Aleph tightly, at times Virtual Eye puts them ahead, but at the buoys it’s always the French that round ahead, even if only by a handful of seconds. In the last stretch of the race, Gavin Brady gybes to the left side of the course, Bertand Pacé doesn’t cover, our guys sail better and the approach to the finish is truly heart stopping, with the bow of the “Latin Rascals” crossing the line just one second ahead of the French.
“As far the starts are concerned – stated skipper Gavin Brady - I had a really bad day today: against Spithill I handed the match to the Umpires and they correctly penalized us, even if I think the second penalty was dubious. However, here, the priority is to preserve the boats and for that reason every risk of contact is preventively sanctioned. I had a bad start against Aleph and I have to thank the entire crew for their crew work and the way they sailed, allowing me to achieve the recovery that made us win by a mere second”.
Mascalzone Latino Audi Team
Louis Vuitton Trophy
