LVT: TFS - PagesJaunes scores first win at Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d'Azur

The two French teams gang up on Italy's Azzurra while Emirates Team New Zealand keeps pace at the top




Matt Mitchell, Bowman, TEAMORIGIN. Image copyright Ian Roman/TeamOrigin.

by Chloe Daycard

France’s TFS – PagesJaunes scored its first win of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur today as the regatta began Round Robin 2. Other winners included fleet leader Emirates Team New Zealand, No. 2 TeamOrigin and the combined French/German team All4One.

A new wind direction blew across the racecourse on the Baie des Anges, northeast, but the strength remained light, between 4 and 8 knots. That put a premium on getting to the right side where there seemed to be more pressure. One knot difference in windspeed can add 10 degrees of heading.

Russia’s Synergy played the right side to defeat BMW Oracle Racing in the first match of the day. The showdown was the lone outstanding match of Round 1 and determined fourth, fifth and sixth in the standings.

Synergy and BMW Oracle were separated laterally by more than 1,400 meters (.75 nautical miles) when Synergy tacked to starboard. The Russian team led by skipper Karol Jablonski led by 56 seconds at the first mark en route to a 14-second victory.
Synergy’s win placed it in a three-way tie for fourth in Round 1 with Artemis and BMW Oracle, all at 3-4. Artemis won the tiebreaker by virtue of its win yesterday over TeamOrigin of the U.K. Synergy placed fifth because it beat BMW Oracle, and the U.S.-flagged crew placed sixth.

The standings proved important because the schedule for Round 2 has been amended from a full round robin. Due to time constraints the eight teams have been divided into two halves based on the Round Robin 1 standings. The top four teams will race each of the bottom four teams once. Wins will be worth 1 point.


Christian Estrosi (left), the mayor of Nice, Yves Carcelle, CEO of Louis Vuitton, and Bruno Troublé, Louis Vuitton Trophy spokesman, at the Louis Vuitton Party held at the Castle Mont Baron. Image copyright Paul Todd/OutsideImages.co.nz

Round 2 began with the previously winless TFS – PagesJaunes scoring a wire-to-wire win over Italy’s Azzurra, which finished second in the first round. Skipper Bertrand Pacé and his crew started to the right of the Italians to play the right side of the course, and when they tacked to starboard they opened an insurmountable lead. TFS – PagesJaunes led by 33 seconds at the first mark and kept increasing its advantage and scored a victory of 1 minute, 45 seconds.

TFS – PagesJaunes was formed just two weeks before the regatta and the crew went through some growing pains in the first round. But all of that was temporarily forgotten with the win.

“We knew we could win races, it’s just taken a while for the crew to come together,” said Pacé, a past match racing world champion. “The afterguard picked the right-hand side of the course, and since we had starboard tack in the pre-start it was easy to get to the right.”

It was an afternoon for the French to beat up on the Italians. In the second flight of races All4One scored a 46-second victory over Azzurra. The match was close on the first beat, but All4One protected its early lead and led by 39 seconds at the first mark. All4One was the only crew to win today after starting to the left of its competition.

“We had two good starts today. First one was against Team New Zealand, but we didn't turn it into a point and we missed the opportunity to take the lead in this match,” said All4One helmsman Sébastien Col. “We refocused for the second match against Azzurra, where we more or less adopted the same strategy. The afterguard did nice job to keep the lead, knowing that in these light conditions it was not easy.”

In other Round 2 matches Emirates Team New Zealand defeated All4One by 47 seconds and TeamOrigin won over TFS – PagesJaunes by 2 minutes, 31 seconds.


Dancers were featured in vinyl balls at the Louis Vuitton Party held at the Castle Mont Baron. Image copyright Paul Todd/OutsideImages.co.nz

Round Robin 2 : Flights 1-2 summaries
Light winds from the east/northeast put a heavy emphasis on the right side of the course
FLIGHT 1

M1: Emirates Team New Zealand d. ALL4ONE – Delta: 47 seconds

Emirates Team New Zealand ran its record to 7-1 with its first victory of Round 2. The Kiwis trailed All4One off the start line, but had the favoured right-hand side of the racecourse. When they tacked to starboard they were lifted inside of All4One and led around the windward mark by 38 seconds. Team New Zealand stretched that lead out to 1:32 at the second windward mark.

M2: TFS – PagesJaunes d. Azzurra – Delta: 1:45

TFS – PagesJaunes had been the hard luck team of the first round robin, going 0-7 despite some near misses. Skipper Bertrand Pace and crew corrected that today with a solid, wire-to-wire win over Azzurra, which finished Round Robin 1 in second at 6-1. Pace entered the start box on the favoured starboard tack and started the race on port tack at the boat end with Azzurra on starboard at the pin. Pace’s afterguard, including Philippe Presti and Mathieu Richard, wanted the right side of the beat and about 1 minute into the match the crew tacked to starboard. When they did they were lifted with pressure and quickly opened a two- to three-boatlength lead. TFS – PagesJaunes led by 33 seconds at the first mark and increased that advantage at every mark of the course.

FLIGHT 2

M1: TEAMORIGIN vs. TFS – Pages Jaunes – Delta: 2:31


TEAMORIGIN vs TFS - PAGES JAUNES, TEAMORIGIN round the leeward mark. Image copyright Ian Roman/TeamOrigin.

After scoring its first win of the regatta in Flight 1 TFS – PagesJaunes was hoping to follow-up with another victory. But TeamOrigin controlled this match throughout. TeamOrigin started to windward, tacked to the favoured right side, won the first cross and never was threatened. TeamOrigin led by 58 seconds at the first windward mark and navigated the light winds much better than TFS – PagesJaunes for the convincing win. TeamOrigin now stands at 6-2, one point behind leader Team New Zealand, and TFS – PagesJaunes is 1-8.

M2: ALL4ONE vs. Azzurra – Delta: 46 seconds

The French/German team ALL4ONE got on the scoreboard today with a nice win over Azzurra. Both crews started on starboard tack with All4One to leeward. Azzurra was forced to tack away about 90 seconds into the match. All4One continued and then covered in port. The Mediterranean rivals traded tacks four times, with All4One tacking in front, before finally crossing to the right. All4One led at the windward mark by 39 seconds, and covered the rest of the way. All4One increased its record to 3-6 while Azzurra dropped to 6-3 after its second consecutive loss to a French team.


14th November 2009 results in Nice at the Louis Vuitton Trophy.


Overall results after 14th November's racing in Nice.

FLEET STANDINGS (Through Round 2 : Flight 2)

1. Emirates Team New Zealand, 7-1
2. TeamOrigin, 6-2
3. Azzurra, 6-3
4. Artemis, 3-4
5. Synergy, 3-4
6. BMW, 3-4
7. All4One, 3-6
8. TFS – PagesJaunes, 1-8

Louis Vuitton Trophy

Jules Verne Trophy: Seeking to make up for lost time…

by Vincent Borde and Caroline Muller

It's probably the worst day that Franck Cammas and his crew will have to experience as they sail around the world... The advantage amassed in the North Atlantic has been reduced by nearly half, but Groupama 3 is set to power up again midway through this Saturday afternoon, before really picking up the pace from Sunday morning!

As far as Franck's concerned, this Saturday will remain engraved in his memory as a long (overly long) break! 220 miles in 24 hours, which equates to half the distance on a calm day and three times less than on a normal day... The balance in accounting terms is a terrible one: 300 miles lost. Indeed making headway at less than five knots on a thirty metre trimaran is surreal! And the situation lasted for more than half a day before the N'ly wind finally filled midway through this Saturday afternoon. Of course, things are taking a while to really fire up again but the high speeds are scheduled for Sunday morning.

"Groupama 3 is in a transition phase made up of a ridge of high pressure to the East and a convergence zone off Brazil. With these two systems in play the wind is oscillating from the N, which effectively means that the trimaran is running ahead of some light winds of around six to seven knots. It isn't easy to maintain the right course and I'm in constant touch with Stan Honey, Groupama 3's navigator. You have to choose between starboard or port tack to escape the clutches of this system. We don't expect to have a steady breeze before Sunday morning: it's going to be a long wait! The lightest winds arrived on Saturday morning and as such it's been tough going for Franck Cammas and his crew. Before being carried away by a fast depression system, they're going to have to be patient until the middle of the afternoon before they can begin to get free... They're going to have to be in the right place when the low hits!" analysed Sylvain Mondon from Météo France.

Strange happenings around Saint Helena...

The shadow of Saint Helena has been influencing the giant trimaran which, since Friday evening, has been trying to get free of her clutches in a bid to hook onto the next gust of Brazilian heat. A prisoner in the evanescent breezes reigning off the remote island of Trindad, Groupama 3 has had to endure flat seas and a breeze of less than five knots... Some ideal conditions then for giving the boat a thorough check and getting in some good sleep in the gentle motion, prior to the glacial airs of the Southern Ocean!

"It's calm and we're unable to power up: we even gybed in a bid to find some speed. We've been trying out some slightly different trims which are enabling us to fly the windward float. We've also made the most of the conditions to check the whole rig, together with Loïc (Le Mignon), who climbed the mast and the starboard float since the latter had been under the water since our gybe off Madeira... We're ready to tackle the South as we've managed to get some sleep in too. The temperatures also remain pleasant... for cruising at least!" stated Franck Cammas at today's radio link up.

Getting back on the pace

After having to endure the trials and tribulations of these teasing zephyrs, Groupama 3 was picking up speed again midway through this Saturday afternoon: the N'ly breeze is gradually filling in along the 25th parallel, and this is set to continue with the approach of a warm front which Franck Cammas and his crew will be attempting to stay ahead of until South Africa, or further still! This enforced break and this unusual trajectory in what have been some fairly random points of sail will soon be but a temporary blip in proceedings, not so much for the body which has been able to relax, nor for the minds which have been able to focus on other matters, but in terms of time pure and simple... the time lost in relation to Orange 2's record. In reality though, the giant trimaran has managed to maintain a lead of around a day over Bruno Peyron's record in 2005.

"These calm phases are a lot more pleasant in crewed configuration than sailing single-handed! There are ten of us aboard and that works out as ten times the energy... Of course speed is one thing we all seek as we are in charge of the decisions we make. In this situation though we're forced to wait and we're not particularly patient by nature! However, we are already casting our minds to the Indian Ocean and, as far as the here and now is concerned, it's a very great pleasure to be helming Groupama 3" added Thomas Coville.

Cammas - Groupama

TJV: Experiences on board BT

The BT yacht as seen from a Portuguese air force plane just before rescue. Image copyright Portuguese Air Force.

by Julie Royer

Sébastien Josse and Jean-François Cuzon were airlifted from the BT yacht at approx 1800GMT Friday, 13.11.09, by a Portuguese Air Force helicopter and headed for Lajes Field air base on the Azores island of Terceier. A full salvage operation is now underway to recover the boat. Friday’s harrowing story began at 1020GMT in the morning when the duo activated their EPIRB distress beacon this morning at 1020 GMT after suffering catastrophic structural damage caused by the sheer power of the waves.

The shore team finally spoke to Sébastien Josse and Jean-François Cuzon tonight at 2245 GMT: “I was afraid we'd have to spend the night on a boat that could go under at any moment,” said Jeff Cuzon before handing over to Seb. Sounding exhausted and understandably subdued, Seb relayed their daunting experience.


The BT yacht as seen from a Portuguese air force plane minutes before rescue. Image copyright Portuguese Air Force.

From Sébastien Josse:

"It was 0930 in the morning and we were near the centre of the depression, which was our best strategy to try to win the race. We were not alone in this spot, we were close with Safran, Veolia Environment and Groupe Bel. We were sailing in 35-40 knots, but sometimes up to 55-58 knots, in the night… We know we have to take care as in the last position report we see we are bit faster so I call to Jeff to reduce headsail. We had three reefs in the mainsail and maybe after one hour, we drop the staysail. I was on watch outside, Jeff inside, and we had a big ‘crack’. It was a wave, just a big wave but one big enough to break the roof.


Seb Josse on BT on Day 4 of the Transat Jacques Vabre. Image copyright BT.

"I see half of the roof completely broken with a big hole in the deck and hundreds of litres of water in the boat... there was a lot of water inside the boat. I was really scared if we take a second wave that could sink the boat because two or three waves like that we could be straight under the water. We move the keel to have a lot of heel to protect the boat from the waves and we activated the EPIRB and call the race organization to tell them we are we starting to sink.

"After that we prepare all the technical gear we need, our survival suits, VHF radio, our food and all that we need for the liferaft to live for a few days. Conditions never stop to decrease…all the day the wind never dropped under 45 knots and really big waves of 8 metre swells which was my biggest concern. After about five hours we have news from the land to know the time of rescue. First a plane came round us then a ship arrived [Ocean Explorer] and Jeff spoke to the ship by VHF. After that it was really quick we see the ship, we see the plane and after that the helicopter arrive. That was a good moment when we knew that we did not have to spend the night on the boat or in the life raft in 45 knots of wind. The heli just had 20 mins left of fuel so he stay with us for 8-10 mins to look how he can recover us and after he tell us by signal to jump in water. Jeff went first and after he was on board the helico, they did a second turn and he did the same for me, so in total 18 minutes to recover us. It is not a good feeling to lose a boat like that in the water."


On board BT on Day 4 of the Transat Jacques Vabre. Image copyright BT.

Sincerest thanks go to the Portuguese Air Force for a fantastic efficient rescue operation yesterday. A light aircraft has been sent Saturday afternoon over the yacht’s latest position to verify the boat's situation. A tugboat will leave first thing Sunday with BT shore team members Pierre-Emanuel, Charles and Rhys onboard. It will be a long and complex recovery operation – and a wet and cold one too. The forecast is not great for the next five days, and a major storm is expected to arrive Tuesday night adding to the pressure.

BT
Transat Jacques Vabre

TJV: Rankings at 1330 CET 14th November 2009

IMOCA Open 60

1 SAFRAN 3206.1
2 MIKE GOLDING YACHT RACING 3250.4
3 GROUPE BEL 3254.9
4 HUGO BOSS 3358.8
5 VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT 3395.9
6 1876 3403.1
7 AVIVA 3417.2
8 FONCIA 3528.8
9 W HOTELS 3534.0
10 AKENA VERANDAS 3600.2
11 ARTEMIS 3708.0
12 DCNS 3727.4
ABD BT
ABD BRIT AIR

MULTI 50

1 CRÊPES WHAOU! 3757.0
2 REGION AQUITAINE-PORT MEDOC 4070.9
3 GUYADER POUR URGENCE CLIMATIQUE 4119.7
4 PRINCE DE BRETAGNE 4528.7
ABD FENETREA-CARDINAL
ABD ACTUAL

Transat Jacques Vabre

TJV: Phase Two: A New Chapter

Guyader pour Urgence Climatique. Image copyright Piu Bella Photographie.

by Régis Lerat

As the Transat Jacques Vabre leaders pass the Azores comes a welcome change of conditions, deliverance from the pounding winds and waves, the succession of malicious Atlantic depression and into more useful breezes, warmer temperatures and the chance to prepare for some faster sailing later in the weekend.

With Seb Josse and Jean Francois Curzon recovering in the Azores from their ordeal after being helicoptered off BT yesterday evening, minds are fully focussed on maximum speed again and optimising the routing to Costa Rica. The pace at the front of the IMOCA Open 60 fleet has increased as Safran lead past the west fringe of the Azores last night with a margin of just over 40 miles from Mike Golding Yacht Racing. Speaking this morning to Paris Race HQ, Safran's Charles Caudrelier sounded markedly upbeat, clearly relieved that they had not just made it through the worst of the weather but have emerged with a decent lead.

Kito de Pavant's Groupe Bel is doggedly pursuing Golding and Sanso still some five miles behind and to leeward, but the leading trio have now 57 miles in hand over Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel on Hugo Boss who, from their more northerly position are now bow down, sailing a more southerly course, converging with the leaders' tracks.


Groupe Bel. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget.

Ahead they have the high pressure system which is offering some slightly complex conditions and they will need their wits about them before another small depression sends them briskly on their way down the track.

The southern group have their work cut out, still in lighter upwind breezes in the transition zone on the edge of the high pressure. Somewhat painfully they have seen their arrears increase still more on the leaders who are on, or close to, course for Costa Rica.

Whimsical as ever, Foncia skipper Michel Desjoyeaux noted a temporary tenfold decrease in their breeze as they ran up against this area of variable winds, from 48 knots to 4.8 knots. In ninth Foncia is over 400 miles behind. A year ago to the day Desjoyeaux was 610 miles behind in the Vendée Globe after re-starting and still went on to win but...


The crew on Safran. Image copyright A. Courcoux.

Charles Caudrelier Bénac (FRA, Safran): “It's slamming still but much less than before. It is almost comfortable. I'm quite relieved now. I'm tired after what was a stressful phase. I've rarely seen such seas. If I had the choice I'd not do it again. During the night we were a bit cautious to set more sail and made sure to wait. It's been really different for three hours in fact. But it looks like the Bronx inside the boat, it could be better!

"Marc started to tidy up a bit when he was off watch, but we need to make a complete check over the boat to see that we don't have any damage, and we have some repairs to make. What has happened to some of the others is a reminder what we've been through and the boat will have suffered too. If this were a Vendée Globe maybe we'd struggle to finish it, but we are unscathed really and that's not always the way our luck runs. We could have pushed harder but we were careful. For the rest of the track I don't think it looks really too complicated to the West Indian section. I feel we have a good position compared to the remainder of the fleet. We'll slow a bit at the high but we have not really looked after the Antilles yet. But it is all going well.”

Transat Jacques Vabre

U.S. Women's National Match Racing Championships - Tunnicliffe Undefeated after Day 2

by Anna Tunnicliffe

We had a great day again today here in St Thomas at the US Women's Match Race National Championships. We completed the second round robin which consisted of seven races. We won all of our races, to extend our record to 14-0. Right behind us in second overall is fellow USSTAG teammate Genny Tulloch with 11-3 and Annie Gardner-Nelson in third with 8-6.

We woke up to beautiful conditions, and racing started just after 9am. We had shorter courses in the morning, and whipped out 4 races before noon. After lunch, the race course was lengthened to make for three more longer races. The race committee intended to do more races than just the three, but due to a collision that caused damage in another match, a re-sail had to be done, so we went in for the day while they made up that race.

Awaiting us at the yacht club, the members had set up snacks and cold drinks to replenish us after a hot and humid day of sailing. After the umpire debrief, we came back to the house in which we are staying, and swam in the pool to cool down before heading out for dinner.

Racing resumes tomorrow at 9am. The race committee intends to continue with the third round robin before starting the semi-final matches. The regatta ends on Sunday concluding with the rest of the semi's and then the finals. I

Anna Tunnicliffe
US Women's National Match Racing Championships

Telecom New Zealand Match Racing Championships - Jury & Corbett into the Finals

Jury and Corbett into Finals, Dickson and Sutherland into Petit-Finals


Laurie Jury's team. Left to right: Mike Edmonds, Logan Fraser, Rhys O'Cain, Matty Stuart & Laurie Jury. Image copyright RNZYS.


Reuben Corbett's team. Left to right: Miles Addy, Adrian Short, Reuben Corbett, Matt Randall, Aaron Reynolds. Image copyright RNZYS.

by Barry Davies

After Round Robin Two was completed this morning Graeme Sutherland still held the top spot with 17 points overall, and choose to sail fourth placed Reuben Corbett.
Chris Dickson moved into third place, and this left him to sail second placed Laurie Jury.

Jury and Dickson were up first in the first to win three race semi-finals, Jury just out-sailed Dickson to take three consecutive wins and claim his spot in the finals.

In the other semi final between Sutherland and Corbett the racing was extremely close and stretched right out to the final fifth race. Corbett won the first, Sutherland the second and the third and Corbett the fourth. It was tied at two races each so the fifth and final race would be the decider. Corbett started well just in front of Sutherland but towards the top mark Sutherland fought his was back and at the top mark Corbett rounded just in front.

It was again close at the bottom mark but Corbett held onto his narrow lead to round first. Up the second beat the two teams split tacks, Corbett heading in towards the Westhaven sea-wall and Sutherland out into the middle of the Waitemata and the stronger tide. Corbett was the most successful and had a nice 11 second lead at the top mark for the second time. Heading down on the final leg Sutherland gybed on top of Corbett to try and attack from behind but Corbett kept his composure and stayed inside his opponent to take the win and his place in the finals.


Graeme Sutherland's team. Left to Right: Graeme Sutherland, Stu Molloy, Brett Elliott, Josh Wilson & Nick Bastow. Image copyright RNZYS.

In the minor placing sail-offs, the battle of the youth teams between William Tiller representing the RNZYS Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme and Josh Junior and his young team from the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in Wellington, started with Tiller winning the first. Junior quickly bounced back to win the next two races and claim 5th place overall and win the ‘battle of the youth teams’.

In the 7th place sail offs was Mark Kroening versus the only international team representing the Wakayama Sailing Club helmed by Wataru Sakamoto. Sakamoto won the first race convincingly but Kroening bounced back to win the next two and claim 7th place overall.

This left the two remaining female teams in a sail off for ninth place overall. In the shifty and testing conditions Stephanie Hazard was too good for her main rival Samantha Osborne, and won the first two races to claim ninth place overall for the series.

Finals racing begins at 11am tomorrow (Sunday) morning, with Petit-Finals being the first to win two races and Finals being the first to win three races.

Saturday’s Results
Results Round Robin Two

Flight Ten
Junior beat Corbett by 3s
Dickson beat Kroening by 48s
Sutherland beat Hazard by 6s
Sakamoto beat Osborne by 15s
Jury beat Tiller by 1m58s

Flight Eleven
Sakamoto beat Hazard
Smyth beat Kroening
Sutherland beat Osborne
Junior beat Tiller
Jury beat Corbett

Double Round Robin Points Table
1. Sutherland 17pts
2. Jury 15pts
3. Dickson 14pts
4. Corbett 14pts
5. Tiller 12pts
6. Junior 11.5pts*
7. Kroening 7pts
8. Sakamoto 6pts
9. Hazard 6pts
10. Osborne 5pts
11. Smyth 2pts
*0.5 points deducted for damage

Sail-offs
5th place sail off
Tiller beat Junior by 4s
Junior beat Tiller by 36s
Junior beat Tiller by 58s

7th place sail off
Sakamoto beat Kroening by 16s
Kroening beat Sakamotoby 6s
Kroening beat Sakamoto by 30s

9th place sail off
Hazard beat Osborne by 33s
Hazard beat Osborne by 9s

Semi-Final 1
Jury beat Dickson by 3s
Jury beat Dickson by 17s
Jury beat Dickson by 6s

Semi-Final 2
Corbett beat Sutherland by 7s
Sutherland beat Corbett by 33s
Sutherland beat Corbett by 2s
Corbett beat Sutherland by 2s
Corbett beat Sutherland by 13s



Final Placings
5th Josh Junior (Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club)
6th William Tiller (RNZYS Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme)
7th Mark Kroening (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron)
8th Wataru Sakamoto (Wakayama Sailing Club)
9th Stephanie Hazard (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron)
10th Samantha Osborne (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron)
11th Jessica Smyth (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron)

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron