LVT: Five Wins in a Row for ETNZ

Emirates Team NZ leads Azzurra up the beat. Image copyright Chris Cameron/ETNZ.

by Warren Douglas

Emirates Team New Zealand has made it five wins in five races to consolidate its place at the top of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland leader board.

The margin against the Italian team Azzurra may have been 42 sec at the finish, but the race was not without drama for Dean Barker and his crew.

Rounding the first windward mark with a comfortable 50sec lead, ETNZ broke the spinnaker pole at the hoist and completed both downwind legs without one.


Spinnaker pole issues for Emirates Team NZ. Image copyright Chris Cameron/ETNZ.

Azzurra crossed the finish line and dropped their spinnaker in the water. It wrapped around the keel and was damaged. Sail makers at the Emirates Team New Zealand sail loft said it would take at least 20 man hours to repair. But first the sail has to dry and that could take three to four hours. Four sail makers will work into the night.

In the boat shed, work started this afternoon repairing the third spinnaker pole to be broken this regatta. Boat builders say it takes about 14 hours to repair a spinnaker pole and it “cooks” fur 12 hour before it’s strong enough to use.

Unbeaten in the round robin, Emirates Team New Zealand on five points is alone at the top of the leader board.

Each team has two more races in the round robin.

Dean Barker describes the race:

“We had a clear game plan to start in the left and protect the left side of the course on the first beat. We managed to force a split tack start, ETNZ on starboard at the pin and Azzurra on port at the committee-boat end."

The boats separated to more than a kilometre – Azzurra to the right and ETNZ to the left. At the first cross towards the top mark, Barker and sfterguard were rewarded with a 7 – 8 boat-length lead, which at the mark translated to 50sec.

Rounding the mark, they set up for a gybe-set. “It’s a routine manoeuvre and we’re still not sure the cause of the problem, but it might have been a jam in the halyard. The tip-end of the pole went into the water; the pole went into the shrouds and snapped.

“We recovered well. The boys retrieved the pole and stowed it safely.

“From then,” Barker said, “we sailed a strong race and were never really threatened.”

Sunday’s 18th man was All Black Dan Carter.


ETNZ versus Azzurra in the pre-start. Image copyright Chris Cameron/ETNZ.

Sunday’s results
ALL4ONE beat Aleph by 1m7s
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Azzurra by 42s
TEAMORIGIN beat Synergy by 1m18s
Mascalzone Latino beat Artemis by 1m03s

Leader Board after five flights
EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND - 5
ALL4ONE - 3
AZZURRA - 3
MASCALZONE LATINO AUDI TEAM - 3
TEAMORIGIN - 3
ARTEMIS - 2
ALEPH SAILING TEAM - 0*
SYNERGY RUSSIAN SAILING TEAM - 0
* ALEPH has lost one point due to a penalty

Emirates Team NZ
Louis Vuitton Trophy

LVT: Azzurra Loses Awaited Match Against Home Team

Azzurra racing on the Waitemata in the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.

by Jill Campbell

The team Azzurra of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda Sunday faced Emirates Team New Zealand, the home team and favourite of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland. In the most awaited match of the day Francesco Bruni and his team were unable to conquer this coveted point. The New Zealanders were able to strike their revenge against team Azzurra, who had defeated Emirates Team New Zealand by 2:0 in the finals of the last Louis Vuitton Trophy held in Nice, France, last November.

Sunday’s match was held in a very shifty breeze which compromised the performance of Azzurra right from the start. After a split-tack start with the Italians to the right and the Kiwis to the left, Azzurra with Tommaso Chieffi calling tactics, sailed into the right-hand corner of the course, while their rivals went to the left. The oscillating breeze went back and forth, favouring one team first then the other but when the two boats had a lateral separation of over 1km, the wind shifted all the way to the left, leaving the Italian crew trailing at the first mark rounding. In the spinnaker hoist, the Kiwis made the same mistake that yesterday forced the Swedish of Artemis to retire from the match against Azzurra, but the breakage of the spinnaker pole didn’t affect much the performance of Emirates Team New Zealand. The Kiwi crew was able to keep their rivals under tight control and conquer its fifth consecutive win.

With two flights still to go in this Round Robin, Emirates Team New Zealand is the only team yet to lose and leads the overall scorings at five points. Azzurra ends the day at three points, together with All4One, Mascalzone Latino Audi Team and Team Origin.

Francesco Bruni is clearly disappointed of having lost against the home team and admitted of having had some trouble in the start, but repeated that the key objective for his team is to learn: “today we wanted the left but I wasn’t able to get it since the Kiwis pinned me down too early. I found myself a bit at a loss and was forced to take the right. Then the wind shifted all the way to the left helping our rivals. Anyway, it’s better to make mistakes against Emirates Team New Zealand now rather than later in the series. We always knew that this Round Robin was going to serve as training ground for us. The format enables us to carry on and our priority is to learn.”

In the other matches of the day, the French-Germans of All4One (skipper Jochen Schümann) beat the French of Aleph (skipper Bertrand Pace); the British of Team Origin (skipper Ben Ainslie) defeated the Russians of Synergy (skipper Karol Jablonski) and the Italians of Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (skipper Gavin Brady) beat the Swedes of Artemis (skipper Paul Cayard).


Azzurra Vs Emirates Team New Zealand at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.

Sunday the 18th man on Azzurra was the CEO of Mirsky Racing Team, a young sailing team led by Australian skipper Torvar Mirsky who is currently second in the World Match Racing Tour rankings. Francesco Bruni, too, competes with team Azzurra in this important circuit, having won the title of Tour Card Holder for the 2010 season, together with eight other skippers. Competing on this circuit is part of the long-term plan of team Azzurra which sees these regattas as a great training opportunity.

Key figures in match racing competitions, including the Louis VuittonTrophy, are the “umpires”, who can inflict penalties without possibility of appeal. The umpires are part of the strong contingent of race officials, volunteers and marshalls (whose job is to position the marks and control the spectator boats) that each day goes to sea with the racing crews, for a total of approximately 55 people. Match racing has very different dynamics and rules than traditional fleet raci ng. Marco Mercuriali is the rule advisor for the Azzurra team here in Auckland. Mercuriali knows very well the spirit and philosophy of this team and of Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, having competed with the first Italian America’s challenger Azzurra in 1983 as a grinder.

Monday Azzurra will face the other Italian team Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, led by America’s Cup and match race veteran Gavin Brady (NZL) with Morgan Larson (USA) calling the tactics. Monday the teams expect strong winds starting at 18-24 knots in the morning and increasing to 26-30 in the afternoon.

On the Azzurra website www.azzurra.it you can follow the race with live TV coverage (with a replay option), listen to the interviews, read the comments of the day and keep up to date with the news flash. The Azzurra Facebook page currently has over 6,200 fans which are increasing day by day.

Results after 5 matches
ALEPH Sailing Team (France) 0
All4One (France/Germany) 3
Artemis (Sweden) 2
Azzurra (Italy) 3
Emirates Team New Zealand 5
Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (Italy) 3
Synergy Russian Sailing Team (Russia) 0
TEAMORIGIN (Great Britain) 3

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

About Azzurra

Azzurra takes its name from the first Italian challenger to the America’s Cup which was launched by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in 1983. Azzurra finished third in the challenger series in Newport, RI, USA. The YCCS acted as Challenger of Record for the 1987 America’s Cup in Fremantle, Australia. Riccardo Bonadeo, Commodore of the YCCS and President of the current Azzurra consortium was also at the head of the Azzurra challenge in 1983. The new team Azzurra, launched in October 2009, arose from the collaboration between the YCCS and Giovannni Maspero; the team is led by skipper and helmsman Francesco Bruni, supported by tactician Tommaso Chieffi. Francesco Bruni has taken part in two America's Cups and three Olympic Games. Tommaso Chieffi is also one of the best Italian racing yachtsmen, with four America’s Cup and one Olympic Games to his credit. The rest of the crew is made up by match race, America’s Cup and one-design sailors.

About the YCCS

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda was founded in 1967 by H.H. the Aga Khan, Andrè Ardoin, Giuseppe Kerry Mentasti and Luigi Vietti as a non-profit sporting association for fellow sailing enthusiasts. The YCCS is renowned for organizing international sailing events such as the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the Sardinia Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup and in 2009 completed one of its busiest seasons – including two ISAF world championships, the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship and the Audi Melges 32 World Championship and three events for super yachts (Dubois Cup, Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta and Perini Navi Cup) in addition to the 20th edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. In 2002 the YCCS competed in the Volvo Ocean Race with Team Nautor Challenge, supported by YCCS member Leonardo Ferragamo, with Grant Dalton and Lisa McDonald as skippers of the two boats Amer Sport One and Too, the latter with an entirely female crew. In the past the Club ha s also promoted international challenges such as Azzurra and the motor yacht Destriero, which to this day holds the transatlantic crossing record set in 1992. The Club’s members currently number more than 500.

Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy

LVT: A Win and Extra Point for TEAMORIGIN Closes Up the Scoreboard

Four Teams Now Tied on 3 Points Each Will Lead to a Thrilling Last Two days for the Round Robin


TEAMORIGIN had a close tussle with the Russians on Synergy on Sunday. Image copyright Ian Roman/TEAMORIGIN.

by Leslie Greenhalgh

TEAMORIGIN won their race Sunday against the Russian Synergy team in an exciting race that was close until the Russians experienced a spinnaker drop problem leaving Ben Ainslie and the British team to take a comfortable win.

In the other races today, the all-French derby between ALL4ONE (FRA/GER) and Aleph (FRA) led to a win for ALL4ONE giving them a solid 3 wins and 2 losses so far. An exciting race between Emirates Team New Zealand and Azzurra, currently the top ranked teams on the leaderboard and the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice finalists saw the Kiwis prevail despite them breaking a spinnaker pole during the race and managing to keep the lead and win by 42 seconds. In the final race of the day, the race between Artemis and Mascalzone Latino provided thrilling excitement to the end, the Swedes incurred a penalty and waited right until the finish line to do their turn, allowing Mascalzone to take an important race win.

Start gun for the third race for TEAMORIGIN was fired at 1315 with 16-18 knots reported on the race course. As the two teams approached the line, Synergy came in from behind at pace and tried to put pressure the British team, they both split tacks just off the line with TEAMORIGIN taking a small jump and heading out to the favoured right hand side. Synergy kept pace well as they headed out to the left.

The course area today had placed the Bean Rock lighthouse right in middle of the course with a ‘restricted zone’ around that area. This lead to Synergy having to tack across to avoid the restricted area. At the first cross with TEAMORIGIN on starboard, it was pretty close but TEAMORIGIN had a narrow lead and was holding most of the cards as they tacked back to their right side. Synergy was then not able to tack away because of the ‘no-go’ zone of Bean Rock. This manoeuvre further benefitted the British team as they managed to box out the Russians. Both boats tacked onto the layline with Synergy managing initially to hold on to the weather hip of TEAMRIGIN but they were eventually squeezed out by bad air from TEAMORIGIN.

At first windward mark, TEAMORIGIN headed round first with 12 seconds lead.

Both teams executed bear away hoists but there was a small twist on the gennaker of Synergy. The two teams did a simultaneous gybe and Synergy was trying hard to cast some wind shadow on TEAMORIGIN as they headed downwind. The breeze was up to 15/16 knots but quite flukey so pretty hard conditions to read. TEAMORIGIN sailed smartly to extend to a three length lead, keeping clear ahead but covering their opponent.

At the bottom mark Synergy executed a pour drop being set up for the wrong mark and could not get their kite down. The Russians had to sail past the mark before they sorted themselves out and by then TEAMORIGIN’s lead was 48 seconds.

Up the second beat, TEAMORIGIN kept their cool and sailed smartly and safely, the audio onboard enabling the spectators to hear the smooth and streamlined communications on the boat and between the crew. By the second windward mark, Ben Ainslie’s lead had extended to 1 min and 7 seconds. The last downwind leg went without incident and TEAMORIGIN took the win by 1 minute and 18 seconds – now giving them 3 wins and 2 losses on the scoreboard.


TEAMORIGIN wins against Synergy. Image copyright Ian Roman/TEAMORIGIN.

There are two more races in this Round Robin with TEAMORIGIN still to race Artemis and Mascalzone Latino. ETNZ have an undefeated score line with 5 wins but 4 teams now all have 3 wins and 3 points on the board so there is a close battle on for the second golden ticket spot.

Kelvin Harrap, TEAMORIGIN Afterguard Coach, commented after the race, “We got the basics right today, we were in control by the top corner of the first beat, the crew work was smooth and efficient and all went according to plan. Now we need to focus on winning our next two races to finish the round robin in the best possible position.”


Crew work on TEAMORIGIN. Image copyright Ian Roman/TEAMORIGIN.

Race results Saturday:
Race 1: All4One (FRA) beat Aleph (FRA): 1m 6s
Race 2 : ETNZ (NZL) beat Azzurra (ITA): 42s
Race 3: TEAMORIGIN (GBR) beat Synergy (RUS) : 1m 18s
Race 4: Mascalzone Latino (ITA) beat Artemis by 1min 3s

Race wins/losses/points after day 5 of racing:
1st : ETNZ 5 wins/0 losses 5
2nd : Azzurra 3 wins/2 losses 3
2nd : TEAMORIGIN 3 wins/2 losses 3
2nd : ALL4ONE 3 wins/2 losses 3
2nd : Mascalzone 3 win/2 losses 3
6th : Artemis 2 wins/3 losses 2
7th: Aleph* 1 wins/4 losses 0
7th: Synergy 0 wins/5 losses 0
*docked 1 point for collision

Race schedule for Monday 15th March, is as follows:
Race 1: ETNZ (NZL) vs Aleph (FRA)
Race 2 : TEAMORIGIN vs Artemis (SWE)
Race 3: Mascalzone (ITA) vs Azzurra (ITA)
Race 4: Synergy vs All4One (FRA)

LVT: Third Win for ALL4ONE - against Aleph this time - in Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland!

ALL4ONE versus Aleph at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland. Image copyright Frank Socha/www.franksocha.com

by Stephanie Nadin

ALL4ONE Sunday won its match against Aleph (5th match of the Round Robin), which allows the French-German team to get a 3rd point on its scoreboard.

A point that the team had to win to continue its nice progression in the competition, where it has two important matches remaining to be raced to finish the Round Robin (one tomorrow against Synergy and one on Tuesday against Artemis).

This time, Sebastien Col managed to take the team to the right of the race course, according to the strategy that the afterguard had decided for Sunday.

After a long leg after the start on the right, ALL4ONE came back to make the first cross in front of Aleph, sending them back to the left side of the race course by then.

ALL4ONE then continued to control the right side of the race course, using the wind shifts, so that the French-German team managed to take an important advantage which grew even bigger at the end of the first upwind leg, after having pushed Aleph to do two more tacks.

ALL4ONE rounded the first mark 30 seconds ahead.

The team continued to increase its advantage while controlling Aleph all along the race, and ALL4ONE crossed the finish line 1 minute and 6 seconds ahead.


ALL4ONE at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland. Image copyright Frank Socha/www.franksocha.com

Jochen Schümann, Skipper and Sports Director for ALL4ONE: "All these races are very tough. And I think that in contradiction to yesterday's race against Emirates Team New Zealand, this was an important race because we had to make this point for the overall result. That's why we had a clear plan to start with speed and stay out of trouble with them so that we have a race over the whole length of the course, and I think we really fulfilled our plan there: full speed start, sailing on the lifted tack first, then we had a little gain already which made the race looking very easy from the outside, but we sailed well the shifts and we kept gaining and gaining, so very good race wise. Everyone feels more confident; every race here is kind of a practice for us. That's the same for all the teams. I think the quality of racing gets higher and higher, and I guess the guys that didn't do that many points probably also get more aggressive each race so, the intensity of racing increases."

ALL4ONE will race against Russian team Synergy Monday for its 6th match in the Round Robin.

RESULTS DAY 5
Race 1: ALL4ONE wins by 1'06 sec over Aleph
Race 2: Emirates Team New Zealand wins by 42 sec over Azzurra
Race 3: TeamOrigin wins by 1'18 sec over Synergy
Race 4: Mascalzone Latino Audi Team wins by 1'03 sec over Artemis

ALL4ONE
Louis Vuitton Trophy

LVT: Hungry pack fights for top place at Louis Vuitton Trophy

Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand went unbeaten, while Paul Cayard and Artemis lost a vital match on a penalty call in an action-packed day of racing during the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Auckland


Approaching the weather mark, ALL4ONE leads Aleph. Image copyright Bob Grieser/www.outsideimages.co.nz/Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland.

by Keith Taylor

With just two days of racing remaining before the end of the round robin, a hungry pack of four teams is in equal second place, each with three points and fighting to catch the thus-far unbeatable Kiwis. They are All4One, representing Germany and France, Azzurra and Mascalzone Latino Audi Team from Italy and the British-based TEAMORIGIN.

Conditions were ideal for racing with almost flat water and a southerly breeze that ranged from 12 to 20 knots with some big shifts and puffs. Peter Reggio’s race committee from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron got off four races with time to spare even after pauses for boat repairs and commercial shipping.

Emirates got an extra share of the limelight today when it hosted All Black rugby football star Dan Carter as 18th man, and when it broke a spinnaker pole during a hoist, the third fracture in the regatta in as many days. The Kiwis shrugged it off, losing only a few seconds in their match against Azzurra and setting their spinnaker without a pole.


Spinnaker pole breaks on Emirates Team New Zealand - but they still win, again. Image copyright Bob Grieser/www.outsideimages.co.nz/Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland.

Carter put in a lot of extra time comparing rugby to sailing action for the media microphones and signing autographs for the crowd that gathered in the Louis Vuitton Village in Market Square when he came ashore. His verdict? He was impressed by the teamwork and amazed at the intensity of the sounds of a Cup boat complaining under full load.

Speaking of the penalty against Artemis, Gavin Brady, the Kiwi skipper of Mascalzone Latino Audi Team. “It (the penalty) was out there for the taking and it’s nice that it landed on our plate!”

Brady said that about 35 seconds was needed on the short courses of the Louis Vuitton Trophy for a team to exonerate itself with a penalty turn. The other boat had only to stay close to guarantee a win. After the start and while they were racing it was vital not to be lured into a penalty situation that would cancel the first.

“You’ve got to get on the right hand side of them and get starboard and it’s hard for the umpires to give you a penalty,” he said. “It was simple for us after that. We just had to watch for all the traps. I could see Terry and Paul looking back. They made it pretty clear when they were both looking back at me like hawks.”

Race One: All4One, def. ALEPH, 01:06 – The breeze was 14 knots from the south, sou-west as the all-French team of ALEPH met the German/French All4One. After an intense pre-start in which Bertrand Pacé at the wheel of ALEPH attempted to get a hook on his opponent, it was the combined team steered by Frenchman Sébastien Col that grabbed control of the right as the boats split at the start. On the first cross All4One led narrowly and ALEPH had to duck but that was as close as she got. Bolstered by the local knowledge of her Kiwi tactician John Cutler, All4One extended her control. “Our start strategy was to stay to the right of our opponent but the first thing we wanted was to be going full speed when the gun went,” Cutler said. “We started on port which was the lifted tack. That took a bit of pressure off us. We just had to wait for the next shift to come our way. When we crossed, Sébastien did a very nice job on a slam dunk on Bertrand Pacé and we were again on a very nice shift. The leader had the option to sail on the wind shifts and the trailing boat really didn’t have a lot of choice.” With yesterday’s Umpire decision, penalising them one point, ALEPH shares the bottom of the table with zero points.

Race Two: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Azzurra, 00:42 – This was the opportunity for Italy’s Azzurra team skippered by Francesco Bruni to level the points lead with Emirates Team New Zealand if they won. Dean Barker’s host team offered the Italians a slender opportunity when they broke their spinnaker pole at the first weather mark but it was still a one-sided match. Riding as 18th man on ETNZ, New Zealand rugby star player Dan Carter got a close up view of Barker’s surgical tactics before the start. Barker wanted the left and fought for it. The Kiwis got under the transom of the Italian boat to control them before the gun, then headed out to the left at speed while Bruni could only tack away and go right. They were 1,000 metres apart on the short harbour course before the Italians came back to trail by eight boat lengths at the first mark. The Kiwis showed a crack in their impeccable crew work as the spinnaker pole end dropped overboard at the hoist and broke as it wrapped around the shrouds. But the chute went up as planned and they sailed both runs with the spinnaker clipped to the bow. The finish delta was 42 seconds and the Azzurra team drowned their spinnaker, if not their disappointment, when they trawled it overboard while dropping after the finish.

Race Three: TEAMORIGIN def. Synergy Russian Sailing team, 01:18 – Karol Jablonski, Polish skipper of the Russian boat, has a reputation as a tenacious and sometimes unconventional starter, as Ben Ainslie and the British TEAMORIGIN crew were reminded today. Jablonski had the favoured starboard tack entry and after losing a preliminary pre-start skirmish he was able to grab control and start where he wanted on the left and force Ainslie away. The expected left shift never really materialized and the British boat led when they first closed tacks. Jablonski kept in touch around the first two legs and the Russians only trailed by four boat lengths at the end of the first run. Problems getting the spinnaker down cost them heavily and the British boat had a 400 metre margin at the finish.

Race Four: Mascalzone Latino Audi Def Artemis, 01:03 – The pre-start struggle saw Paul Cayard’s Artemis, steered by Terry Hutchinson, penalized for gybing too close. Cayard was blunt. “It was not, in my opinion, a foul!” Brady, steering ML Audi, saw it differently. “In this game the rules are pretty strict and we’ve got umpires watching us. He couldn’t quite get his boat onto starboard. He was desperately trying to but the rules of sailing say the sail has to be set and he couldn’t get his sail through (in time).” Artemis led off the line to control the first beat and was leading by less than a boat length at the top mark until a very untidy situation on ML Audi when the spinnaker flew loose from the tack. Brady’s boat lost five boat lengths but pulled it back on the subsequent legs to overtake Artemis on the last run, surviving an Artemis protest as they sailed through the Swedish boat’s lee. They came to the line together with ML Audi one length clear ahead. The finish delta after the Artemis penalty turn stretched out to 1:03.

Provisional leaderboard after Flight Five:

1. Emirates Team New Zealand, 5-0, 5 pts
=2. All4One, 3-2, 3 pts
=2. Azzurra, 3-2, 3 pts
=2. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 3-2, 3 pts
=2. TEAMORIGIN, 3-2, 3 pts
6. Artemis, 2-3, 2 pts
7. ALEPH Sailing Team, 1-4, 0 pts *
8. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 0-5, 0 pts

*Penalty point deducted

LIVE Sport Sailing 103.0 FM is featuring all-day live coverage of the Louis Vuitton Trophy. On television, during the seven days of the round robin, TVNZ is carrying nightly reports on its sports news. From March 16, during the elimination rounds, TVNZ will feature nightly half-hour reports. For the finals on 20th and 21st March there will be live coverage of the racing from noon to 4:00pm.

Louis Vuitton Trophy

Day Six Report from PUMA International Moth Worlds

Simon Payne (GBR) still on top going into the final day


The fleet at the PUMA Moth Worlds in ´Day 6. Image copyright Th. Martinez/Sea&Co.

by Bridgid Murphy

Three races were held Saturday for the Puma Moth World Championships in more light winds off the coast of Dubai Offshore Sailing Club. Along with most of the competition, UAE resident Glenn Raphael has been surprised by the light conditions this week. "It's pretty testing out there. Most of our training has been in the 12-15 knot range, and we've just had very little practice in these conditions," said Raphael. "Still, I'm having fun and that's what really matters."

With only one day remaining, Simon Payne (GBR) tripled his three point lead from yesterday over Brad Funk (USA). "It's damned hard work, and I guess I've got a good lead but I can't seem to win a race out there," said Payne, regarding his performance. "I'll look at the board, won't be doing anything differently, maybe have a few beers, read my book, then go to bed."

Funk, who earned two come-from-behind, first-place finishes for the day had a 13th in the second race, making Payne's lead all-but untouchable barring catastrophe.


Brad Funk (USA), Anna Tunnicliffe's husband, on Day 6 of the PUMA Moth Worlds. Image copyright Th. Martinez/Sea&Co.

Andrew McDougall (AUS) continued his strong performance with a decisive victory in race two, lifting him over Arnaud Psarofaghis (SUI) for the final spot on the podium with just two races left in the 2010 championship. Psarofaghis had a disappointing performance, his worst of the week, with a 17th and a 15th on Saturday.

Amazingly, the first and third-place racers are among the oldest in the fleet. Payne (45) explains that "age isn't a barrier unless you think it is. You've got to stay fit and do your own thing and you can do well,”he said. "Who says this is a young man's game?" said McDougall. "Our average age is 50 years old, and we're not getting any slower either."

After making major changes to his boat, top level pro sailor George “Bear” Peet (USA) had his best day of this championship with two solid top ten finishes, but he remained baffled by the conditions. "There's no rhyme or reason to the wind. You can sail 20 degrees higher and faster than a guy 10 feet away from you. It'll make you go crazy.” With so much experience in sailing other classes he explains that “Moth sailing requires every aspect of your sailing ability to be at the top if you want to do well in this class. It's made me so much better in my other sailing."

In the women’s division, Emma Aspington (SWE) has opened up a 17 point lead over Kirsten Sommer (UAE). As the event has progressed both have gotten quite a bit faster. "This is one of the best regattas I've ever been to in any class. The people are so nice and helpful but it is still extremely competitive,” said Aspinton. These women have been sailing impressively consistently finishing in the middle of the men’s fleet.

Two races are scheduled for Sunday, the final day of the 2010 Puma Moth World Championship.

PUMA Ocean Racing

2nd for Osborne and crew in Women’s Match Race Regatta

The New Zealand Women’s Match-Racing team of Samantha Osborne, Raynor Smeal and Keryn Henderson (pictured below) have finished in second place at the 2010 Harken Women’s International Match Racing Regatta in Sydney, Australia


Samatha Osborne and crew in action at the Harken Women's International Match Racing Regatta. Image copyright Andrea Francolini.

by Jodie Bakewell-White

The kiwis won their semi-final against Olivia Price and crew who were sailing on home waters, by 2-0, and went on to face another Sydney team led by Lucinda Whitty in the final of the Harken Women’s Match-Racing Regatta. Whitty and crew took the regatta win with a 3-0 victory in the final, but the official report explains it was no easy win for the Aussies.

“Three closely fought matches against Samantha Osborne later, Whitty was declared the winner of the Harken Women’s International Match Racing Regatta. It was the last match of the day that had everyone talking. Whitty and Osborne displayed some of the best match racing skills and tactics; using obstructions on the course and ‘dummy tacks’ to try to outwit each other. Whitty was to win by only seven seconds after a tight spinnaker run to the finish line.”

“It was a shifty day out on the Sydney harbour and racing was close,” reports the kiwi team after racing concluded yesterday.

“For us, it's now back home where we will be training for the next month before heading overseas for our next World Cup event in Hyeres, France.”

Ten teams were competing at the ISAF Grade 3 event including four from New Zealand, five Australian teams and one from the USA. Next best placed of the kiwi teams was Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Kat Stroinovsky.

New Zealand’s Final Placings

2nd Samantha Osborne, Raynor Smeal & Keryn Henderson
5th Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen & Kat Stroinovsky
6th Danielle Bowater, Bianca Cook, Hannah Osborne & Katie de Lange
9th Anita Trudgen, Hana Maguire, Hannah Scott-Mackie & Heather Trudgen

Yachting New Zealand
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia