Azzurra scored another victory, this time against ALL4ONE. Image copyright Staffano Gattini.
by Jill Campbell
Italian team Azzurra has had another positive day in the Louis Vuitton Trophy with a fifth victory out of six match races sailed. The point gained against All4One (FRA-GER) today brings Azzurra up to second place in the provisional rankings behind undefeated Emirates Team New Zealand although with a match in hand over third-placed Team Origin. With only four more match races scheduled to bring this first Round Robin to a close, Azzurra counts among the strongest teams.
Azzurra vs All4One: The teams chose a split tack at the start which saw Azzurra ease over the line ahead of the French-German team with skipper Jochen Schuemann and helmsman Sebastien Col. Azzurra lost their lead in a tacking duel on the upwind leg and rounded the first mark approximately 30 seconds behind All4One. Col then decided to leave Azzurra to her own devices and the Italians flew downwind in very light air to arrive at the gate 1 minute and 22 seconds ahead. The Italian team led by Sicilian Francesco Bruni built on their lead to cross the finish line 1 minute 56 seconds ahead of the French-German alliance.
“We really had to work hard for this victory.” Admitted helmsman Francesco Bruni. “The conditions were very shifty and it was difficult to make decisions. The team once again did excellent work on every manoeuvre and I am really satisfied with how this first Round Robin has gone, even if tomorrow’s match with Team Origin will be decisive for the rankings.”
In the day’s other races Emirates Team New Zealand beat BMW Oracle; Artemis took victory over TeamOrigin and Synergy beat TFS – Pages Jaunes.
Thursday’s Races
1: ETNZ beat Bmw Oracle
2: Artemis beat TeamOrigin
3: Synergy beat TFS Pages Jaunes
4: Azzurra beatAll4One
Provisional Rankings Wins/Losses
EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND 6/0
AZZURRA 5/1
TEAMORIGIN 4/1
ARTEMIS 3/3
BMW ORACLE RACING 2/3
SYNERGY RUSSIAN SAILING TEAM 2/4
ALL4ONE (Host Team) 2/5
TFS - PAGES JAUNES 0/7
Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy
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