LVPS: BMW ORACLE Racing Keep Tight Control in Tricky Conditions

BMW ORACLE Racing sails against Damiani Italia Challenge. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.

by Jane Eagleson

BMW ORACLE Racing added another point to its tally in the Gold Fleet of the Louis Vuitton Pacific series today after leading from start to finish in their match against the Damiani Italia team.

The race took place in light conditions of less than 10 knots after a two hour delay while the Race Committee waited for sufficient breeze to build. Before the yachts left the dock, Vasco Vascotto took one look at the lightwind conditions and smiled. "Racing in this Gold Fleet is tough, but the conditions today are Italian conditions," he said. "Let's go."

In the start, BMW ORACLE Racing entered with the starboard advantage, but the Italian team were able to sail deep into the box and avoid a dial-up by crossing ahead on port tack. Both yachts battled to gain control of the right hand side of the startline, but, with 1 minute to the gun Russell Coutts and the BMW ORACLE Racing crew had established a powerful position. Holding head to wind, BMW ORACLE Racing had the Italian yacht pinned to windward and above the starboard layline into the start.

In the final countdown, BMW ORACLE Racing bore off and built speed, leaving the Italian team no alternative but to follow clear astern. As they crossed the line, BMW ORACLE Racing already held a two boatlength lead. "Russell did a great job at the start," said tactician Hamish Pepper. "That certainly made it easier to gain control of the race straight away.

"The wind was very shifty and puffy. It was tough. The Italain crew did a good job of keeping it tight and I guess we did a nice job of retaining control. We played it fairly safe and did not extend. We let them come back to us from time to time, but always kept control and the power of the right."

All the way around the course, BMW ORACLE Racing maintained a close cover over their Italian rivals with the lead extending and diminishing as each team made gains and losses. However, the Italian crew were never able to seriously threaten the overall lead, trailing by 10 seconds at the first mark, by 18 seconds at the second, 47 seconds at the third and 26 seconds at the finish.

Other Gold Fleet results:
Team Origin beat Luna Rossa Challenge
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Alinghi, who declined to sail the match

In the Silver Fleet:
Greek Challenge beat Team Shosholozas
China Team beat Pataugas K-Challenge

BMW ORACLE Racing

LVPS: Damiani Italia Challenge Lose to BMW ORACLE Racing

"Keep concentrating"


Damiani Italia Challenge against the backdrop of Auckland's Sky Tower. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Damiani Italia Challenge.

by Gabriele Cutini (in translation)

On the third day of racing in the second round robin of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series the second consecutive defeat arrived for Damiani Italia Challenge. Vasco Vascotto's crew was up against BMW ORACLE Racing, which had on board the five times winner of the America's Cup, Russell Coutts, and the former Star world champion, Hamish Pepper.

The match was disputed in light winds. The Italian team paid heavily for a small mistake of evaluation in their actual position with respect to the starting line. In comparison with Russell Coutts, Damiani Italia Challenge began the race three boatlengths in arrears.

Despite the significant separation, the Bruni-Vascotto duo attacked and recovered a lot of the ground on the beat.

Unfortunately, because of a halyard that slowed down the gennaker hoist, BMW Oracle Racing returned to sail faster almost immediately. From that moment every effort of the Italians was in vain and the race concluded with the men of Larry Ellison ahead by a handful of seconds.

Tomorrow, there are matches between Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing, Damiani Italy Challenge and Luna Rossa Challenge, today beaten by just 4 seconds by Team Origin. The match between the two Italian teams will be fascinating.

Michele Paoletti, of Damiani Italia Challenge: "At the start we did make strategic mistakes. In the first meeting on the beat we tucked in beneath them. Tomorrow's race: the match against Luna Rossa will be very important for our overall result. The all-Italian duel always carries a special glamour, in addition".

Damiani Italia Challenge

LVPS: No Gain Only Risk for Alinghi Against Emirates Team New Zealand

by Daphne Morgan-Barnicoat

Alinghi has chosen not to race Match 5 of Day 3 of the Round Robin 2 against Emirates Team New Zealand. The way the event is structured races against TNZ don’t count in Round Robin 2, however hard contact penalties can result in a deduction of points [as in the BMW Oracle vs. TeamOrigin match on 6 Feb]. With a competitive elimination round coming up in the next few days Alinghi had everything to lose and nothing to gain in racing the home team Emirates Team New Zealand.

Ed Baird, Alinghi helmsman, explains the decision: “We are loving this event, the racing has been great and the summer conditions have been fantastic. It is great that we can all be back on the water together again. Normally we would jump at the chance to sail against Team New Zealand as we have so many times in the past, so we are sorry to have to make this difficult strategic choice.

“The reality is that there is no upside for us and only bad things that can happen if we have any kind of incident or contact. As a group we talked this through and decided that it didn’t make sense to take that risk after yesterday’s docking of points to both BMW Oracle Racing and TeamOrigin. It’s clear that the event is serious about avoiding close incidents and if we are going to take a risk, it’s going to be in a race that counts.”

We look forward to the match against BMW Oracle Racing tomorrow and to continuing this event.

Alinghi

LVPS: Alinghi No Show in Emirates Team New Zealand Match

by Warren Douglas

Emirates Team New Zealand’s match against Alinghi did not go ahead today when Alinghi did not turn up for the start.

Dean Barker and his crew started the match by themselves and race management awarded the race to ETNZ when it was obvious Alinghi was not going to race.

Skipper Dean Barker said he was stunned by the no-show. “I was disgusted. The racing has been close, competitors are enjoying themselves and the public are being treated to some great sailing. Why would they introduce a niggle into a very successful regatta?

“It’s all about the spirit of the event. It’s all about doing whats right for yachting. Their action was insulting and disrespectful to our team and to the New Zealand people.

“We were really wanting to race them today, the first time since July 2007.

“We don’t know what their agenda is. If they were taking a swipe at us they missed the target and whacked the thousands of New Zealand yachting fans who are following the action in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series and wanted to see two great teams go head to head.

“It inexplicable when the team pulls a stunt like this. It’s just bad sportsmanship.”

Earlier, Alinghi told regatta management that they would not race against ETNZ because they disagreed with a regatta rule which was written specifically to deter teams from actions that might cause a collision while racing. With only four yachts in the fleet, a collision that disabled a yacht even for a few hours would have a serious impact on the regatta.

Grant Dalton said: “The rule allows the race committee to deduct a point from a team found to be at fault in a hard contact. In the second round robin, races against Emirates Team New Zealand do not carry points as all other races do. This is to prevent any chance that a result in a match involving ETNZ could skew the final standings in the round robin.”

Dalton said: “ETNZ goes straight through to the final. We did not want there to be any chance that we could influence which teams emerged on top.”

Alinghi's position was that they could lose a point if found to have caused an impact, but not earn a point by winning. Therefore why take the risk?

Dean Barker’s answer to that: “They obviously haven’t done the maths. If they had raced us today and they had lost a point because of a collision, then won their next two races, they would have finished the round robin on equal points with Oracle. A count back would decide the winner.”

Dalton said the other teams in the gold fleet of round robin 2 were happy with the rule. “We will be out tomorrow racing against Team Origin. On Monday we’re up against BMW Oracle.”

Racing was delayed today by a lack of breeze. Races one and two finished successfully, but three and four were abandoned. The course was moved closer in and those two races were completed successfully.

Emirates Team New Zealand

LVPS: Tough Final Round Robin 2 Race for Shosholoza

Shosholoza in control in the pre-start keep it tight and close in their final race of Round Robin 2 against the Greek Challenge in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series being contested on Auckland’s Waitemata harbour in New Zealand. Image copyright Guiliano Luzzatto.

by Di Meek

Team Shosholoza is out of the running to win the Louis Vuitton Challenger title after a tough loss to the Greek Challenge in their final race of Round Robin 2 of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour in New Zealand today.

Both Greek Challenge and Shosholoza, being at the bottom of the Silver Fleet leaderboard, are now out of contention but will still race each other again on Monday to decide the 9th and 10 places for the final event standings.

The other two Silver Fleet teams, Pataugas K-Challenge and China Team, join the Gold Fleet to go through to the next round of the Challenger sail offs, the winner of which will face Emirates Team New Zealand for the championship title.

In a message from South Africa, Team Shosholoza managing director Captain Salvatore Sarno urged the team to stay positive and keep up the fight.

“We lost but we are not losers. Auckland is just a little battle not the war. Sailing is a sport discipline where not always the best athlete is rewarded. Too many external factors are influencing the result of a regatta,” said Captain Sarno.

“In a mere fifty metres your boat can experience an enormous difference in wind and or currents. It seems that our boat has been always on the wrong side of these fifty metres.

“Remember that Shosholoza represents a nation of which the people have suffered for years the worst humiliation that any human being could suffer. They were defeated for years but they never lost their dignity and their indomitable spirit and at the end the freedom arrived.

“This is exactly what I expect from you,” Captain Sarno told the team.

Shosholoza’s champion match racing helmsman Paolo Cian controlled the pre-start in the match against Greek Challenge with classic dial-up tactics that saw both boats stalled to windward and reversing down the start box in a light eight knot sea breeze. Shosholoza was the first to tack away to port and built speed to hit the start equal with the Greek team.

But the Greek Challenge with Gavin Brady at the helm had more speed and Shosholoza started falling away as they got their dirty. The South African team tried to do a dummy tack near the top mark but lost more ground and were trailing by 35 seconds going into the run. Never giving up Cian tried to engage the Greeks in a gybing duel but the Greeks steadily pulled away around the next two legs to win with a delta of 1 minute 26 seconds.

Stephane Kandler, CEO of the French K-Challenge Team, which also lost their final Round Robin race to China Team today commented that the event was fantastic in bringing past and potential America’s Cup teams together but was proving to be much tougher than he thought it would be.

“It is a very radical event and much harsher than the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup was. Here we have two small pools of teams racing against each other on short,very tricky inshore courses. Even if you are close, just one mistake puts you away and mentally it is very difficult to come back – even for the very best sailors in the world. Races are lost by tight margins of less than 20 seconds. There is nothing in it but you lose.

“The big teams like Emirates Team New Zealand, America’s BMW Oracle and Team Alinghi have great depth of experience in their crews, they are well funded and able to employ their teams full time and it shows in an event like this,” said Kandler.

In a controversial move, much to the disappoint of those following the event here and around the world, Alinghi conceded their match to Emirates Team New Zealand by failing to start today. It would have been the first time the two teams had gone head to head since Alinghi beat the Kiwis in the 2007 America’s Cup match.

Alinghi issued a statement later in the day saying that the way the event is structured races against Team New Zealand don’t count in Round Robin 2. However hard contact penalties can result in a deduction of points as in the BMW Oracle vs. TeamOrigin match on 6 Feb. “With a competitive elimination round coming up in the next few days Alinghi had everything to lose and nothing to gain in racing the home team Emirates Team New Zealand.”

In a news release on the Emirates Team New Zealand website skipper Dean Barker said he was “stunned by the no-show by Alinghi. “I was disgusted. The racing has been close, competitors are enjoying themselves and the public being treated to some great sailing. Why would they introduce a niggle into a very successful regatta.

“Its all about the spirit of the event. Its all about doing what’s right for yachting. Their action was insulting and disrespectful to our team and to the New Zealand people. We were really wanting to race them today, the first time since July 2007,” said Barker.

The highlight of the day was a super tight battle between Italy’s Luna Rossa steered by America’s Cup veteran Peter Holmberg and the new British team TEAMORIGIN with three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie at the helm.

The race went to the wire in a fresh southerly breeze to the delight of thousands of spectators crowding the course on boats and from the North Head viewing point. The British won by four seconds, barely a boat length.

In the other Gold Fleet race, BMW Oracle Racing beat Damiani Italia Challenge. In the Silver Fleet China Team finished the round unbeaten with a convincing win over Pataugas K Challenge.

Gold Fleet scores: Alinghi, 2 points; BMW Oracle Racing, 2; TEAMORIGIN, 0.5; Damiani Italia Challenge, 0; Luna Rossa, 0. (Emirates Team New Zealand is not awarded points in this round). Silver Fleet: China Team, 3; Pataugas K-Challenge, 2; Greek Challenge, 1; Team Shosholoza, 0.

The big match of the day on Sunday will be the showdown between America’s Cup defenders, Team Alinghi, and America’s BMW Oracle Racing Team. Off the water the two teams have been locked in a prolonged court battle relating to protocol for the next 33rd America’s Cup. A final ruling on the issue is still to be made by the Supreme Court of New York.

Team Shosholoza

LVPS: Pataugas by K-Challenge gets ready for the Challenger Sail-Off

Pataugas by K-Challenge circles with China Team in the pre-start. Image copyright Franck Socha.

by Stephanie Nadin

Last race in the Round Robin 2 for Pataugas by K-Challenge who was racing today against China Team in the silver fleet.

The French team who already had two victories in the basket didn't manage to get another point unfortunately, but this doesn't change anything to the result as they now move up to the Challenger Sail Off after yesterday's win against Shosholoza.
The wind has been very complicated today in Auckland, and the teams have had to wait quite long for the races to start. A first race was launched between Pataugas by K-Challenge and China Team, where Sebastien Col did a really good start, and was leading the race by almost 200m before rounding the first mark. But this race was canceled, as the first leg lasted more than 20 minutes.

The second start was launched just after the course had been repositioned, but this time it was not good for the French, as they blew up their spinnaker on the last downwind leg, so the race was over.

Olivier Herledant, Mastman: “it was a long day waiting for the wind, and we had a good start on the first race, sailing on the right side of the course and getting more wind, which allowed us to lead the race. But the race was canceled because of the shifty wind. On the second race our start was only average, and we didn´t manage to take the lead on the first upwind leg. The first spinnaker hoist was good, we come back very close to them on the downwind leg, but nothing special happens on the second upwind leg. At the third mark they are still within our reach, and we can get them, but when we hoist the spinnaker, it blows up, not because of a big mistake, but because of several small ones, mainly due to the fact that we didn´t train in these wind conditions. By the time we hoisted an other spinnaker, the race was lost.
We are disappointed, as we could have got them on this last leg.

"We will repair the spinnaker for the next races in any case.

"We will see who we will sail against in the Challenger Sail Off, we have to be patient now, we will have our chance, and we learn from our today's mistakes for the rest of the event, we'll work on that during the two coming days before the Sail Off.”

The Challenger Sail Off will take place on February 11, and Pataugas by K-Challenge will know who its first opponent will be at the end of Round Robin 2 races for the gold fleet, which are still on for the two coming days (8 and 9 February).

Pataugas by K-Challenge

LVPS: Second Victory for Greek Challenge

Greek Challenge against the backdrop of Rangitoto. Image copyright Pierre Orphanidis/Greek Challenge.

by Pierre Orphanidis

On a beautiful day on Waitemata harbour, hundreds of spectator boats witnessed an exhilarating victory for Greek Challenge. Not only did the new America’s Cup team score their second victory in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, they beat the team that a mere two days past defeated the America’s Cup Defender, Alinghi. Greek Challenge nurtured a slight advantage at the start line into a huge lead of 1 minute 26 seconds at the finish.

The two aggressive match racers, Gavin Brady on the Greek boat and Paolo Cian for the South Africans, had a tight and close pre-start. The two boats hit the starting line on an equal footing, the Greeks on the left and the South Africans on the right, both powering towards the left side of the course. Nevertheless, Greek Challenge soon got a slight speed advantage over Shosholoza, allowing them to be ahead in the first cross. Brady’s astute match racing tactics forced Cian to do 2 additional tacks, slowing the South African boat even more. Greek Challenge rounded the first weather mark with a comfortable 35-second advantage.

Despite being the novice crew in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, Greek Challenge sailed with confidence in the first run, doing a fantastic job in gybing under tricky conditions, and increased their lead to 38 seconds in the leeward gate.

From there on, it was plain sailing for the Greek crew, their Kiwi teammates and the South African navigator onboard Greek Challenge. They did a magnificent job in covering their opponent, putting an excellent display of teamwork and realizing their motto of “sail with your heart, win with your mind”.

The two teams will now face each other again next Tuesday in a race that will decide the 8th and 9th positions in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series.

Quotes of the day

Gavin Brady (NZL), helmsman of Greek Challenge: “Everything came together very well today, from start to finish. We had a good start, our tacks and gybes were excellent but more importantly there was good communication on the boat. We were calm, relaxed and quiet, undoubtedly the quietest day so far. Boat handling is undoubtedly getting better by the day. After yesterday’s unfortunate chain of mishaps we rallied and won the race.

All Greek sailors that took part in this regatta are now in a position to impress anyone on a Cup boat, no matter what team they might end up with. They could very well crew any big boat and I urge them to do it this summer in the Med.”

Marc Lagesse (RSA), navigator of Greek Challenge, on beating twice his former team: “...[Big smile]”

Sotiris Buseas (GRE), aft grinder and Greek Challenge CEO: “It was a great day and I have to thank the entire team for this very positive end to the Round Robins. Poseidon was on our side, as he always was. Our goal when we first arrived here was to sail correctly and participate. We finish the Round Robins with two victories under our belts but the most important thing is what we learned from the New Zealanders on the boat in two short weeks. We faced the world’s best sailing teams and we feel honored to take part in such an event”.

H.E. Evangelos Damianakis, Greek Ambassador to New Zealand and 18th man today: “This is my first time on a sailing yacht and I’m exhilarated. I was also told this was the second victory of the team and Greek Challenge proved they were up to the challenge. I’m proud I was part of the crew even if as a simple spectator at the back. It was a wonderful experience and I was surprised by the coordination and teamwork required in order to sail these yachts, let alone win a race.

I have to congratulate Mr Buseas for accomplishing this Herculean endeavor, bring a team down here to New Zealand and achieve two victories. I wish him all the best and I really look forward to a continuation”.

Greek Challenge