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November 22, 2010 |
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On this page, LVT Dubai Round Robin 2/Day 9
Statements:
Two come-from-behind victories boosted the fortunes of Italy’s Mascalzone Latino Audi today at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai. Racing in a light northerly breeze on a soft, late autumn day, Kiwi skipper Gavin Brady guided the Italian team to a comfortable victory against Sweden’s Artemis Racing after overtaking them a few minutes into the first beat. Brady’s second match proved tougher after he conceded a start to the Synergy Russian Sailing team and then fought for more than half the race to gain the upper hand. Their performance today lifted Mascalzone Latino Audi, the challenger of record for the next Americas Cup, from a distant fifth-equal place to third. The Italian team is only half a point away from overtaking second-placed Emirates Team New Zealand which lost today after botching a spinnaker takedown and flying the giant sail like a flag from the top of their mast. Hosted by the Dubai International Marine Club the 14-day-long regatta is being sailed close to the shore in waters between the fan-shaped man-made islands of the Palm Jumeirah and the southern entrance to Dubai Creek. Today was the penultimate day of the second round robin with each win worth two points and any penalties carrying a two point deduction. Only the top four teams will go through to the semi-finals which start on Friday. “We’d done the math and we knew we had to win those two races today to keep control of our own destiny,” Brady said. “We had a race where we led comfortably and one where we had to come from behind. “I messed up the end of that second start. We had full control of Synergy. I had 20 decisions to make in that pre-start and dropped the ball. I made 19 good ones and messed up the last one. And that was the one that counted. “From there, our tactician Morgan Larson did a really good job and called some good shifts on the run that got us to the leeward gate with a chance.” The two boats at the top of the leaderboard raced today and the USAs BMW Oracle Racing, skippered by Americas Cup winner James Spithill, took control at the start and fended off attacks from his Kiwi rival Dean Barker. New Zealand’s chances of a victory plummeted when a messy takedown saw them flying their spinnaker like a giant out-of-control flag from the top of their mast before they were able to cut it free. “It was a disappointing loss,” said Ray Davies, tactician for the New Zealand boat. “It was a very close race and we made nice gains down the run. We gybed for the right-hand gate, feeling pretty comfortable but then the breeze lifted 15 degrees. It changed the bottom mark rounding for us and we ended up with a very difficult rounding because we had to change the call for the bowman. It was a pretty bad situation for us. When we let the spinnaker go it got caught inside the mast so we had to cut it free.” Four matches tomorrow will wrap up the round robin and confirm the four semi-finalists. BMW Oracle Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand and Mascalzone Latino are all poised to go through to the semis but, with all races counting for two points and the possibility two penalty point deductions for infractions or collisions, nothing is certain.
Flight One, Race One, Synergy Russian Sailing
Team def All4One, 00:05 Flight One, Race Two, Mascalzone Latino Audi
def Artemis Racing, 01:55 Flight Two, Race One, BMW Oracle Racing def
Emirates Team New Zealand, 00:25 Flight Two, Race Two, Mascalzone Latino Audi
def Synergy Russian Sailing, 00:21 Provisional Results after Day Three of RR2:
* A scoring penalty has been assessed by the umpires In Round Robin One, each team sailed every other team twice, with each win worth one point. In Round Robin Two, each team will sail every other team once, with each win worth two points. At the conclusion of Round Robin Two, the top four teams will advance to the semi finals. The bottom two teams are eliminated. The Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai is under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, the principal sponsor of the event. -- From Louis Vuitton Trophy
Emirates Team New Zealand had to let the spinnaker go at the second leeward mark of its match against BMW Oracle today, costing vital time that ended any chance of winning the race. The halyard jammed and strategist Adam Beashel went to the top of the mast to free it but not before they had lost five boat-lengths. Tactician Ray Davies summarizes the race: “We got a good start, happy tight to leeward and looking strong enough to hold Oracle out to the right layline but they gained enough in the tacks to lead into the top mark by 10s.” “We threw gybes at them on the run and did catch up; we were quite overlapped closing on the gate and chose to go right. We gybed on the layline, the breeze went shifty and we couldnt lay the mark, so gave ourselves a difficult rounding on the left.” “Then we had the issue with the halyard, but made some solid gains up the beat, rounding 15 seconds behind Oracle exactly the same delta as at mark 2.” But there was no catching Oracle when went on to win by 25s. With round robin 2 drawing to a close, the big mover today was the Italian Mascalzone Latino which won both its matches and is lying third on the leader board, behind BMW Oracle and Emirates Team New Zealand. Tomorrow we race both Synergy and Mascalzone Latino. Points after race day 8: BMW Oracle 15 points --From Emirates Team New Zealand
BMW Oracle Racing clinched the top spot in the double round robin of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai with a victory today over Emirates Team New Zealand. Led by Australian skipper James Spithill, BMW Oracle Racing defeated the Kiwi crew by 25 seconds. The win improved BMW Oracle’s record to 12-2, good for 15 points and an unassailable position atop the leaderboard. “The mood’s great,” said runners/pit man and crew coach Dean Phipps. “We’ve worked hard for the past week and everything’s fallen into place as far as the crew goes. We’ve made some nice strides forward.” Sailing in a light northerly wind, the pre-start action was relatively tame. Both crews are experienced and knew that keeping momentum after breaking off the dial-up was important. BMW Oracle tactician John Kostecki called for the right side of the start and Spithill obliged, bringing his crew onto the racecourse on starboard tack with Team New Zealand to leeward. Both boats soon tacked to port and stretched out to the right edge of the racecourse. BMW Oracle tacked to starboard and was able to force Team New Zealand to tack to leeward. The American yacht rounded the windward mark with a 10-second advantage. “At one stage halfway across it looked a little marginal,” said Phipps. “But Murray [Jones, strategist] was calling the breeze to go right and it came just in time. A bit earlier would’ve been nicer, but we took it as it came and we crossed nicely ahead of them.” The two crews traded jibes down the run and BMW Oracle set up for a port rounding through the leeward gate. Team New Zealand followed but lost control of the spinnaker takedown. The sail fell in the water and the crew had to cut the halyard away. “We made a nice powerful rounding for the left-hand gate and they got into what we call ‘no man’s land,’” said Phipps. “When you get into that place, which side the sail comes down becomes an issue for the foredeck crew. It didn’t look like they had a takedown string setup, and from there it just snowballs. The only way to get rid of it is to cut the halyard and let it all go.” Riding aboard BMW Oracle Racing today as 18th person was Christine Belanger, the Louis Vuitton representative who has helped organize the Louis Vuitton Trophy events with the World Sailing Teams Association. “Today is a special day,” said Belanger. “It’s a great experience, one I’ve been lucky to do many times. The event here in Dubai is special because it’s the final event of the Louis Vuitton Trophy. It’s one page in the history of the trophy which comes to an end, so it’s very emotional.” Tomorrow BMW Oracle Racing concludes the round robin with a race against Mascalzone Latino Audi Team. The semifinals are slated to start on Friday, and the American crew will have the right to choose its opponent by winning the round robin. Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai Standings
(* Points deducted for collision) --From BMW Oracle
Mascalzone Latino Audi Team One Step From Semifinals Two very important victories and four points for Onorato's team Everybody knew it was going to be a hard-fought day. It was precisely on this decisive day that the “Latin Rascals” would start racing seriously, clinching two splendid wins: the first one against Artemis, the team owned by Torbjorn Tornqvist and headed by Paul Cayard, and the second one against Synergy. The Italian team now stands third in the overall leaderboard, just behind the undisputed leader, BMW Oracle Racing, and Emirates Team New Zealand, ranked second. The extremely high stakes that were in play, four points, meant either the full exit from the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai or the almost certain advance to the semifinals. Under that stress and with the unquenchable thirst for revenge, Vincenzo Onorato’s was able to demonstrate, like it never did in those eight days of racing, what it was capable of. The day, however, didn’t seem to have started on the right foot. In the first flight, Artemis had the total control of the pre-start. Gavin Brady (NZL) seemed to have started a little bit late and slow but the tactical call was for the left side of the course, thanks to the great communication from the man on the top of the mast, Cameron Dunn (NZL), a team veteran and formidable wind spotter. Meter by meter, the Mascalzone Latino Audi Team built an advantage that allowed them to round the first weather mark ahead of the Swedes. From that point Mascalzone’s crew never looked back. When the Italian boat crossed the finish line, the advantage over the yacht helmed by Cameron Appleton (NZL) was 1:54 minutes, an amazing figure in these short courses. This second race was considerably harder to take and the crucial moment came later, at the leeward gate. Although Mascalzone was in control of the pre-start, right off the starting Virtual Eye was giving a very slight advantage to the Russian boat, helmed by Francesco Bruni (ITA). Synergy rounded the first weather mark in the lead, but the “Latin Rascals” were trailing by only two seconds. In the first run, Synergy was constantly ahead by a couple of boatlengths but the choice of mark at the leeward gate was the game changer. A 20-degree wind shift to the right clearly favored the right-hand gate and the perfect tactical decision by Mascalzone Latino’s afterguard bore its fruit. Gavin Brady (NZL) rounded the gate with a small lead and the entire crew worked flawlessly in the second half of the race to hold on to that lead, crossing the finish line 21 seconds ahead of the Russian team. Barring any severe penalty in tomorrow’s race, in which Mascalzone Latino will face their last opponent for Round Robin 2, BMW Oracle Racing, helmed by James Spithill (AUS) and overall leader, the Italian team have already secured their advance in the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai semifinals. In the first race of the day, against Artemis, the 18th man onboard Mascalzone Latino Audi Team was its friend and fan, Matteo Zanetti, President of Gruppo Segafredo Zanetti Coffee System. After returning on dock, Zanetti was enthusiastic and thrilled by the experience: “It was my very first time on a racing yacht. I had so much fun and, more importantly, we had nice victories. I’m very happy.” Quotes of the day: Gavin Brady (NZL), skipper and helmsman on Mascalzone Latino Audi Team told: “We knew the mathematics going into today, so we knew we had to win those two races to keep control of our own destiny. We had a race where we led from start to finish and another one where we came from behind. It was a very tough way to get the job done but it’s good the teams is starting to build its confidence that we can come from behind. "It would have been nice to win the second start but I missed it. We had full control of them but I dropped the ball at the end, at my last decision. I probably had to take 20 decisions in that pre-start. I took 19 good ones and in the 20th one I messed it up. Sometimes it’s the 20th that counts. We gave them the opportunity at the start while we should have finished it off. Then Morgan Larson did a very good job and got the shifts perfectly in the run. We passed them at the gate. The gates are great because they give the boat behind a chance and this is exactly what took place. "We also got the right shift in the last beat as the last 3 days in Dubai have been really tricky. We have the sea breeze build but not the way it normally would. We don’t know why that happens but it does. These boats need a steady 12-knot breeze to be fully powered up. In a 7-9 knot breeze these boats feels like small yachts all of a sudden and you can have big differences in boat speed.” --From Mascalzone Latino Audi Team
It was a disappointing day. All the races are important, but we needed to win this one against Mascalzone Latino to ensure a place in the semi-finals. We controlled most of the pre-start, but struggled a bit in the dial up bailout. This in turn meant that we were a bit rushed for the start and did not get the side of the course that we wanted. So, it was a split tack start with the Italians taking the left side of the course, while we went right. Mascalzone Latino took advantage of the shift at the top of the course and were off. They just extended their lead from there to win. In the other matches, Synergy beat All4One, BMW Oracle Racing defeated Emirates Team New Zealand and Mascalzone Latino also won over Synergy. It was a good day for the Italians who moved into third place on the leader board, while All4One and Synergy are now tied for fourth. Tomorrow, we will race All4One. A win in that race gives us a chance to get through to the semis. Cameron Links of Interest: Louis Vuitton Trophy:
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