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November 18, 2010 |
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On this page, LVT Dubai Day 5 Statements: Good and Bad for Emirates Team New Zealand A good race and a bad race. That was day five for Emirates Team New Zealand at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai. The good: race two against Synergy (Russia). An aggressive Dean Barker forced Synergy over the start line early and they had to restart. The result: Emirates Team New Zealand earns an almost immediate four boat-length lead, an advantage Barker defends and extends until the finish. The bad: race one in which a massive advantage created when the umpires awarded a penalty against the Russians in the pre-start was nullified by New Zealand being just over the line at the start. So instead of a penalty buffer in the bank, Barker and his crew had a fight on their hands to get close enough so that the Russians to pounce when they took the penalty turn. After forcing the penalty on the Russians, Emirates Team New Zealand looked comfortable. Barker went for the committee boat end of the line, the Russians for the pin. Then came one of those uncharacteristic errors NZL-84 was over the line early and had to return. By the time they had re-started Synergy was four boat lengths in front. On a day when the leading boat benefitted from the breeze, the crew fought to stay close. Barker got tantalizingly close at times. The margin at the first mark was 50s, at the second 19s bringing them within striking distance. The Russians found some good breeze on the favored left of the course on the second beat and defended well and extended the margin to 44s at the third mark. Synergy did the penalty turn at the finish line with Barker advancing quickly. But the final result was never really in doubt. In the end, the delta was 14s. The second match was something of a mirror of the first but with Emirates Team New Zealand in control and defending a commanding lead. The margins were mark 1 21s, mark 2 17s, mark 3 40s and 33s at the finish. Provisional Points Round Robin One: (Emirates Team New Zealand and Artemis have one race to sail) BMW Oracle Racing 9 points Emirates Team New Zealand 4.5 points Artemis 4 points Synergy 4 points All4One 4 points Mascalzone Latino 2 points -- From ETNZ
Competition between Sweden's Artemis Racing and the French/German team All4One in today's matches epitomized the character of racing at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai today. Racing against each other twice, each team won once and lost once. It was a pattern repeated in all but one of the other pairings, leaving the leaderboard bunched in the middle. With just one match remaining in the first round robin, BMW Oracle Racing is unassailable at the top of the leaderboard with nine points. After that, the fleet is tightly grouped with just half a point separating the next four boats. Emirates Team New Zealand is in second place with 4.5 points. Sweden’s Artemis Racing, Synergy Russian Sailing Team and the French/German team All4One remain third-equal on four points. Italy’s Mascalzone Latino Audi team is sixth with two points. Only Artemis Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand have a chance to improve their standing. They will race tomorrow in the final match of the first round robin. A victory for Artemis would see them overhaul the Kiwis to take over second place. Racing in round robin two will begin following the ETNZ vs. Artemis match. In the second phase of the regatta, each team will sail the other just one time, but a victory is worth two points. The top four teams at the conclusion of round robin two will advance to the semi final. Kevin Hall, navigator for Artemis, is looking forward to the last race of the round tomorrow against Emirates Team New Zealand. “What we’re seeing out here is very good racing so we were happy to go one and one. All the teams are going to have to be happy with one and one by the looks of it. It’s tough racing and the teams are close.” Jochen Schumann, three-time Olympic gold medalist and skipper of All4One had praise for his teams win against Artemis after fighting off multiple attacks in their second race. “I thought our strategy and our teamwork was good,” he said. “Obviously all the teams are getting better day by day. We’re all getting ready for what’s to come. Next round robin it will be two points for a win, so that will make a difference.” Ray Davies, tactician for Emirates Team New Zealand, said that their one win and one loss came down to what happened in the starts. “We were over in the first and gave Synergy a big jump. In the second race we pushed them over at the start. It was great work by Deano (skipper Dean Barker) and we got a big lead out of that and we only had to cover them for the rest of the race.” For every one of the Louis Vuitton Cup matches, a VIP guest sails aboard as the 18th man, riding in the back of the boat, right behind the skipper and experiencing the tactics and action up close. Today's guests included English cricket ace Freddie Flintoff and Kiwi cricketer Chris Cairns. Flintoff rode with Emirates Team New Zealand today and was filled with praise for their smooth teamwork. Although not a sailor, it’s not the first time he’s sailed on a Cup boat. “I sailed on the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand in 1992 and it was cold and wet and windy,” he recalled. Dubai conditions were not the only difference. “I got stuffed in Auckland. I got put on grinding duty. I didn’t make that same mistake today. I very quietly declined.” Flight One, Race One, Synergy Russian Sailing def Emirates Team New Zealand, 00:14 - Synergy’s light nudge into the safety wands extending from the stern of the Kiwi boat was all it took to give an initial advantage to Emirates Team New Zealand in the pre-start. Kiwi skipper Dean Barker went for a start at speed at the committee boat end, only to be called back for breaking the line a split second too soon. Francesco Bruni sailed away carrying a penalty but led around the course, eventually increasing his lead enough to expunge his black mark with a penalty turn on the finish line. Flight One, Race Two, BMW Oracle Racing def Mascalzone Latino Audi, 00:41 - James Spithill exploited a starboard entry to lead off to the left at the start with a half boat length lead over the Italian boat. Gavin Brady split away and took Mascalzone Latino off to the right but there was no magic there and Spithill was never really threatened. Flight Two, Race One, Emirates Team New Zealand def Synergy Russian Sailing, 00:33 - After a long dialup, Barker chased the Russian team off to the pin end of the start line, hooking his bow below their port quarter to control and push Francesco Bruni over the line early. The Kiwi skipper tacked and started at speed as Bruni returned to start properly before trailing 100 metres in the wake of the New Zealanders. After that, Synergy never got close. Flight Two, Race Two, BMW Oracle Racing def Mascalzone Latino Audi, 00:45 - Gavin Brady wanted the left and sailed off to an early lead as Spithill and the American team split away on the right, where they found more wind pressure, to eventually round the top mark half a boat length in front. BMWOR led at every mark, extending on the final run to win by 200 meters. Flight Three, Race One, Artemis Racing def All4One, 00:05 - Cameron Appleton split away at the start of the closest race of the day. He took Artemis out to the right side of the course but the French/German boat made early gains before it fell into his wake. Sebastien Col, steering All4One, kept the pressure on and this was anything but a procession. At the leeward mark the boats were overlapped but Col couldn’t break through. Flight Four, Race One, All4One def Artemis Racing, 00:37 - The first half of this race was very tight. The boats split at the start, with Artemis again going right. When they closed for the first cross, All4One on port tack feinted and drew level to claim a safe weather berth as Artemis tacked below them. The French/German team proceeded to sail the Swedish team out beyond the starboard layline and led by eight seconds around the top mark. Cameron Appleton pulled back alongside approaching the midline gate but again Col held him out, sailing past the mark before leading back. Cols margin was still only ten seconds at the leeward gate but after that, the French/German team pulled away on the beat. Provisional Results: 1. BMW Oracle Racing, 9-1, 9 pts 2. Emirates Team New Zealand, 5-4, 4.5 pts * =3. Artemis Racing, 4-5, 4 pts =3. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 4-6, 4 pts =3. All4One, 4-6, 4 pts 6. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 3-7, 2 pts * * Scoring penalty deducted by Umpires 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
Skipper Spithill Credits Coach Presti and Crew for Strong Showing BMW Oracle Racing today wrapped up a nearly flawless performance in Round 1 of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai with two wins over Mascalzone Latino Audi Team of Italy. Skipper James Spithill and crew won the two races on Day 5 in light winds by 41 and 45 seconds to finish the round with a 9-1 record. A 1-second loss yesterday is all that kept the 33rd America’s Cup winner from a perfect score. “I think we sailed pretty well. We had some very, very tight racing,” said Spithill of Australia. “The big improvement has been the communication throughout the boat. John (Kostecki, tactician), Murray (Jones, strategist) and Soapy (Ian Moore, navigator) have done a nice job in the afterguard.” The last time the team raced a Louis Vuitton event was in La Maddalena, Italy, in June. Coming a few months after February’s emotional win in the America’s Cup, which BMW Oracle Racing won aboard the 90-foot trimaran USA, the crew wasn’t quite ready to jump back into monohulls. “We prepared properly for this one,” said Spithill. “We’ve done a lot of work in the afterguard with our coach, Philippe Presti. And Dean Phipps has stepped up the crew work on the boat. Everyone’s been a lot more honest about where we’re at in the monohull world and the amount of work we have to do to get to this level. Everyone’s had an open mind and wants to learn and improve. We’ve just got a very, very good attitude at this event.” Spithill’s crew has credited him with giving them a great advantage off the start line. Spithill is known as a fierce pre-start competitor, and he’s shown that killer instinct again this week. The skipper credits Presti, the coach from France, for helping him regain his focus. “A letdown was to be expected in La Maddalena,” said Presti. “It was so soon after the America’s Cup win. I’ve worked with the team to get them to visualize the game. I try to give them options. We’ve been working to create an atmosphere of good relationships and to build everyone’s confidence.” While communication is flowing in the back of the boat, the good vibes are flowing throughout the crew. “Everybody’s pretty happy about the performance,” said Brian MacInnes, the port-side grinder from Canada. “Things have tightened up a lot over the past few weeks and we’re getting it done. In the past we’ve been working on other things while in different places and it’s kept our mind out of sailing. This week our mind’s in the game.” Round 2 of the regatta is scheduled to begin tomorrow. The six crews will sail a single round robin and wins will be worth 2 points instead of 1. The top four crews after the second round advance to the semi-finals, scheduled to begin next Friday, Nov. 26. --From BMW Oracle
The race course off Dubai’s coast is proving to be a very tricky one for Mascalzone Latino Audi Team. On the fifth day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai none of the two races against BMW Oracle Racing went their way. Both races were sailed under a light and unstable breeze and rarely was Mascalzone Latino’s bow ahead of the winners of the 33rd America’s Cup. The pre-start of the first race lacked any passion but James Spithill (AUS) got the upper hand. The half-boatlength advantage right off the start line soon became a small but unequivocal lead, maintained by the American crew until the finish line, without great difficulty. The pre-start of the second match against Larry Ellison’s team (USA) was in fact won by Gavin Brady (NZL), but a different tactical decision and a favorable wind shift benefited BMW Oracle Racing and wiped out the few meters of advantage the “Latin Rascals” were able to stack up in the first stretch of the beat. The Italian team fought very hard in the rest of the race, stayed very close to the Americans, especially in the first two mark roundings but their big effort was not enough. As a result, also due to the penalty inflicted on the opening day that was very difficult to accept, the provisional leaderboard of this Middle-East event sees Mascalzone Latino Audi Team trailing all their opponents after Round Robin one. The team is confident in the second part of the qualifying series (Round Robin 2), where all teams will face other only once but with 2 points going to the winner of each race. The team skippered by Gavin Brady (NZL) still has available another 5 matches to demonstrate its value and aim at another final just as in Auckland, last March, when Vincenzo Onorato’s crew finished second, just behind the home team. Quotes of the day: Gavin Brady (NZL), Mascalzone Latino Audi Team's skipper and helmsman commented on the difficult day: “It wasn’t a very good day to close the Round Robin; it wasn’t the way we wanted to end it. We had two tough matches against BMW Oracle. We got a little bit behind on the shifts in the first leg in both races and we managed to keep it close but in a 30-minute race you only get two passing lanes, if you’re lucky. We had a good shot at it, we got really close, we put a lot of pressure on them but their crew work and tactics held up.” Gavin went on saying: “We have pretty mixed emotions about hits round robin. We sailed pretty well and I wouldn’t want to use the excuse of bad luck but things didn’t surely go our way in the first round, certainly in its early stages, and it was mixed with a couple of small mistakes. It would have been nice to come out of this round with four or five wins. There are no excuses in the next round, we are ready to go now, we have been sailing the boats for 5-6 days now and although we have our backs against the wall we will come out of it fine.” Regarding the Round Robin 2 Brady had to say: Gavin concluded by saying: Andrea Pavan (ITA), Mascalzone Latino Audi Team's grinder, commented after coming back on the dock: “We haven’t started well; we are a little bit rusty, a little bit unlucky. There are situations that can’t be discussed. Regarding today’s races, BMW Oracle sailed very well, they figured out exceptionally well all the wind shifts while we tried to push them as much as possible in both the first and second race and managed to get very close to them. However, we weren’t able to take advantage of the shifts as well as they did. Still it was a nice race. It is still very open, for all teams and in particular for us that didn’t do so well. There’s another round robin that will give us the opportunity to be back in the game. We will give our best, just as we have always done.” --From Mascalzone Latino Audi Artemis Splits with All4One It was a perfect Dubai day today, 30 degrees and sunny, with about 8-10 knots of wind. We had two races against All4One in the Team New Zealand boats. In the first race, we got the start we wanted at the Race Committee end of the line and went right. By the top third of the course we crossed All4One to round the mark with a nice lead. We had good crew work and communication among the afterguard throughout the race. We managed to keep our lead and it was a nice win. In the second race, we wanted the right-hand side and had a good start at the committee boat end of the line. We tacked soon after crossing the line and we kept the pressure on all the way up the beat. When we reached the starboard layline, ALL4ONE were able to take us just past the line, so they were managed to get around the windward mark first. On the downwind, we worked hard to almost roll over Seb Col and his team but we were past the layline. In these races we have to go through the start/finish line on the downwind, which meant heating it up to cross the line, but we just couldn't get by them. All4One did a good job protecting their lead. These are short courses with tight boundaries, so it was all on and made for a very close race. We are now in a three way tie for third, but we still have one race to go. Tomorrow, we will be first up versus Emirates Team New Zealand for the final race of Round Robin 1. Cameron -- From Artemis Racing
Synergy Trades Wins with Emirates Synergy Russian Sailing Team split victories with Emirates Team New Zealand on Thursday in the very last competition of the first Round Robin at Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai. Thursday is the last day of the first Round Robin at Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai. Synergy competed against Emirates Team New Zealand and won one race of two. Synergy won the first race of the day despite receiver an early penalty. Emirates Team New Zealand made a technical mistake and that allowed Synergy to build a big lead. 44 seconds were enough for the Russians to make a penalty turn and got away with a 14-second victory. Formula-1 racer Vitaly Petrov raced with Synergy as a guest. In the second race Emirates Team New Zealand evened the score. After a long dialup the Kiwis chased the Russian team off to the pin end of the start line, hooking his bow below their port quarter to control and push Synergy over the line early. Then they tacked and started at speed as the Russian team returned to start properly before trailing 100 meters in the wake of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland and La Maddalena champions. After that, Synergy never got close. So Synergy has 4 wins in 10 races of the first Round Robin. In the second Round Robin teams will meet each other in one race, every victory will cost 2 points. Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai 1. BMW Oracle Racing, 9-1, 9 pts * with penalty -- From Synergy Russian Sailing
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