|
Sail-World.com : Emirates Team New Zealand come out firing in Louis Vuitton Trophy
Emirates Team New Zealand come out firing in Louis Vuitton Trophy
|
Emirates Team New Zealand put away their indifferent form of yesterday, and have taken the semi-final sailed just after noon today. After allowing Azzurra to take a small lead soon after the start, the Kiwis soon put their stamp on the match, taking a small lead which they defended down the first run. On the second beat, sailing in a 10-12 knot offshore breeze, they built their comfort zone, and the Italian yacht was unable to break through.
The start of the first Final got underway after 1500hrs. Their was a feisty start after Emirates Team NZ got control of the start, and then blocked Mascalzone Latino at the Committee Boat end. Appeals to the umpires were made by the crews of both yachts and declined. Mascalzone Latino was forced to the windward side of the Race Committee boat, while Emirates Team NZ bore away to get a perfect start, a boat length ahead, and 14 seconds ahead at the first mark.
The 34th America's Cup challenger got back into the action on the run, leading the New Zealanders through the bottom gate. Then it was the turn of the Kiwis to make the attack, with the Italians electing to split away. It was a costly error, that has been made too often in this regatta. This time the outcome was as it has been before - a significant lead change as the two boats converged, with Emirates Team NZ converting a deficit of about 35 metres into a 60 metre lead, which they took into the final mark rounding of the first race of the Final.
Again Mascalzone Latino made a spirited attack, sailing deeper than the New Zealanders and cutting the lead to 15 metres. However Barker and his trusted tactician Ray Davies judged the cross correctly and won the first race of the best of five series.
In the petit-Final, Sweden's Artemis copped a double penalty - the first in a dial-up in the prestart, an the second when holding a small lead, but overlapped to leeward by Azzurra. After a small luffing incident, Artemis was judged not to have kept clear, and she incurred a penalty which she had to take immediately - meaning that the Swedish yacht had to drop her spinnaker, do a tack, and then reset her spinnaker and continue the leg. At the end of the race Artemis filed a protest over use of a second spinnaker by Azzurra when her first was not damaged to the extent required by the rules for the event. That protest was yet to be heard.
In a post race interview Artemis skipper, Paul Cayard was clearly unhappy with the decisions, believing they were both marginal decisions and both had gone against Artemis.
by Richard Gladwell. Sail-World.com
Click on the FB Like link to post this story to your FB wall
http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=67634
2:34 AM Sat 20 Mar 2010 GMT
Click here for printer friendly version
Click here to send us feedback or comments about this story.
Click for further information on
Louis Vuitton Trophy Series
Related News Stories:
MORE STORIES ...
|
|
|
Our Advertisers are committed to our sport, please support them!
This site and its contents are © Copyright TetraMedia Pty. Ltd and/or the original author, photographer etc. All Rights Reserved.
Photographs are copyright by law. If you wish to use or buy a photograph you must contact the photographer directly (there is a hyperlink in most cases to their website, or do a Google search.) with your request.
Please do not contact Sail-World.com as we cannot give permission for use of other photographer’s images.
Only if the photographer named on the image is Sail-world.com, Powerboat-world.com or Marinebusiness-world.com
Contact us
.
or complete our
feedback form
Contact us
.
View our Privacy Policy.
[ Go Home]
[ Banner Advertising Specification]
[Bot Archive ]
Customised news feeds -Marine Industry companies, Clubs and Associations have their own customised version of our Sail-World news feed on their website.
Look_here_to_see_examples
|
| | |
