LV Act 6, Day 5- USA-76 wins epic match with NZL

by BMW Oracle Racing on 30 Aug 2005 BMW Oracle Racing won one of the epic matches of the Louis Vuitton Act 6 regatta when they scored a come-from-behind win over Emirates Team New Zealand today.

The two teams hammered at each other in two classic and relentless upwind tacking duels with the grinders on each yacht expending massive energy to keep the action tight as they threw punch and counter punch at each other every 30 seconds. Having earlier scored a convincing win over the Italian Mascalzone Latino Capitalia team, BMW Oracle Racing ended the day alone in 2nd place on the leaderboard, 1pt behind the leader. With Frenchman Bertrand Pacé stepping into the tactician’s role on USA-76 at short notice, the two results also underline the depth of talent in the BMW Oracle Racing team.

Race Summary: Match One – USA-76 vs ITA-77

The BMW Oracle Racing team quickly stamped its authority on this match.
In the pre-start, skipper Chris Dickson and his crew established control over the Mascalzone Latino Capitalia team and left the line at pace and with a two-boatlength advantage. Racing in a breeze of 14 to 18 knots, the BMW Oracle Racing team marched away, gaining on every leg. USA-76 led around successive marks by 49 seconds, 1 minute 1 second and 1 minute 23 seconds to finally take the victory gun with a 1 minute 39 second advantage.

Race Summary: Match Two – USA-76 vs NZL-82

The two yachts came off the startline on starboard tack with BMW Oracle Racing to leeward and slightly ahead. However, Emirates Team New Zealand had the advantage of the right hand side and as the two crews engaged in a 22-tack duel up the first windward leg, the New Zealand team gained the upper hand and led around the first mark 16 seconds in the lead. On the downwind leg, Chris Dickson and the BMW Oracle Racing team attacked from behind, slowly eating into the opposition’s lead and halving the deficit at the leeward mark to 8 seconds. On the second windward leg, the intensity went up even higher and, once again, the grinders on both yachts poured sweat as they threw tack after tack at each other every 30 seconds.

Eventually the pressure told and a mistake on NZL-82 was all USA-76 needed to pounce into the lead. The BMW Oracle Racing crew rounded the second windward mark with a 16 second lead and then extended on the final downwind run to take the win by 24 seconds.

QUOTES

Chris Dickson, skipper and CEO of BMW Oracle Racing on the race against Emirates Team New Zealand: ‘It was a case of two very comparable boats and teams going up against each other. Our team did a great job of keeping the pressure on. After 22 tacks and 25 minutes of the grinders spinning those handles non-stop, we found a chink in their armour. We went out on a tough day and won two points. The team did a great job.’

On Gavin Brady’s resignation from the team: ‘We are disappointed he has resigned from the team. We understand his disappointment at no longer being in the helming role. He has decided to move on and we are moving on too.’

On Bertrand Pacé stepping into the tactician’s role: ‘Bertrand has been part of our afterguard for nearly two years. He has raced on the boat, he has helmed the boat and he has been tactician. He did a fantastic job.’

Bertrand Pacé:

‘It was fortunate that we had a first match against Mascalzone Latino Capitalia, which allowed us to set up communications in the afterguard. The second race against NZL-82 was a tough one. Luckily the wind was quite stable so it was a question of pure match racing tactics. We had to stay close and look for our opportunities and we got one in the second beat.’

Ian Burns, BMW Oracle Racing navigator on the race against Emirates Team New Zealand:

‘Off the start, they were going very well and made some nice gains. Coming in from the right all the time, they had the starboard advantage, which worked well for them. The right side was also favoured, so it paid off nicely for them.

‘Going down the run, we made some gains, but when we split off in the leeward gate, we had to round the slightly unfavoured mark, so we probably lost whatever we had gained.

‘Up the second beat, the grinders were totally fired up and going for it. We closed up from about three boatlengths until we were right on their tail and we were putting pressure on. When their starboard genoa sheet broke, they couldn’t get a new one led in time to tack back on us and we got past. We had no problems on our boat. Everything worked perfectly and the crew were magnificent.’

On Bertrand Pacé stepping into the tactician’s role at short notice: ‘He went very well. He was solid right from the start. His style is different, but the afterguard made some adjustments and it went great. There were not many windshifts, so it was very much down to pure match racing tactics and that is Bertrand’s greatest strength. He did an excellent job of making all the right calls.’