Act 8, Day 2- USA-76 goes three-up in breeze

by BMW Oracle Racing Media on 1 Oct 2005 BMW ORACLE Racing took its score to 3-0 after adding another win today in rough seas that made for spectacular racing off the coast of Trapani, Sicily.

Strong Mistral winds further west in the Mediterranean pushed a big swell into the area and the race organisers of the Trapani Louis Vuitton Act 8 regatta were forced to abandon the second scheduled flight of matches because of the conditions. After long delays while the Race Committee attempted to set a course, USA-76 established an early lead over the Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia crew, but then had to overcome a spinnaker pole breakage on the final run to secure the win.

Three teams now share the top of the leaderboard after three races: BMW ORACLE Racing, Alinghi and Luna Rossa Challenge.

Race One summary:
After an even start, USA-76 came off the line on starboard tack and to windward of ITA-77. The two yachts sailed a long board out towards the port-hand layline before the Italian Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia crew initiated a brief tacking duel. Racing in 18-20 knots, USA-76 gained through the tacks and led around the windward mark with a 49 second advantage. In the big seas, the yachts looked sensational hurtling through the water under straining spinnakers. ITA-77 made a small gain on the downwind leg, but USA-76 then surged away upwind to lead around the second windward mark by 1 minute 31 seconds. Once again, conditions were marginal on the final run to the finish. The BMW ORACLE Racing crew had to use all their skills as the spinnaker pole broke on the run, leaving them to control the massive sail for the rest of the race without its support. Finally skipper Chris Dickson guided USA-76 across the line to win by a solid 1 minute 53 seconds.

Quotes from Peter Isler, USA-76 navigator:
‘The breeze conditions were actually steadier than we were expecting. However, in the second match, the wind dropped and as you looked across the course, you could see very strange things happening on the right hand side. The left and the middle were pretty steady, but the right was totally weird, so we made sure we kept away from that.

‘We were obviously very happy to make gains on each leg of the course in both matches. We were going pretty fast for the conditions, so we were happy with our boatspeed. Coming off the start against Team Shosholoza we were even off the line and to windward of them. It was one of those situations where – particularly in light airs – you would expect to fall down towards them. But we were able to live on their windward side and made steady gains. That was the best leg of the day for us, because the pressure was on.

‘The afterguard combination worked well. We have a long way to go in terms of being a well-oiled machine, but there were no problems at all. Tactician Bertrand Pacé gets my Player of the Day award. He did a fantastic job of making very clear and concise calls right through the day.’

Team Standings:
BMW ORACLE Racing 3pt
Alinghi 3pt
Luna Rossa 3pt
K-Challenge 2pt
Victory Challenge 2pt
Emirates Team New Zealand 2pt
United Internet Team Germany 1pt
Desafio Espanol 2007 1pt
+39 Challenge 0pt
Mascalzone Latino Capitalia 0pt
China Team 0pt
Team Shosholoza 0pt

Source: http://bmworacleracing.com