Drama aplenty in second practice day for Louis Vuitton Pacific Series

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 22 Jan 2009
There was plenty of drama on the inner Hauraki Gulf as Emirates Team New Zealand and BMW Oracle Racing squared off for the second day of practice before the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series.

Today's racing was conducted for the first time in the two BMW Oracle Racing yachts, and Emirates Team New Zealand's lack of familiarity with the US yachts may have been a contributing factor.

After waiting for the sea breeze to kick in, Emirates Team New Zealand started their warm up and appeared to rush through a rounding practice. A crew handling error resulted in a carbon spinnaker pole swing to leeward, catching in the water and then swing back against the cap shroud base, breaking the pole.

While the pictures looked dramatic enough, the sound of cracking carbon was not pleasant.

Practice racing was delayed while a tender was sent ashore for a new pole.

In the first race, Emirates Team NZ won the start and headed for the Takapuna shore, emerging with a small lead and was ahead at the first cross, however BMW Oracle moved ahead after a couple of gybes on the opening stages of the downwind leg.

As they chased each other down the run, Emirates Team New Zealand didn't see an anchored fishing boat appear in their course soon after completing a gybe. The aluminium fishing boat was unable to move away quickly enough, and Emirates Team New Zealand was been unsighted, as a result of a course change, the proximity of BMW Oracle Racing and the large red spinnaker which restricted visibility.

In the end no real harm was done as the leeward jockey pole clipped the fishing boat as they passe, and ETNZ's keel picked up the fishing boat's anchor line - towing them for a distance, until the mess was sorted out.

The big one did get away, this time!

The atmosphere on the water was a little tense all day, as the crews move into competition mode. For Russell Coutts aboard BMW Oracle Racing it is his first trick at the helm of an America's Cup yacht in competition since 2003, and clearly the three times America's Cup winner is keen to put his stamp on this regatta.

For Dean Barker and his crew there is the ghost of 2003 to dismiss, plus the additional pressure of being the top crew from the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup.

Clearly this regatta is going to be a lot different from standard America's Cup events, with the shorter legs, and the need for crews to be able to quickly adapt to new yachts and changed systems.

Any mistakes, as we saw today, will be quickly punished, and this will be a real match racing test more so than a design test.

All teams will be trying to work on their combinations and team work over the coming week before racing begins in earnest on 30 January.