Louis Vuitton Pacific Series – Day Five Reports – 3rd February, 2009

by Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Media on 3 Feb 2009 Louis Vuitton Pacific Series – Day Five Results and Reports – 3rd February, 2009

Louis Vuitton Pacific Series – Day Five – 3rd February, 2009

Race 4:
TEAMORIGIN beat Greek Challenge – 58s
Greek offshore sailor Theodoros Tsoulfas took the helm of Greek Challenge today, while Kiwi Gavin Brady who has been steering all week, stepped back to take the tactician’s role after starting the boat. For the 37-year-old Greek Star boat champion this was only his second week aboard a Cup boat, much less steering one, but he kept the racing close for the first two legs and finished less than a minute behind the British boat steered by triple Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie. Tsoulfas is prominent in Greek offshore competition and has sailed on American big boats like Atalanti and Kialoa but he acknowledged that stepping up to the helm was a big move. Ainslie herded Brady over the line before the start but then broke away for a midline start at speed while Greek Challenge started at the committee. There was little between them for the first five tacks and most of the weather leg and the Greeks were still just 17 seconds behind TEAMORIGIN at the first leeward mark but Ainslie sailed clear after that.
Deltas

Mark 1 - 0:16 - TEAMORIGIN
Mark 2 - 0:17 - TEAMORIGIN
Mark 3 - 0:44 - TEAMORIGIN
Finish - 0:58 - TEAMORIGIN

Race 3:
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Pataugas K-Challenge – 1:38s
There wasn’t a second wasted in a lively pre-start duel between Dean Barker on the New Zealand boat and Sebastien Col on the French boat that saw three successive dial-ups. ETNZ went for the left end of the line with K-Challenge on her hip and both boats at speed. After a short starboard tack both boats went off on a long port board with Col leading. Closing the weather mark after four tacks they were still neck and neck but Barker got control coming into the mark and although Col kept it close for the run and part of the next leg, the New Zealanders cruised to a comfortable victory.
Deltas

Mark 1 - 0:22 - ETNZ
Mark 2 - 0:33 - ETNZ
Mark 3 - 1:26 - ETNZ
Finish - 1:38 - ETNZ


Race 2:
Shosholoza beat Alinghi – 3m49s
Chalk up a massive victory to South Africa! Italian skipper Paolo Cian steering Shosholoza delivered a virtuoso performance at the start of the South Africans’ match up with America’s Cup champions Alinghi. With the benefit of a starboard entry, Cian superbly controlled Alinghi helmsman Ed Baird in a prolonged dialup that carried both boats above the start line. They hung head to wind for more than three minutes until Cian, timing his move perfectly, returned with a long swooping turn to hit the line at speed, with Baird trailing by almost three boat lengths. Shosholoza sailed away and was never threatened. Alinghi was caught in light, shifty air approaching the leeward mark and lost more time in an uncharacteristically untidy spinnaker takedown that had crewmen scrambling on the foredeck to contain the billowing chute as their boat knifed to windward. Shosholoza was still extending on the last run, over a kilometer in front as she finished.

Deltas

Mark 1 - 0:32 - Shosholoza
Mark 2 - 2:32- Shosholoza
Mark 3 - 3:19 - Shosholoza
Finish - 3:49 - Shosholoza


Race 1:
BMW Oracle beat Damiani Italia: 52s

On a sparkling day on the Waitemata Harbour with a brisk 15 knot northeasterly blowing, BMW Oracle and Damiani Italia lined up with two wins a piece. In a relatively tame pre-start, BMW Oracle skipper Russell Coutts crossed the line with speed at the right-hand end, while Vasco Vascotto and the Italian boat went to the left but tacked immediately on to port to join the Americans. Coutts tacked cleanly in front and kept heading left, but Vascotto caught a wind shift on the right and held the advantage. It was shortlived, and BMW Oracle led the march to the top mark, rounding 21s ahead. Downwind the Italians gained ground and the two boats then sailed on opposite gybes, separated by 450m across the course, with Damiani Italia only 8s behind rounding the leeward gate. The next leg was dominated by shifty breezes coming off Rangitoto Island, each boat taking turns to benefit, before BMW Oracle made a big gain near the mark extending to a six-boat length lead. Vascotto’s crew did not recover, finishing the race 55s behind; the win guaranteeing BMW Oracle’s place in the gold fleet for the second round.

Deltas

Mark 1 – 0:21 – BMW Oracle
Mark 2 – 0:11 - BMW Oracle
Mark 3 – 0:31 - BMW Oracle
Finish – 0:55 - BMW Oracle
Pre-Race Report 1000 hours NZ Time
The teams briefing at the Emirates Team New Zealand base in the Race Village this morning was short and sweet. Weather conditions look good. We’ll have four races today to complete the first round robin. At that point, all ten international teams will have completed four races in the opening round.
The completion of four races means we’ll take a lay day tomorrow before the competitors are seeded into Gold and Silver fleets for the next stage of competition.
After yesterday, the scores are: Pool A – Emirates Team New Zealand, 3; Damiani Italia Challenge, 2; BMW Oracle Racing, 2; Pataugas K Challenge, 1; China Team, 0. Pool B – TEAMORIGIN, 3; Alinghi, 2; Luna Rossa, 2; Greek Challenge, 0, Team Shosholoza, 0. China Team and Luna Rossa have byes today and thus cannot improve their scores.
The matches today will be raced consecutively, instead of two pairs at one time, like the last two days. Damiani Italia Challenge will race BMW Oracle Racing, Alinghi will race Team Shosholoza, Pataugas K-Challenge will race Emirates Team New Zealand, and TEAMORIGIN will race Greek Challenge.
Roger 'Clouds' Badham, ace meteorologist for ETNZ, told afterguard representatives that the breeze was already coming in from the north, phasing between 11 and 15 knots and helped by the funnelling effect of the Rangitoto Channel. He expects the direction to move more to the left as the day warms up and expects some increase in wind speed during mid afternoon.