BMW Oracle Racing win through to the Challenger Final of Louis Vuitton

by Keith Taylor on 11 Feb 2009 Louis Vuitton Pacific Series – Day 12, 11th February, 2009
Race 3 -Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Semi Final
BMW Oracle Racing beat Damiani Italia Challenge – 35s
In sharp contrast to previous matches there were no fireworks or flags when the semi finalists met. It was a boat speed contest and the American Oracle team prevailed. With a minute and a half to go, both boats were stemming the tide at low speed below the line. Russell Coutts, steering Oracle was protecting the committee end and Francesco Bruni had taken up position well to leeward. They stayed that way before speeding up for the gun with Coutts starting fractionally ahead and with a touch more speed. The American boat had a small advantage on a long drag race to the port layline, broken only two sharp but unsuccessful luffing attacks by the Italians that cost them valuable seconds and metres. Coutts led into the mark and was never threatened after that.
Deltas

Mark 1 - 0:18 - E
Mark 2 - 0:20 - E
Mark 3 - 0:31 - E
Finish - 0:35 - E

Race 2: Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Semi Final
Damiani Italia Challenge beat TEAMORIGIN – 29s
An umpire’s green flag at the start of TEAMORIGIN’s semi final match against the other newcomer team, Damiani Italia Challenge, was the defining moment that spelled the end of the British team’s bid for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series trophy. British skipper Ben Ainslie controlled his opponent, Francesco Bruni, throughout an aggressive pre-start sequence but the Italian helmsman wriggled off the hook with seconds to go before the start gun. An initial bid to land a protest on the Italians had been green-flagged by the umpires but Ainslie still appeared to be in control as the boats reached down the line on port tack towards the committee boat. The Italian boat gybed across TEAMORIGIN’S bow to start on starboard. Ainslie protested, claiming his opponent didn’t have room for the manoeuvre. The umpires responded with another green flag leaving the British boat to futilely follow Damiani around every mark of the course.
Deltas

Mark 1 - 0:14 - Damiani Italia Challenge
Mark 2 - 0:12 - Damiani Italia Challenge
Mark 3 - 0:22 - Damiani Italia Challenge
Finish - 0:29 - Damiani Italia Challenge

Race 1: Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Semi Final
BMW Oracle Racing beat Luna Rossa – 09s


Russell Coutts showed why he is still a master of match racing, astounding sailing experts by exquisitely executing a penalty turn at the finish line and driving BMW Oracle to victory over Luna Rossa in their quarter final thriller.

In the pre-start, Coutts made it clear he wanted the left, and did a sterling job holding out Luna Rossa, with Peter Holmberg at the helm. Both boats crossed the start line on starboard tack, with BMW Oracle marginally ahead, but it wasn’t long before Luna Rossa had to tack away. Coutts tacked in response and managed to protect the left all the way to the first mark, but could not shake a dogged Italian attack. As the boats rounded the mark, the American boat copped a penalty for failing to keep clear of the Italians, but that penalty was negated almost immediately when Luna Rossa was flagged for sailing above its course. A third of the way down the run, Oracle gybed directly across Luna Rossa’s bow and was penalized again for gybing too close. Holmberg then knew the game was to throttle BMW Oracle’s lead to less than six boat lengths. On the final run, Luna Rossa shadowed BMW Oracle by 100m, and it seemed improbable Coutts’ crew could carry out the penalty and still cross the line ahead. But they did so with total mastery of the situation and won by a clear 9s – advancing Larry Ellison’s team to the semifinals and ending Luna Rossa’s run in this regatta.

Deltas

Mark 1 - 0:04 - BMW Oracle Racing
Mark 2 - 0:12 - BMW Oracle Racing
Mark 3 - 0:19 - BMW Oracle Racing
Finish - 0:09 - BMW Oracle Racing

Pre-Race Report 1100 hours NZ Time
A forecast for very light north-easterly breeze this morning led the Race Committee to delay the harbour start for the race boats by 90 minutes. However conditions are expected to improve this afternoon, with the probability of racing starting at around 1400 hours on the green course. The forecast indicates a northerly breeze at 6-10 knots by that time.
The program calls for the challenger quarter finals and the semi-finals today. The race committee has indicated they will conduct racing as late as possible into the afternoon. They might even start one race of the challenger finals if there is time. For more information about the race schedule, click on BREAKING NEWS and then choose RESULTS