Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland - Azzurra wins Petit Final

by Azzurra Team on 20 Mar 2010 Today the Azzurra team of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda wasn’t able to conquer the spot in the finals of the Louis Vuitton Trophy currently underway in Auckland. In the third and crucial match of the semifinals, Francesco Bruni and his crew lost to the favourites of the series Emirates Team New Zealand.

Azzurra goes home with a convincing win in the petit-final against the Swedish team Artemis: Francesco Bruni , skipper of Azzurra, inflicted a penalty in the pre-start on the crew led by US skipper Paul Cayard and led the whole race, inflicting a second penalty on his rival in the last downwind run. Team Azzurra ends the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland third overall, followed by Artemis in fourth. Tomorrow Emirates Team New Zealand will continue the final against Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (ETNZ currently leads by 1:0).

Today’s match between Azzurra and the home team was sailed in an oscillating breeze of 9-10 knots. Dean Barker, at the helm of the Kiwi boat, opted for the Committee side of the line just a few seconds before the start gun, with the wind shifting to the right. The crew of Azzurra, to leeward of their rivals, waited for a left-hand shift and rounded the top mark half a boat length behind the New Zealand boat. In the following legs of the course, it was all a matter of control for Dean Barker and his crew, who never gave Azzurra the chance to get away. The Kiwis capitalized on their lead and crossed the finish line 27 seconds ahead of Azzurra, advancing to the finals against the other Italian team Mascalzone Latino Audi Team.

Although disappointed for today’s loss, Francesco Bruni, skipper and helmsman of Azzurra, is very happy with the outcome of this event: 'we had some really great races and Azzurra walks away with pride. Whatever the result of the petit-final which will take place later today [the race to determine third and fourth placings], our team showed an impressive performance. We came really close to the finals, one metre away to be precise. We sailed really well in these very challenging waters, we had a good average of wins in the starts, we sailed with smart tactics and the crew maneuvered well. The outcome for us is extremely positive and we managed to put the Kiwis under great pressure. Their team, which is without any doubt one of the strongest, had to work really hard to defeat us. We go back home with a big smile on our faces. Now we will shift our attention to the next event in La Maddalena [Sardinia, Italy]. Our tactician [Tommaso Chieffi] knows those waters really well and we expect some great performances from him! La Maddalena will be the sailing event of the year, there will be four boats and ten teams racing. It will be a great feast and we want to party hard!'

Riccardo Bonadeo, President of team Azzurra and Commodore of the YCCS, was the 18th man for the decisive match: 'I am very proud of the team, they proved that they can face any condition with great confidence and they defended themselves really well against Emirates Team New Zealand. Yesterday’s incredibly close matches against the team led by Grant Dalton, a legendary figure in sailing and a close friend of mine, confirmed that Azzurra has grown a lot from a technical point of view and that the team is strong, firm and focused on the objectives that we set when we launched the new Azzurra last October. Flying the colours of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Azzurra is the only team in Auckland with a pure national identity and they are ambassadors of the Italian excellence worldwide. I hope that the great performances of Azzurra will help promote the sport of sailing in Italy and that Francesco Bruni and his crew will inspire many new young sailors. Unfortunately we weren’t able to defend the result that we had achieved against Emirates Team New Zealand at the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice [2:0 for Azzurra], but we knew that these regattas are a great training ground for us. We wish to thank all the teams that raced with us for their great sportsmanship, the organisers who put together another magnificent event and the Race Committee who did an awesome job on the water. After Auckland, team Azzurra will compete in the Congressional Cup in Long Beach, California, and then will train for the next leg of the Louis Vuitton Trophy which will take place in our home waters at La Maddalena, from May 22 to June 6, 2010.'

The Vice President of the YCCS Board of Directors, Roberto Kerkoc , was also following team Azzurra in Auckland, and he expressed his admiration for their performances.

The 18th man on Azzurra during the petit-final was Edoardo Recchi, YCCS Sporting Director and Team Manager of Azzurra.

The crew of Azzurra: Francesco Bruni (Skipper/Helmsman), Tommaso Chieffi (Tactician),
Tom Burnham (Strategist), Bruno Zirilli (Navigator), Daniele De Luca (Mainsail trimmer), Stefano Rizzi (Jib Trimmer), Pierluigi De Felice (Spi trimmer), Gabriele Bruni (Runner trimmer), Piero Romeo (Runner grinder), Nicola Pilastro (Mainsail grinder), Massimo Galli (Left grinder), Francesco Scalici (Right grinder),
Cristian Griggio (Pitman), Luca Albarelli (Mast), Pietro Mantovani (Mid Bow), Matteo Auguadro (Bowman), Michele Cannoni (Pit Assist), Gabrio Zandonà ( Coach), Ben Durham (Reserve), Michele Gnutti (Reserve), Giuseppe Leonardi (Reserve).

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