Azzurra has another challenging day at Louis Vuitton Trophy

by Azzurra media on 24 May 2010 Azzurra update from the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena.

Another challenging day for the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s Azzurra team who suffered a defeat at the hands of their French/German adversaries All4One. At the helm of the winning team was Jochen Schümann, a skipper and strategist with four Olympic medals (three golds and a silver) and three America’s Cup campaigns to his name.

This second day of the Louis Vuitton trophy, taking place in La Maddalena until 6th June, was a slow one for all of the competing teams who endured a long wait as the Race Committee was forced to postpone racing several times until the breeze filled in. Following the start of the match between Azzurra and the Russians of Synergy in which the Italian team controlled the start, the wind died completely and Principal Race Officer Peter 'Luigi' Reggio cancelled the remaining matches of the day at approximately 5 p.m. Team President and Commodore of the YCCS, Riccardo Bonadeo, was aboard Azzurra today as 18th man.

In the only race Azzurra completed today skipper Francesco Bruni, assisted by tactician Tommaso Chieffi, opted for the left side of the course while Frenchman Sebastien Col, veteran of two America’s Cup campaigns, chose the right. Despite a good start Azzurra did not find the wind she needed on the left while All4One was able to take advantage of the breeze on the right side of the course to build an increasing lead: 28 seconds at the first windward mark, 31 at the first leeward mark, 39 at the second and 20 across the finish line.

Francesco Bruni declared: 'Another difficult day, thank goodness this week is over and tomorrow is Monday! Today we took the left, the side we wanted but clearly that was not the right choice. Unfortunately, immediately after the start the wind shifted to the right and All4One gained a couple of boat lengths. They sailed well, didn’t make any mistakes and maintained their lead. Unfortunately this is our second defeat but as I said yesterday the guys are relaxed, today actually went better than yesterday because we got the side we had chosen. It was the wrong choice, but it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last. As long as the crew is working well I can accept mistakes.'

Tommaso Chieffi commented: 'It’s difficult racing on our home waters because I have done so many regattas here and I have some preconceptions about what the wind will do. Today I was seconded by Gabriele Bruni, the wind spotter on the mast who saw the same thing I did, we liked the left and we thought there was more wind there. Unfortunately the air went to All4One instead and we didn’t get the advantage we wanted. It was that time of the day, around 1 p.m., when the wind starts to shift right. That decided the entire race for us, the course was short and we were not able to get past them.'

Tomorrow Azzurra will meet Luna Rossa in the second flight of the day. Further light winds of approximately 7 to 10 knots from north east are predicted for tomorrow together with sunshine and temperatures of around 25°C.

Full results are available on www.azzurra.it .