America's Cup WS- Penalty only blemish on good day for Emirates TNZ
by Warren Douglas on 5 Oct 2012
Emirates Team New Zealand, race two on day two of the America’s Cup World Series, San Francisco. 4/10/2012 Chris Cameron/ETNZ
http://www.chriscameron.co.nz
Emirates Team New Zealand had mixed results on Day 2 of the America’s Cup World Series regatta at San Francisco.
A win in the match racing quarter-final propels Dean Barker and crew through to the semi-finals on Saturday.
A good second in the first fleet race of the regatta saw ETNZ only 17s astray of BAR (Ben Ainslie) with Oracle 5 third 29s off the lead.
The result in the second fleet race was a disappointing eighth after being boxed in at the start and, with a penalty to clear, the crew never got the traction to climb through the fleet.
The second day of competition started with cool temperatures under a sea fog which hadlargely lifted by the time racing stated just after noon. The breeze climbed to 15-16 knots and the current against the wind produced a chop.
In the match racing quarter final, Dean Barker and crew – Ray Davies, Adam Beashel, James Dagg and Derek Saward – were first away from the line and led around the first mark.
Energy took advantage of a not-so-good gybe and rolled over ETNZ on the downward leg to lead around mark 2.
They separated on the up-wind leg; Barker, with right-of-way forced Energy to dip at the first cross, and re-took the lead.
Sailing into a shift, Barker extended and rounded the third mark 40s ahead. At the finish the delta was 43s.
In the other quarter-final sailed today, Artemis White beat Korea by 53s.
Barker was pleased with the result in the first fleet race. 'We got a good start, rounding the first mark handy in fourth place. We were able to battle our way up to second at the end.
He said the crew had a much better day interpreting the local conditions. 'Dee Smith (the team’s local knowledge) has been invaluable. He’s telling us what to be looking for from the standpoint of a yachtie who has the experience many years of successful sailing on San Francisco Bay.'
They started badly in the second fleet race. 'We were bunched in at the line got a penalty in for 'failing to keep clear' of Korea.'] Slowing down to clear the penalty meant the fleet got away.
Barker was 10th around the first mark and battled hard to get back into the race. They got to eighth finishing 1m43s behind race leader Oracle 4.
Tomorrow the team has two more fleet races. On Saturday the match race semi-final and finals will be followed by two fleet races.
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