13 Mar, 2010

Emirates Team New Zealand Enjoys Unbroken Record

Brisk breezes and high-pressure competition delivered a basket of surprises and some painful losses during the fourth day of competition for the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Auckland.

© Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz | Louis Vuitton Trophy

After a day lost to heavy, gusty winds, the moderate to fresh conditions today were still sufficient to test the eight international teams that took turns in match racing on the Waitemata Harbour on the Emirates Team New Zealand boats NZL84 and NZL92.

 In the second race, a collision between Britain's TEAMORIGIN and the French team ALEPH earned the French boat a penalty, plus the loss of a point. Then in race three, Sweden's Artemis conceded a healthy lead over Italy's Azzurra when the spinnaker pole went over the side and they went trawling with the spinnaker.

With three days remaining in the round robin, the host Emirates Team New Zealand has a perfect record after a convincing win today over the German/French boat All4One. Azzurra, the young Italian team that won the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice is in second place with a 3-1 score. The two teams will meet in the second race tomorrow.

Currently four teams are in equal third place with two wins and two losses. They are All4One, sailing under the German and French flags, Artemis, Mascalzone Latino Audi from Italy and TEAMORIGIN. The tie between Artemis and ML Audi will be decided tomorrow in the fourth race.

Conditions on the Waitemata Harbour were perfect for racing with bright sunshine, blue skies and a 12-knot breeze that built in the afternoon, bringing with it some clouds and a brief shower. Crowds ashore watched racing on the jumbo screen in the Louis Vuitton Race Village in the Viaduct Basin's Market Square but the best viewing was from the grassy slopes of North Head.

Race One: Emirates Team New Zealand def. All4One, 00:26 - ETNZ skipper/helmsman Dean Barker took the host team to a 4-0 record, never really threatened by the German/French boat All4One after a tense, scrappy pre-start duel.  Sébastien Col at the wheel of All4One was pushing the Kiwi boat in the last seconds as they came to the line but the Kiwis pulled off a down-speed tack and split away on port as Col was forced to tack and follow. The French helmsman pressed hard on the first leg but New Zealand exploited the dominance of the right side and maintained a comfortable lead. "The race was lost at the start when we left the overlap a little bit too late," said Jochen Schümann, skipper and tactician for All4One. "They were in control at all times.  It looked good for us at times but never good enough that we could sail around them."

Race Two: TEAMORIGIN def. ALEPH, 02:11 - With the breeze up to 17 knots the race began with a bang in the pre-start as the bow of TEAMORIGIN slammed into the stern scoop of NZL 84, crewed by ALEPH. There was damage to both boats and the French boat, steered by Bertrand Pacé, was penalised under Rule 16 for altering course. The umpires reported that as the boats turned out of the dialup, Ben Ainslie steering the British boat was keeping clear of ALEPH but the French boat turned away, causing the contact. Matt Cornwall mid-bowman on TEAMORIGIN said: "Obviously the French think we fouled them. Question is whether they swung their transom and prevented us from getting our bow down in time to avoid their transom.  They did close the gap on us and didn't give us room to keep clear." In addition to the penalty, ALEPH was docked one point for hard contact which the team said it will appeal to the jury. At the gun, Pacé started to leeward of Ainslie. The British boat consolidated an early advantage to control for the rest of the race as the breeze built to over 20 knots. The French enjoyed a great last leg and came storming into the finish only two boat lengths behind TEAMORIGIN.

Race Three: Azzurra def. Artemis, Ret. - Terry Hutchinson steering the Swedish team Artemis, with skipper/tactician Paul Cayard calling the shots, started strongly in their race against the Italian boat Azzurra. The Swedish boat chased the Italians deep into the start box before it breaking clear, tacking and starting on starboard with speed. Francesco Bruni had a clean start on starboard at midline but Hutchinson enjoyed an early lead that he smartly leveraged into a 44 second lead at the weather mark. But only for seconds. As Artemis bore off and set up for a spinnaker hoist, the pole end went over the side, was dragged aft and the pole broke around the shrouds as the spinnaker went under the boat. Game over. "The jammer for the pole slipped," Hutchinson reported. "Down the pole came and went in the water and that was all she wrote.  The sheet went under the boat and the spinnaker went under the rudder.  It's disappointing but we'll debrief it and make sure we don't make the same mistakes twice."

Race Four: Mascalzone Latino Audi def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team 00:19 - After a pause for repairs, there was plenty of energy from Poland's Karol Jablonski, steering the Russian boat, and Kiwi Gavin Brady at the helm of ML Audi Team.  Synergy had the advantaged starboard entry but chose to duck below the Italians. It the hotly-contested manoeuvres that followed, with two green flags from the umpires, Brady drove Jablonski above the line. Despite that, the Russians broke clear and crossed the Italians on the first tack.  When Jablonski conceded the right to Brady, the Italian boat took the lead and held it. Even a botched spinnaker takedown when the Italians gift-wrapped their boat's bow with a messy late takedown was not enough to give the Russians a chance.

Provisional leaderboard after Flight Four:

  1.   Emirates Team New Zealand, 4-0, 4 pts
  2.  Azzurra, 3-1, 3 pts
=3.  All4One, 2-2, 2 pts
=3.  Artemis, 2-2, 2 pts
=3.  Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 2-2, 2 pts
=3.  TEAMORIGIN, 2-2, 2 pts
  7.  ALEPH Sailing Team, 1-3, 0 pts *
  8.  Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 0-4, 0 pts

* Penalty point deducted

LIVE Sport Sailing 103.0 FM is featuring all-day live coverage of the Louis Vuitton Trophy.  On television, during the seven days of the round robin, TVNZ is carrying nightly reports on its sports news. From March 16, during the elimination rounds, TVNZ will feature nightly half-hour reports. For the finals on 20th and 21st March there will be live coverage of the racing from noon to 4:00pm.

Photos from Chris Cameron:

11 Mar, 2010

High tempo sailing action on the Waitemata

Whitewater on the deck, whitecaps on the Waitemata and warning whistles on the onboard overload alarms characterised the high tempo sailing action today at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta.

© Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz | Louis Vuitton Trophy

After three days of competition, Emirates Team New Zealand representing the host Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is undefeated with three wins while three teams each have a 2-1 record. They are the German/French team All4One, the Swedish team Artemis and Azzurra from Italy.

Racing moved closer to the city front today as the southwester funneled down the harbour, with puffs into the low 20-knot range as the day wore on. The weather mark was between the container wharves and the Devonport Dockyard.

Tipped as the highlight match of the day, the opening race between Emirates and Britain's TEAMORIGIN came to a sudden end at the first leeward gate as a late tactical call on the British boat escalated into a firedrill that left spinnaker and jib draped over the foredeck and a broken spinnaker pole over the side.

Ben Ainslie at TEAMORIGIN's wheel led at the end of the first beat after a fierce nine-tack duel up the short 1.2-mile weather leg in a puffy and shifty 13-16 knot southwesterly breeze. ETNZ was right on the British boat's heels, just 14 seconds astern and began slowly clawing back the distance.

They came into the leeward mark with the Kiwis bow to stern with TEAMORIGIN and British hopes evaporated as Ainslie issued new last-minute orders.

"It was a bit of mess," Ainslie said. "Things change very quickly at the bottom, but a big shift made us change the call and there wasn't enough time for the guys to react."

Barker had to sail around the hapless British boat. "It was all go coming into the bottom mark," he said.  "We have confidence in our crew work. If we get behind we're able to keep the pressure on and keep fighting hard. Today it worked well.  They made a mistake. Ignoring what happened, if they had been able to get around the mark it would have been an interesting race. We had made a big gain and it would have been some tough racing. They are sailing well."

Race One: Emirates Team New Zealand def. TEAMORIGIN, Ret. - Ben Ainslie steering Britain's TEAMORIGIN, fought for the right while ETNZ skipper Dean Barker went for the left.  As they hit the start line, the Kiwi boat with a safe leeward forced their opponent away. However, the first beat belonged to Ainslie. Nine fast tacks later at the port layline, TEAMORIGIN enjoyed a three boat-length lead. The top mark margin was 14 seconds before Barker slowly soaked down on his opponent and picked up more ground with smoother sail handling. With ETNZ close astern and the pressure piling on, it all turned to custard on the British boat as they prepared to drop the spinnaker at the leeward gate.

Race Two: All4One def. Azzurra, 00:46 - Race umpires had their work cut out with multiple incidents and protests in series of heavy-air skirmishes between Francesco Bruni steering Azzurra and Sébastien Col on the wheel of the German/French All4One.  The Italian boat locked out her opponent above the line before the start but Col escaped at the last minute to get back and lead at the gun. Azzurra controlled from the right side but after All4One gained ground in a series of tacks, her tactician John Cutler forced the Italians beyond the starboard layline and above the mark. Col was able to lead back and rounded first in a flurry of protests, all green-flagged. With the wind over 20 knots and the boats pushing white water, they went down the run side by side. Cutler made the call to again take their opponents past the mark.  The Italian sail handling suffered under the pressure and Azzurra trailed badly on the last two legs.

Race Three: Mascalzone Latino Audi def. ALEPH Sailing Team, 00:55 - Bertrand Pacé's French ALEPH team used their starboard tack entry to advantage in a pre-start circling duel that took both boats deep into the starting box. The start, with both boats on starboard, was close but Gavin Brady steering ML Audi Team, enjoyed an advantage for a few seconds before ALEPH edged in front. The two boats swapped the lead several times up the first half of the beat until Brady, to weather of his opponent, pushed the French boat out beyond the starboard layline. The Italian boat led into the top mark and consolidated its gains on the next three legs.

Race Four: Artemis def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team 00:41 - Skipper Karol Jablonski, steering the Russian boat, engaged Terry Hutchinson at the wheel of Paul Cayard's Artemis in a lively pre-start duel only to be penalized for gybing too close. The boats hit the line together at speed with Artemis to weather. Seconds later Hutchinson tacked and split away and initiated a tacking duel that took the Swedish boat into the lead. The Russians pushed hard and kept it close around all four legs but finished 41 seconds astern after completing their penalty turn.

Provisional leaderboard after Flight Three:

  1.   Emirates Team New Zealand, 3-0
=2.  All4One, 2-1
=2.  Artemis, 2-1
=2.  Azzurra, 2-1
=5.  ALEPH Sailing Team, 1-2
=5.  Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 1-2
=5.  TEAMORIGIN, 1-2
  8.   Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 0-3

LIVE Sport Sailing 103.0 FM is featuring all-day live coverage of the Louis Vuitton Trophy.  On television, during the seven days of the round robin, TVNZ is carrying nightly reports on its sports news. From March 16, during the elimination rounds, TVNZ will feature nightly half-hour reports. For the finals on 20th and 21st March there will be live coverage of the racing from noon to 4:00pm.

And photos from

Chris Cameron:

10 Mar, 2010

Gear failure puts finish to a close
Kiwi vs Italian encounter

American-based Kiwi Gavin Brady and his largely international team of Latin Rascals took the fight to host Emirates Team New Zealand in their Louis Vuitton Trophy race today, only to lose after a gear failure.

© Ian Roman/TEAMORIGIN | Louis Vuitton Trophy

Brady, with American tactician Morgan Larson calling the shots, pulled off a risky pre-start strategy against skipper Dean Barker on the New Zealand boat, pushing ETNZ deep into the start box after a dialup but breaking clear with immaculate timing to grab the start he wanted - a port tack cross at speed, right at the committee boat.

Minutes later as they came back together, Brady had a two boat-length advantage that he parlayed into a 22 second lead at the first weather mark. Down the run, the New Zealanders split away and Brady let them go, only to concede the right side of the course when they rounded opposite gates starting the second beat.

Brady's lead had evaporated but the fight had just started. Half way up the weather leg Mascalzone barely had her nose in front as they sailed into a building breeze when the jib came crashing down. "That was our race to win," said Brady. "And a tough way to lose!"

Out on the Waitemata Harbour today, the wait for a good breeze stretched out to three hours but the competitors were rewarded with superb sailing conditions under a bright sunny sky. The sea breeze filled in from the southwest, starting at five to seven knots and building during the afternoon to nearly 15 knots before softening a little in the late afternoon.

The boats raced on 1.2-mile legs on the black course, bounded by the Devonport shore and the natural grandstand of North Head on one side and Bastion Point on the other. Spectators high on North Head were rewarded with birds-eye views of the competition.

Race One: TEAMORIGIN def. All4One, 01:33 - Britain's TEAMORIGIN, skippered and steered by Ben Ainslie, prevailed in the pre-start to lead Sébastien Col at the wheel of All4One at the gun with a 16-metre margin. Sailing at speed on port tack, the British boat started right at the committee boat while their adversary tacked off to starboard behind them. When they converged at the first cross, Ainslie had converted his lead in the shifty breeze to 70 metres. The German/French boat stayed relatively close until the second weather mark but lost a minute on the last run.

Race Two: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Mascalzone Latino Audi, 4:43 - Gavin Brady, the Kiwi skipper of Italy's Mascalzone Latino Audi Team took the fight to the home team, overcoming Dean Barker's starboard entry advantage. Brady came out unscathed in several close pre-start encounters to win the start and the right side of the course. With the breeze up to 11 knots, Brady led Barker by a boat length at the first cross. The visiting team exploited the power of the right to lead at the top mark by a boat length and then extend on the run. Barker fought back, closing down to eight seconds at the leeward mark and getting out to the right. After two very close tacks, the visitors were fighting to maintain a safe leeward berth on starboard when a halyard clip failed and Brady's hopes crashed, along with the jib.

Race Three: Azzurra def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 00:41 - The Russian boat steered by Karol Jablonski secured a safe leeward as the boats started, forcing Francesco Bruni on Azzurra away soon after the gun. Jablonski followed and held a one boat-length lead on a long port tack before Bruni tacked back. A tacking duel followed in 12 to 14 knots of breeze as the Italians whittled away the Russian lead, gaining a metre or two on every tack.  As Jablonski tacked to leeward for the tenth time, Bruni had gained the advantage and sailed his opponent out to the layline. The Russians kept it close but the young Italian team eked out more time on every leg.

Race Four: Artemis def. ALEPH Sailing Team 01:21 - Bertrand Pacé and his ALEPH Sailing Team trailed by 50 metres over the starting line in this match and that was all the margin Artemis would need to dominate the race. It appeared to be a miscalculation on time and distance to the start on the French boat, and with Artemis helmsman Terry Hutchinson hitting the line with speed, his Swedish team was in firm control all the way around the track.

Provisional leaderboard after Flight Two:

Emirates Team New Zealand, 2
Azzurra, 2
TEAMORIGIN, 1
Artemis, 1
All4One, 1
ALEPH Sailing Team, 1
Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 0
Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 0

LIVE Sport Sailing 103.0 FM is featuring all-day live coverage of the Louis Vuitton Trophy.  On television, during the seven days of the round robin, TVNZ is carrying nightly reports on its sports news. From March 16, during the elimination rounds, TVNZ will feature nightly half-hour reports. For the finals on 20th and 21st March there will be live coverage of the racing from noon to 4:00pm.

Photos from Chris Cameron: