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Friday Race


shanson

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13:37

AP flag will come down at 1359hrs, F flag signal at 1400hrs. Wind WW1 mark is 175° at 6 knots and at the committee boat it is 185° wind speed 7 knots. Looks like we will get Race 1 of the 33rd America's Cup under way. Practice races have previously taken between 2.5 and 3.5 hours on this Deed of Gift race. USA 17 have now unrolled their jib.

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13:51

USA 17 have a big 'downwind' headsail up, Mast man Matt Mason confirmed yesterday that skipper-helm James Spithill was fired up to go for a penalty on Alinghi 5 if at all possible.

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13:57

Conditions could not be better, 2 minutes to the AP down. Ten minutes to the start after that. The final coordinates of the WW1 mark is 39°29´9590N / 00°03´0580 E. AP flag has remained up so the planned start schedule is delayed. Breeze has dropped a little but both boats still making over ten knots.

 

 

14:01

So we remain on hold, breeze is reported to have dropped to 2-3 knots.

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14:13

Still Alinghi are a sailing around at 15 to 16 knots of boat speed, occasionally flying a hull. They seem to want to go racing for sure, USA still holding fire cruising six or seven knots with their headsail away now. Breeze is 155 deg at the WW1 and start, 160 deg in middle of track and 155 at the start area, 3 knots at the startline area and 5 knots offshore at WW1 mark.

 

 

and they reckon it will take 2 hours!

 

 

 

14:18

So Principal Race Officer Harold Bennett confirms now that the breeze has settled again and he plans to drop the AP flag at 1424 local time, Attention signal 1425h, start planned 1435hrs. USA roll their headsail out again and away they go.

 

 

14:22

USA 17 have rolled their headsail away again and are on station at the committee boat as the AP flag comes down, game on.

 

 

14:24 and the AP flag is down!!

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14:25

The excitement is palpable now, tension unbelievable. We are inside the ten minutes countdown. Breeze still around five to six knots. USA dropping the gennaker to the deck making a change and now have a light genoa and USA eject a back-up crew into the water at around 6min 30 to go.

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14:29

Getting ready for entry to the start box at 5 mins, timing is crucial. Alinghi at 23 knots USA making 17 knots as the gun.

 

 

14:30

Alinghi cannot cross and USA take the immediate advantage, USA force penalty on Alinghi for failing to keep clear.

 

1st penalty

 

 

14:32

Both very slow with two minutes to go, Alinghi pinned to the left of the box a little and USA have the upper hand for sure.

 

 

14:33

USA to the right and both boats are above the start line, Alinghi have the penalty. USA have stalled, flat footed and are stuck, Alinghi win the start and USA are all but stopped on the wrong side of the line.

 

 

14:36

USA have not yet started and it is about 1 minute 45 seconds after the gun that the challenger gets back to the start line.

 

 

14:38

Alinghi lead by about 650 metres, boat speeds are roughly even around 18 knots. USA are now catching a little less than five minutes into Race 1. USA look to be sailing a few degrees higher but they are in slightly different pressure.

 

 

 

14:40

At the Windward Mark we now have 8 knots of wind at 180°, Alinghi have changed now to an upwind jib from their bigger GZero. Alinghi's lead has almost halved since the start, around 450 metres ahead.

 

 

14:45

And USA are closing in to Alinghi now there is 235 metres between the two, but of course Alinghi have their penalty to unload. But there is really little difference in speed, USA maybe has the small edge.

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