Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, i risultati della seconda giornata
LV Pacific SeriesVela 31 Gennaio 2009 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=1616,250,170,,left]Louis Vuitton Pacific Series – Auckland – Al via la seconda giornata di regate valide per le Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. Ad Auckland le condizioni meteo sono migliori rispeto a ieri: il vento soffia dai quadranti settentrionali attorno ai 15 nodi e il mare è calmo. I primi a darsi battaglia nelle acque della Waitemata Bay sono BMW Oracle Racing ed Emirates Team New Zealand.
BMW Oracle Racing vs Emirates Team New Zealand
Una regata senza storia. Sin dal via, Emirates Team New Zealand ha tenuto sotto controllo BMW Oracle Racing e si è aggiudicato la regata con buon margine.
Greek Challenge vs Team Shosholoza
Ottima regata di Gavin Brady che dopo aver inflitto una penalità a Paolo Cian, al debutto dopo aver scontato il turno di riposo in occasione del primo giorno di regate, ha controllato la situazione. Team Shosholoza ha comunque lottato con grande determinazione e a metà della seconda bolina, quado le barche hanno spaiato, si è avvicinato moltissimo all’avversario.
Damiani Italia Challenge vs China Team
Se la partenza di ieri non è stata delle migliori, oggi Francesco Bruni è stato perfetto e ha costretto nell’angolo Ian Williams. Lo skipper di China Team, due volte campione del mondo di match race, nulla ha potuto contro l’aggressivo approcio del timoniere di Damiani Italia Challenge che, assistito da un Vasco Vascotto in grande spolvero, ha letteralmente dominato la regata, infliggendo all’avversario quello che a oggi è il distacco più pesante dell’intero evento.
Alinghi vs Luna Rossa
Facile vittoria di Alinghi su Luna Rossa. Ed Baird amministra con attenzione il vantaggio ottenuto in pre-start e non lascia spazio a Peter Holmberg. Sul traguardo i secondi di distacco tra gli svizzeri e gli italiani è di 52″.
Hanno riposato Pataugas K-Challenge e Team Origin.
LVPS, risultati della seconda giornata
Emirates Team New Zealand batte BMW Oracle Racing
Damiani Italia Challenge batte China Team
Greek Challenge batte Team Shosholoza
Alinghi batte Luna Rossa
Pool A
2 pt – Emirates Team New Zealand
1 pt – Pataugas K-Challenge
1 pt – Damiani-Italia Challenge
0 pt – China Team
0 pt – BMW Oracle Racing
Pool B
1 pt – Team Origin
2 pt – Alinghi
0 pt – Team Shosholoza
0 pt – Luna Rossa
0 pt – Greek Challenge
[flashvideo filename=video/lvps/LVPS_pc_310109.flv /]
Il video della conferenza stampa. Video copyright Zerogradinord.it.
BARKER BEATS COUTTS IN WAITEMATA RACING
[Louis Vuitton Press Release] Russell Coutts was gracious in defeat today after losing a race in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series to Dean Barker, his old crew mate from Emirates Team New Zealand. Sailing the BMW Oracle Racing boat USA-87, Barker beat the Coutts-led American crew in USA-98 by 28 seconds in the first race of the day.
At a press conference in the Race Village afterwards and in front of a big public gallery, Coutts was asked what it felt like when the apprentice beat the master. Coutts answered dryly and with a smile: “It’s happened before!” He added, “We would have been happier with a different result but they won that one pretty convincingly.”
After eight races over the first two days, Emirates Team New Zealand has two points in Pool A, while Pataugas K-Challenge from France and Damiani Italia Challenge each have one point. In Pool B, Switzerland’s Alinghi is the leader with two points while Britain’s Team Origin has one point.
A shifty, gusty southwest breeze averaging 16 knots delivered challenging racing conditions as the boats raced twice-around 1.7-mile legs from a start line off Rangitoto to a windward mark just off the Orakei Basin. The racers took a break after the third race while commercial ships and a barge moved through the area.
In the first race the promise inherent in the series was realized with a tough, tight race between old rivals Emirates Team New Zealand and BMW Oracle Racing. The Kiwis got the right after a pre-start battle and Coutts fought back, rounding the first leeward mark only two seconds behind. Coutts enjoyed a brief lead, only to see Barker use the leverage of the favored right hand side and kill any chances of an American victory.
Gavin Brady, the Kiwi skipper of the Greek Challenge, and his mixed Greco-Kiwi crew had something to prove after suffering a penalty from a collision yesterday that put them in minus scoring territory. In the second race Brady pounced on the South African boat Shosholoza in the pre-start and the umpires had landed a penalty on his opponents before the start gun had fired. Brady started in frront and worked to a clear 56 second win over South Africa’s Italian skipper and helmsman Paolo Cian.
In similar fashion Francesco Bruni at the helm of the new Italian team Damiani Italia Challenge put his stamp early on the third race. He shut out two-time World Match Racing Tour champion Ian Williams aboard China Team, forcing him above the start boat just before the gun. The Italians won by 1 min 17 sec in a race when the deltas were never less than one minute and the lead at times as much as 500 metres.
In the last race of the day, Alinghi won handsomely by 50 seconds over Virgin Islands match racer Peter Holmberg at the wheel of the Italian boat Luna Rossa. Holmberg mis-timed his last minute manoeuvres approaching the start line and in an effort to win clear air he conceded 40 metres to Ed Baird on Alinghi as they crossed. The Swiss were never threatened again.
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