RC44 Championship Tour, a No Way Back succede BMW Oracle Racing
MonotipiaRC44Vela 13 Dicembre 2010 Zerogradinord 0
RC44 Championship Tour – Miami – Sono Larry Ellison e i velisti di BMW Oracle Racing i vincitori 2010 del circuito riservato alla classe RC44. L’equipaggio statunitense, che segue No Way Back nell’albo d’oro, si è imposto grazie al secondo posto ottenuto nella serie di regate di flotta che si è conclusa questo pomeriggio con la vittoria di Team 17, già balzato al comando ieri con ampio margine sugli inseguitori e finito al terzo posto assoluto nella graduatoria generale dell’RC44 Championship Tour. Grazie alla difesa della piazza d’onore, e al conseguente quarto di tappa, BMW Oracle Racing è riuscito a respingere l’attacco di Artemis Racing, finito quinto nell’ultima serie di prove flotta del 2010 e secondo di tappa.
“Siamo stati un pò altalenanti. Qualche volta abbiamo commesso errori evitabili, ma, nel complesso, non posso che essere contento di come abbiamo regatato – ha commentato Larry Ellison a fine premiazione – L’evento di match race è stato molto impegnativo qui a Miami, ma alla fine anche il sesto ottenuto nell’uno contro uno, vista la presenza di quattordici barche, non è poi da buttare via”.
Chi da Miami porta via un ricordo sicuramente positivo è Mascalzone Latino che, dopo aver partecipato con scrai risultati alla frazione di Valencia e al Mondiale di Lanzarote, in Florida ha fatto bottino pieno. Due terzi sono bastati al team di Vincenzo Onorato e del tattico Francesco Bruni per conquistare il successo di tappa. Un’affermazione importante, perchè giunta al termine della prima trasferta statunitense del monotipo disegnato da Russell Coutts e perchè ottenuta al cospetto di una nutrita schiera di avversari.
L’RC44 Championship Tour 2011 inizierà a marzo da San Diego, in California.
RC44 2010 Season Championship
1. BMW Oracle Racing, Larry Ellison-Russell Coutts, (8)-1-1-4-2-4, pt. 12
2. Artemis Racing, Torbjorn Tornqvist-Terry Hutchinson, 1-(8)-4-2-5-2, pt. 14
3. 17, William Douglass-James Spithill, (11)-3-5-3-1-3, pt. 15
4. No Way Back, Pieter Heerema-Ray Davies, 2-2-3-5-3-(6), pt. 15
5. Team Aqua, Chris Bake-Cameron Appleton, 4-6-2-1-(8)-5, pt. 18
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Oracle RC44 Cup, overall result
1. Mascalzone Latino, 3-3, pt. 6
2. Artemis Racing, 2-5, pt. 7
3. Yacht 17, 7-1, pt. 8
4. BMW Oracle Racing, 6-2, pt. 8
5. Team Aqua, 1-9, pt. 10
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RC44 CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR, AND THE 2010 CHAMPION IS…
[RC44 Championship Tour Press Release] Larry Ellison and his BMW Oracle Racing crew wrapped up the 2010 RC44 Season Championship with a second-place finish in the fleet racing portion of the Oracle RC44 Cup Miami.
Coupled with the team’s sixth place in the match racing portion of the regatta, BMW Oracle Racing placed fourth overall in the Miami regatta, which equated to a 2-point victory over Artemis Racing for the season championship.
“We were up and down. We’ve had good regattas and sometimes things didn’t go so well, but overall the team did a great job sailing,” said Ellison. “We came first in fleet racing and first overall. We had a rough match racing regatta here in Miami, but the fleet was good enough and we’re happy with the result.”
Ellison and crew, including tactician Russell Coutts, finished 3-4-3 today but had to pull a few rabbits out of their collective hat.
They started one race early and found themselves constantly battling back on a day with very shifty winds. In particular they gained a few places in the last half of the runs to the finish that kept their score low enough for the championship.
“We do better when it’s breezy,” said Ellison. “There are more opportunities to pass downwind. I’ve got a lot of experience sailing on San Francisco Bay and we love the breeze.”
While Ellison got the spoils for the season championship, Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino won the Oracle RC44 Cup Miami title.
Mascalzone Latino showed great improvement at this regatta after rejoining the class in July. The Italian crew placed third in both the match and fleet racing for the overall victory with the low score of 6 points.
“Winning this event is special meaning for me because the past three years have been difficult for me in my life and in sailing,” said Onorato, a six-time world champion in yacht racing.
“Russell asked us to come back to the class and we couldn’t be happier with this result. We’ve worked hard to regain our form and we will do our best in the future to perform in this class,” Onorato said.
Yet a third winner today was William “Doug” Douglass aboard the RC44 World Champion yacht 17. Douglass, sailing with Australian James Spithill as tactician, won the fleet racing portion of the Oracle RC44 Cup Miami with the low score of 39 points.
“The class seems extremely well organized. It was good, we had a lot of fun out there,” said Douglass, a veteran of the Farr 40 and Melges 32 classes. “Today was a little windy and we saw how the boats could get wicked up and go.”
The 2011 RC44 Season Championship begins in March in San Diego, Calif.
RC44 2010 Season Championship
1. BMW Oracle Racing, Larry Ellison-Russell Coutts, (8)-1-1-4-2-4, pt. 12
2. Artemis Racing, Torbjorn Tornqvist-Terry Hutchinson, 1-(8)-4-2-5-2, pt. 14
3. 17, William Douglass-James Spithill, (11)-3-5-3-1-3, pt. 15
4. No Way Back, Pieter Heerema-Ray Davies, 2-2-3-5-3-(6), pt. 15
5. Team Aqua, Chris Bake-Cameron Appleton, 4-6-2-1-(8)-5, pt. 18
…
Oracle RC44 Cup, overall result
1. Mascalzone Latino, 3-3, pt. 6
2. Artemis Racing, 2-5, pt. 7
3. Yacht 17, 7-1, pt. 8
4. BMW Oracle Racing, 6-2, pt. 8
5. Team Aqua, 1-9, pt. 10
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