Trofeo Desafio Espanol, Team Origin come Alinghi
AlinghiDesafio EspanolLuna RossaTeam OriginTrofeo Desafio EspanolVela 7 Novembre 2008 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=708,250,170,,left]Trofeo Desafio Espanol – Valencia – Rumori che mancavano da tempo quelli degli ACC. A Valencia sono tornati a sentirsi oggi pomeriggio, quando ad avere inizio è stato il Trofeo Desafio Espanol, evento cui stanno prendendo parte il defender Alinghi, il Challenger of Record Desafio Espanol, Team Origin, al debutto nella classe, e Luna Rossa.
Un ritorno all’agonismo che mancava da tempo per l’ambiente Coppa America e che anticipa di qualche mese le Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, cui, come sappiamo da alcuni giorni, prenderanno parte dodici equipaggi.
Due le regate portate a termine, disputate in regime di brezza termica mai superiore agli otto nodi. Ad aggiudicarsi la prima ESP-88, a bordo del quale era impegnato l’equipaggio di Team Origin, guidato dalla coppia di campioni olimpici Ben Ainslie e Iain Percy. Secondo posto per Luna Rossa, portata tra le boe da Peter Holmberg, ex timoniere di Alinghi, e dal defender elvetico, rallentato dalla rottura di ben tre gennaker.
Seconda prova un pò più ventosa a pronto riscatto per Alinghi, apparso decisamente più veloce degli avversari, e per Desafio Espanol, secondo su ESP-97 timonato da Laureano Wizner. Terza piazza per Team Origin e quarta per Luna Rossa.
Domani, vento permettendo, sono in programma altre due prove.
Trofeo Desafio Espanol – Classifica generale
1. Alinghi 3,1 pt. 4
2. Team Origin 1,3 pt. 4
3. Desafio Espanol 4,2 pt. 6
4. Luna Rossa 2,4 pt. 6
[flashvideo filename=video/varie/TrofeoDesafio_primogiorno.flv /]
Video courtesy Alinghi.
DESAFIO ESPANOL TROPHY, TEAM ORIGIN LIKE ALINGHI
[singlepic=709,250,170,,left][Desafio Espanol Trophy] The thrill of America’s Cup Class yacht racing is back in Valencia, home to the 32nd America’s Cup. The defender, Alinghi and Team Origin are on equal points and leading the fleet after the first two races. Both teams provided some great racing and a spectacular show fighting for the lead.
The cruiser-racer class starts racing for the Trofeo Desafío Español tomorrow and a record 87 boats have entered; although many more can as the deadline for entry only closes at noon tomorrow.
On board Desafío Español, Laureano Wizner was at the helm, while on Alinghi, Team Origin and Luna Rossa; Murray Jones, Ben Ainslie and Peter Holmberg were steering respectively.
The newcomers in the class, Team Origin, surprised everybody in the first race. The British team, helmed by Gold medalist Ainslie, beat Luna Rossa by 44 seconds and Alinghi just astern of the Italians.
“What a nice start for Team Origin: to win our first ever Cup race is pretty special. That said, the highlight for me was the team spirit onboard, a really special atmosphere and energy throughout the whole boat. Long may it continue!”, said Mike Sanderson, team director.
The Swiss defender ripped three spinnakers through the gybes in race one, but lead the Spanish team home; the local team suffered from choosing the wrong side of the course off the line.
“It was a combination of things; like everything you need time practicing. It was probably something to do with the rate of turn with me steering the boat and the timing of when you let the sheet go and bring in the other one. We need to work on it; we’ll have a look at the videos tonight and figure out where we went wrong”, explained Murray Jones about the spinnakers problem. And added: “The boat was going nicely especially in the second race when the breeze picked up a little bit”.
In the second race, the Swiss sailed well and won with style one minute ahead of Desafío Español and with a healthy margin on Team Origin and Luna Rossa.
Tomorrow, counting the crew members on board the America’s Cup Class yachts and the teams sailing in the cruiser-racer fleet, there will be almost 1,000 sailors racing in Valencia!
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