Two Wins Open Regatta for Team New Zealand
Two races today for Emirates Team New Zealand on the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 6 and two good wins.
But it was not all plain sailing. A problem with a spinnaker pole in the second race turned what was a procession as NZL 82 opened up a considerable lead on the less-fancied China Team into a much closer race.
A fitting on the topping lift failed just as the spinnaker was being lowered at the end of the first run and both pole and sail went into the water. The pole broke in two.
The crew, with one eye on the fast-approaching China Team, worked quickly to get NZL 82 moving again. CHN 69 got close, but NZL 82 was not seriously threatened and at the finish was a comfortable 32 seconds ahead.
Grant Dalton said after the race that great crew work saved what could have been a race-losing situation. “They just got on with the job… coolly and calmly. They knew what had to be done and they did it. It was good to be part of it.”
NZL 82 led CHN 69 around the first mark by 1min and was 59 sec at the second mark after the first downwind leg. At the third mark the lead was trimmed by 23 sec to 36sec.
First up NZL 82 beat United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) by 1 min 39 sec. The race started well with Dean Barker claiming the right of the course as planned. The wind shifted further left than anticipated giving GERR 72 an advantage but NZL 82 was still ahead by 33 seconds at the top mark.
Nz 82 extended to 1min 3sec on the run and from there it was a procession to the finish.
The lesson from the day’s racing was that the top four teams in Valencia are still the teams to be reckoned with. Alinghi had two wins, as did BMWOracle and Luna Rossa.
The weather off Malmo today, in sharp contrast to the previous week, was wet and gloomy with a breeze from the south and south-east between 14 and 16 knots, climbing to 18+ knots towards the end of the second race.
NZL 82 was not alone in drama. Several boats had gear failures and +39 lost two men overboard. They were recovered unharmed.
Crew for first race day:
Helm: Dean Barker
Tactician: Terry Hutchinson
Navigator: Kevin Hall
Strategist/traveler: Adam Beashel
Weather/runner: Ray Davies
Mainsheet: Chris Salthouse
Trimmer upwind: Grant Loretz
Trimmer downwind: James Dagg
Grinder: Rob Waddell
Grinder: Jono Macbeth
Main Grinder: Winston Macfarlane
Pit: Nick Heron
Runner/pit: Tony Rae
Mid-bow: Richard Meacham
Bow: Stuart Bettany
Mast: Matthew Mason
Runner/grinder: Andrew Maclean/Grant Dalton
Results today
First flight
Alinghi (SUI 75) beat Victory Challenge (SWE 73) by 54 seconds
BMW Oracle (USA 76) beat Shosholoza (RSA 83) by 1min 33sec.
K Challenge (FRA 60) beat +39 Challenge (ITA 59) by 38sec
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 82) beat United INternation Team Germany (GER72) by 1min 39sec.
Defasio Espanol (ESP 67) beat Mascolzone Latino (ITA 77) by 1min
Luna Rossa (ITA 74) beat China Team (CHN 69) 1min 38sec
Second flight
SUI 75 beat RSA 83 by 3min 7sec
USA 76 beat ITA 59 by 1min 48sec
NZL 82 beat CHN 69 by 32sec
ESP 67 beat GER 72
SWE 73 beat FRA 60 by 25sec
ITA 74 beat ITA 77 by
Leaderboard at the end of day 1
1 Alinghi
1 BMW Oracle
1 Emirates team New Zealand
1 Luna Rossa
1 Desafio Espanol
6 K Challenge
6 Victory Challenge
8 Team Shosholoza
8 Victory Challenge
8 Mascalzone Latino
8 United Internet Team Germany
8 China Team
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