Misfortune strikes BMW Oracle Racing
Valencia, Spain. A series of misfortunes after the first downwind run cost USA 87 dearly and halted its charge through the fleet in Race 5 of the Louis Vuitton Act 13 regatta – and cost the team places on the overall leader board.
Racing in brisk conditions, USA 87 consolidated its position as top challenger in Race 4 of the series. In Race 5, USA 87 was climbing back through the fleet after being forced away from the favored side of the first windward leg.
At the end of a downwind charge that saw BMW ORACLE Racing overtake three yachts and move into striking distance of the leaders, a wave swept across the bow, knocking back the bow crew and ripping the genoa out of the headstay foil. This set in train a series of setbacks as the crew tried in vain to rehoist a headsail, but were forced to sail the second upwind leg with a mainsail only.
“We had got ourselves back into the race,“ said BMW ORACLE Racing tactician Gavin Brady. “We came into the leeward mark on a big puff of wind. A wave washed over the bow, knocking the foredeck crew back down the deck and ripping the headsail out of the foil. The foil was damaged and could not be repaired, so we had to make the tough call to go up the second windward leg without a headsail.“
Race One summary – Skipper Chris Dickson and the crew of USA 87 did an excellent job at the start, hitting the pin end of the line at the signal. Two penalties were handed out at the start, against Desafio Espanol and Luna Rossa, both for barging in at the Committee Boat end. The on-the-water umpires also penalized Emirates Team New Zealand for tacking too close to BMW ORACLE Racing during the first windward leg. Alinghi was 1st, but the battle at the finish line was extremely close with Mascalzone Latino Capitalia crossing in 2nd place. Third place went to Luna Rossa Challenge with USA 87 just 1 second behind in 4th.
Race Two summary – USA 87 suffered a serious setback when damage to the headsail foil at the end of the first downwind leg forced the crew to sail the second windward beat under a mainsail only. Emirates Team New Zealand was 1st, Luna Rossa Challenge 2nd and Alinghi 3rd.
Quotes from Gavin Brady – On the wave that swept across the bow during Race 5: “That is one of the things that can happen in fleet racing, where you get a lot of boats coming into the mark at the same time. It generates waves coming in from all different directions. We nearly lost two of our guys overboard. I was surprised they managed to stay on the boat. It was pretty impressive.“
On Race 4: “We played it fairly conservatively. Emirates Team New Zealand were penalized for tacking too close to us and from then on we just played a conservative game. The top four boats were very close.“
On learning about the opposition: “It was a different day today. It was the first time we saw these yachts sailing in real waves. Our performance was as expected. We are definitely one of the stronger teams in a breeze. We know that our boat is quick enough that if you get into trouble, you can get back into the race.“
Team Standings after 5 races:
1 Alinghi (55pt)
2 Emirates Team New Zealand (47pt)
3 Luna Rossa Challenge (46pt)
4 Mascalzone Latino Capitalia (45pt)
5 BMW ORACLE racing (39pt)
6 Desafio Espanol (37pt)
7 Team Shosholoza (33pt)
8 United Internet Team Germany (22pt)
9 Victory Challenge (21pt)
10 Areva Challenge (20pt)
11+39 Challenge (17pt)
12 China Team (11pt)
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