There was a long wait until 1530 hours before the eased to a sailable range. Shifty around 300 degrees and 17 to 21 knots at the start of the day’s first race. Still blowing at the top limit when racing was called at 1830. Just two races today.
The French/German team All4One moved up to second equal place at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena today and will race Sweden’s top-placed Artemis tomorrow to decide the winner of the round robin.
The other match between Emirates Team New Zealand and Italy’s Mascalzone Latino, both currently second equal, will be key to resolving the other top places. Tonight, all four boats are at the top of the points table with only one point separating them.
Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (ITA) vs TeamOrigin (GBR) Photo Credit Bob Grieser
Strong gusty northwest winds curtailed racing for much of the day and only two races were sailed in 20-knot winds, close to the top limit for competition, before race officials abandoned racing until tomorrow.
A bad gennaker takedown that led to a crew injury knocked TEAMORIGIN out of the running for a top place. The British boat, skippered by Ben Ainslie, had made a strong start, only to be overtaken by Mascalzone Latino on the first leg of their race together. Ainslie closed down on the Italian boat and led by three seconds at the end of the first run.
Things went wrong on the gennaker drop and as it went overboard, a sheet wrapped around the leg of trimmer Mike Mottl and started to drag him over the side.
“We had to slow the boat down to cut the rope off his foot and then got going again,” said mainsheet hand Chris Salthouse. “We were obviously all very concerned about his injury, Mike was very brave to continue to race hard throughout the rest of the race and we hope he will be back on the boat as soon as possible.”
Hospital authorities tonight reported that Mottl had no broken bones. They were still assessing muscle injuries.
Racing ended prematurely at 1900, when there was a steering linkage problem with ITA 90, one of the Mascalzone Latino boats. Fortunately, the organisers now have the option of using one of the BMW Oracle Racing boats, USA87, which was damaged earlier in the regatta. The BOR shore crew has been working around the clock to affect repairs and the boat could be available for racing, if necessary, on Thursday.
“We’ve had all of our boatbuilders working 12 hour days to get this done,” said Julien di Biase, logistics manager for BMW Oracle Racing. “The WSTA agreed to help us bring additional resources here and that accelerated the process.
“We started as soon as the boats came back to shore back on Race Day Four. On USA 87 we cut the last two metres of the boat – the stern scoop – off and used the undamaged side as a mold and started working up the new scoop as soon as we could. If they need to use USA 87 tomorrow it’s ready to go.”
Flight Twelve, Race Two: Mascalzone Latino def. TEAMORIGIN, 00:35 – Ben Ainslie’s TEAMORIGIN dominated the prestart and led off the line on starboard with the Italian boat Mascalzone Latino 33 metres astern on their starboard hip. Gavin Brady steering the Italian boat benefited from a right shift and led around the top mark by 10 seconds. Ainslie closed inexorably on the run to lead by three seconds, only lose any chance of winning when the gennaker drop went bad.
Louis Vuitton Trophy Race Day 12. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (ITA) vs TeamOrigin (GBR) Photo Credit Bob Grieser
Flight Twentytwo, Race Two: All4One def. ALEPH Sailing Team, 00:15 – Bertrand Pacé and ALEPH led at the gun, on starboard, with a 14 metre advantage. Sébastien Col steering All4One on the French boat’s hip made steady gains to protect the right. At the first cross Col was able force Pacé back to the left and the French/German boat continued to extend from there, rounding the top mark 80 metres and 14 seconds in front.
Louis Vuitton Trophy Race Day 12. All4ONE (GER) vs ALEPH Sailing Team. Photo Credit Bob Grieser
Round Robin Provisional Results after Wednesday Racing
=1. Artemis, 6-2, 6 points
=2. All4One, 5-3, 5 points
=2. Emirates Team New Zealand, 5-3, 5 points
=2. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 6-2, 5 points *
=2. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 5-4, 5 points
6. Azzurra, 4-5, 4 points
7. TEAMORIGIN, 4-5, 4 points
8. Luna Rossa, 3-6, 3 points
9. BMW Oracle Racing Team, 3-6, 3 point
10. ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-7, -2 points *
* Penalties deducted by Jury/Umpires
