Two come-from-behind victories boosted the fortunes of Italy’s Mascalzone Latino Audi today at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai.
Racing in a light northerly breeze on a soft, late autumn day, Kiwi skipper Gavin Brady guided the Italian team to a comfortable victory against Sweden’s Artemis Racing after overtaking them a few minutes into the first beat.
Race Day 8 Mascalzone Latino Audi Team vs Artemis Racing © Bob Grieser ousideimages.com Louis Vuitton Trophy
Brady’s second match proved tougher after he conceded a start to the Synergy Russian Sailing team and then fought for more than half the race to gain the upper hand.
Their performance today lifted Mascalzone Latino Audi, the challenger of record for the next America’s Cup, from a distant fifth-equal place to third.
The Italian team is only half a point away from overtaking second-placed Emirates Team New Zealand which lost today after botching a spinnaker takedown and flying the giant sail like a flag from the top of their mast.
Hosted by the Dubai International Marine Club the 14-day-long regatta is being sailed close to the shore in waters between the fan-shaped man-made islands of the Palm Jumeirah and the southern entrance to Dubai Creek.
Today was the penultimate day of the second round robin with each win worth two points and any penalties carrying a two point deduction. Only the top four teams will go through to the semi-finals which start on Friday.
“We’d done the math and we knew we had to win those two races today to keep control of our own destiny,” Brady said. “We had a race where we led comfortably and one where we had to come from behind.
“I messed up the end of that second start. We had full control of Synergy. I had 20 decisions to make in that pre-start and dropped the ball. I made 19 good ones and messed up the last one. And that was the one that counted.
“From there, our tactician Morgan Larson did a really good job and called some good shifts on the run that got us to the leeward gate with a chance.”
The two boats at the top of the leaderboard raced today and the USA’s BMW Oracle Racing, skippered by America’s Cup winner James Spithill, took control at the start and fended off attacks from his Kiwi rival Dean Barker.
Race Day 8 View of the matches between BMW ORACLE Racing vs Emirates Team New Zealand and Synergy Russian Sailing Team vs Mascalzone Latino Audi Team. © Paul Todd outsideimages.com Louis Vuitton Trophy
New Zealand’s chances of a victory plummeted when a messy takedown saw them flying their spinnaker like a giant out-of-control flag from the top of their mast before they were able to cut it free.
“It was a disappointing loss,” said Ray Davies, tactician for the New Zealand boat. “It was a very close race and we made nice gains down the run. We gybed for the right-hand gate, feeling pretty comfortable but then the breeze lifted 15 degrees. It changed the bottom mark rounding for us and we ended up with a very difficult rounding because we had to change the call for the bowman. It was a pretty bad situation for us. When we let the spinnaker go it got caught inside the mast so we had to cut it free.”
Four matches tomorrow will wrap up the round robin and confirm the four semi-finalists. BMW Oracle Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand and Mascalzone Latino are all poised to go through to the semis but, with all races counting for two points and the possibility two penalty point deductions for infractions or collisions, nothing is certain.
Flight One, Race One, Synergy Russian Sailing Team def All4One, 00:05 – Francesco Bruni and his Russian team conceded the start to Sebastien Col and the French/German team All4One, only to be penalized for tacking too close when they converged in the middle of the course. Bruni had a narrow edge up the rest of the leg and rounded the top mark 13 seconds ahead. Col threatened on the second beat but the Russians eked out a 125 metre edge that provided the narrowest of margins to unload their penalty with a 270 deg. turn on the finish line.
Flight One, Race Two, Mascalzone Latino Audi def Artemis Racing, 01:55 – The Italian team scored a runaway victory against Sweden in light air. Cameron Appleton, steering Artemis Racing, won the start and chose to go right but it was Gavin Brady who came from behind and crossed ahead on port tack, half way up the weather leg to secure a crucial two points.
Flight Two, Race One, BMW Oracle Racing def Emirates Team New Zealand, 00:25 –
The intensity of this match was signaled by a protest by New Zealand at the beginning of the dialup for tacking too close. It was green-flagged. They came off the line together on starboard with the Kiwis in a safe leeward. James Spithill, steering Oracle, almost immediately tacked away and ETNZ’s Dean Barker tacked to cover, conceding a one boat-length advantage. BMWOR led at the next two marks. Disaster struck for the Kiwis when they lost control of their spinnaker at the bottom gate takedown and they set off to windward with the chute flying like a giant flag for agonizing seconds before they could cut it free. Game over!
Flight Two, Race Two, Mascalzone Latino Audi def Synergy Russian Sailing, 00:21 –
This was anyone’s race. Gavin Brady chased his opponent all over the ocean above the layline before they returned 40 seconds after the gun to make even starts. However Francesco Bruni enjoyed a tiny edge and was able to push the Italian boat well beyond the port layline to round the top mark just three seconds in front. The Russians still led, by just eight seconds, after a close run but Brady chose the left-hand gate to claim the favored right-hand side for the next beat. He bounced the Russian team away twice and then crossed clear ahead before consolidating his lead with a 23-second margin at the top mark.
Provisional Results after Day Three of RR2:
1. BMW ORACLE Racing, 12-2, 15 pts
2. Emirates Team New Zealand, 7-6, 8.5 pts
3. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 6-8, 8 pts *
=4. All4One, 5-8, 6 pts
=4. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 6-8, 6 pts *
5. Artemis Racing, 5-9, 5 pts
* A scoring penalty has been assessed by the umpires
In Round Robin One, each team sailed every other team twice, with each win worth one point.
In Round Robin Two, each team will sail every other team once, with each win worth two points.
At the conclusion of Round Robin Two, the top four teams will advance to the semi finals. The bottom two teams are eliminated.
The Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai is under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, the principal sponsor of the event.
