Southerly breeze tending south east today. Breeze was ten knots before the first race but quickly built. At the second race start it was up to 14-16 and still increasing.
Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena Day Five - Photo Credit Paul Todd
Flight Three, Race One: Mascalzone Latino def Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 00:8– Mascalzone Latino earned a thrilling come-from-behind win in this match on the final run to the finish. Skipper Gavin Brady and his team did a masterful job of positioning their boat on the first gybe of the run and were able to roll over the top of Synergy. Karol Jablonski, the skipper on the Russian boat, was then too aggressive in attempting to protect his position and the Umpires penalised him for sailing above his proper course. Game over.
Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena Day Five - Photo Paul Todd
Flight Thirteen, Race One: Emirates Team New Zealand def Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 00:04– The Kiwis made a bold move out to the right hand side of the race course on the first beat while Synergy played the left. When they converged before the top mark, it was Emirates Team New Zealand holding a narrow lead. With the boats nearly overlapped approaching the top mark, Kiwi skipper Dean Barker threw a hard luff at the trailing Synergy, gaining a few extra metres in the process. Team New Zealand held that lead around the track until Synergy made a dramatic late charge at the finishing line. Exploiting a little bit of bias on the line, skipper Karol Jablonski closed the gap in a hurry to finish just four seconds back.
Flight Seventeen, Race One: BMW Oracle Racing All4One, 00:17 –Sébastien Col on All4One got the best of this start, bow out on James Spithill steering Oracle. Spithill hung in and got an edge but Col took him all the way to the port layline and they rounded the top mark bow to stern with the French/German boat leading. One gybe on the run and Spithill rolled his opponent approaching the lee mark in a flurry of gybes and unanswered protest flags. The Americans held the lead for the next two legs to win.
