The gala dinner at Porto Arsenale lowered the curtain of Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena that witnessed Emirates Team New Zealand winning by a hair. Russia’s Synergy threatened up to the last minute that, after two convincing victories, lost 3-2.
The gala dinner at Porto Arsenale - La Maddalena - Luois Vuitton Trophy
The races inside the La Maddalena archipelago took place in a unique scenery in the world, but the capricious breeze (either too much or too little) caused by the unstable weather pattern, unusual for this time of the year, often prevailed over the hard efforts of the organization. However, the appeal of sailing is to face the natural elements and everyone who practices this wonderful sport is always aware.
Karol Jablonski greets Dean Barker at his arrival to the pontoon © Bob Grieser
Mascalzone Latino Audi Team finished the Round Robin in fourth place, fifth in the final overall score table, best among the three Italian teams taking part. As already mentioned, Synergy grabbed their semifinal berth by beating Mascalzone Latino Audi Team by 2-1, while the remaining teams were All4One, Artemis and Emirates Team New Zealand. Always under a very light breeze, the best-of-five final was between Emirates Team New Zealand and Russia’s Synergy, a true revelation after the disappointing last place in Auckland. Surprisingly, the Russian lead 2-0, but the kiwis recovered and won three thrilling and breath-taking races in a row.
Before heading back home, Cameron Dunn, strategist on Mascalzone Latino Audi Team summarized the La Maddalena stage that saw Vincenzo Onorato’s team in the role of host: “We are obviously unhappy to have missed by a whisker the semifinals, but we know we have grown as a team and we have sailed better than in Auckland, where we reached second place. In our sport chance and luck also play a role, and here we have been a bit unfortunate, but we are not complaining, we will get better by understanding what mistakes we made and we have a positive spirit towards the next Louis Vuitton Trophy races and the 34th America’s Cup, where the world’s strong and best prepared teams compete, benefiting the show and the entire sport of sailing”.
