32.Americas Cup 2003-2007 - Vorregatten 2005

America's Cup 2007
Louis Vuitton Act 4&5 in Valencia
www.emiratesteamnz.com - Übersicht

NZL 82 retains perfect record in Valencia regattas
June 18 2005

It was Italian day for Emirates Team New Zealand on Saturday, with matches against Luna Rossa (ITA 74), the Prada of 2000 and 2003, and +39 (ITA 59)
No one said it would be easy to beat Luna Rossa. And it wasn’t. The team went into the match wondering if Luna Rossa, based and training in Valencia for several months, would expose a flaw in the ETNZ preparation.

As the race progressed ETNZ showed that they had not wasted the southern summer.
NZL 82 had the speed it needed in the light conditions and the crew demonstrated that they were working well as a unit, even though they had done little sailing since the middle of April when NZL 82 and the Auckland base were packed up for shipping to Spain.

“The boat’s better than it was last year but it’s not super fast,” Grant Dalton said after the race. “We had to work hard to gain an advantage on Luna Rossa and we had to work even harder to keep it.
He said it was not difficult to see why ITA 74 was one of the favourites for the 2005 regattas. “They’re a class act. The boat’s good, and the crew is sailing well.“

The deltas tell the story. ITA 74 was awarded the start by 1 sec. NZL 82 led for most of the leg then lost it as they were closing on the mark only to regain it after a classic luffing battle which took both yachts way above the mark.
NZL 82 rounded the mark 4 sec ahead, extended to 12 seconds at the second mark and 23 seconds at the third. On the run to the finish NZL 82 extended by 20 sec to finish 43 sec up.

"photo Gilles Martin-Raget"

In the day’s second match +39 breathed down NZL 82’s neck on the first three legs with margins of 14 sec at the first mark, 12 sec at the second and 16 sec at the third. NZL 82 slipped away on the last downwind leg finishing 1min 8 sec ahead after +39 completed a 360 deg penalty incurred in the pre-start.

Four teams went into today’s racing with four wins from four races – Alinghi, BMW Oracle, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa.

Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand finished the day with six wins and at the top of the leaderboard. BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa now have five wins and one loss.

Tomorrow Emirates Team New Zealand meets Sweden’s Victory Challenge (SWE 63) and China Team (CHN69).

Results today:
Race 5
NZL 82 beat ITA 74 by 43 sec. SUI 75 beat USA 76 by 27 sec. ITA 59 beat CHN 69 by 1min 28 sec SWE 63 beat RSA 83 by 1min 19sec ESP 67 beat FRA 60 by 31 sec ITA 77 beat GER 72 by 1 minute 12 sec

Race 6
NZL 82 beat ITA 59 by 1min 8 sec SUI 75 beat GER 72 by 2min 34 sec ITA 74 beat SWE 63 by 32 sec FRA 60 beat CHN 69 by 1min 45 sec USA 76 beat ITA 77 by 1 min ESP 67 beat RSA 83 by 2 min

Points after six races:
6: ETNZ, Alinghi 5: BMW Oracle , Luna Rossa 4: Defasio Espanol 3: Victory Challenge 2: +39, K Challenge 1: Mascalzone Latino, United Internet Germany, China Team 0: Shosholoza

Syndicate sail numbers:
Emirates Team New Zealand – NZL82: BMW Oracle – USA76 Team Alinghi – SUI75 ; Luna Rossa – ITA74 K Challenge – FRA60: Mascalzone Latino – ITA77 +39 Challenge – ITA59: United Internet Team Germany – GER72 China Team – CHN69: Victory Challenge SWE63 Team Shosholoza – RSA83: Desafio Espanol – ESP63

Contacts: Warren Douglas Miriam Torres +34 600 940 652 +34 647 822 265 Warren.douglas@emiratesteamnz.com miriamtb@yahoo.com www.emiratesteamnz.com

Quotes after today’s racing
June 18 2005
Dean Barker:
On the race with Luna Rossa: It was good and close….we expected a tough race and we were not disappointed. It was a good test for the team and the boat and it was a good race to win.
We started pretty evenly and got a good breeze and crossed in front then separated to the right and lost the gain. In hindsight it was not a smart thing to do, but at the time it looked and felt right.
We got around the top mark first and stretched out down the second leg and used the advantage to get around the bottom mark first and set up for the beat.
On the race with +39: It was a very aggressive pre-start and they incurred a penalty for fouling us. We had to fend them off.
We didn’t give them any separation – it was probably closer than it needed to be but we had the comfort of the penalty.
That’s not to take anything away from +39. They sailed a good race.
Tactician Terry Hutchinson
On the race with Luna Rossa: We had a good pre-start and did exactly what we wanted which was to start to the left and as close to Luna Rossa as we could. We got into a good line of breeze and made a gain only to give it all away after the first cross.
We learned a lesson there: if we want to control the race, we must not give the opposition breathing space. We didn’t make the same mistake on the second beat.
On the race with +39: They have a really good boat without question. We Worked really hard on them. There will be no easy races in this regatta. On any given day, any team has the capacity to beat any other.

Contacts: Warren Douglas Miriam Torres +34 600 940 652 +34 647 822 265 Warren.douglas@emiratesteamnz.com miriamtb@yahoo.com Pictures of today’s racing available at www.emiratesteamnz.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attention: The information contained in this message and or attachments is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any system and destroy any copies.