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Plenty of Action in Race 1
September 5, 2004 |
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The start of this first fleet race was postponed for a few hours past the schedule 12:30 start due to the shifty wind conditions in the beginning of the afternoon. At 15:20, Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio and his team were able to unleash the lions in a 20 knot south-easterly wind. Given the boat speeds in the strong breeze, all teams played it safe at the start. Emirates Team New Zealand was the first boat to cross the the starting line -- 20 seconds after the gun. While they crossed the line in last position, Alinghi was the only boat up to full speed. They quickly took over Shosholoza and forced them to the unfavored right side of the course. The first beat was then a drag race on starboard tack to the layline, with Alinghi quickly demonstrating superior boat speed to gain 16 seconds advantage at first windward mark. Many teams made their sacrifices to the gusty conditions on the first downwind leg, both Alinghi and Le Defi blowing their spinnakers, Shosholoza losing their spin halyard while trying to overcome Oracle, and K-Challenge broaching after a tight gybe. The closely fought race for third and fourth place let Alinghi and ETNZ increase their lead. The Kiwis did so despite a problem with their spinnaker pole that led them to fly their asymmetrical sail for all the downwind legs. ETNZ passed Alinghi 300 meters prior to Mark #2 as the Defender’s spinnaker broke into two halves. Alinghi finished the leg under genoa, but at the mark Alinghi got the inside position and opted for the favored right side of the gate, rounding a boat length ahead of ETNZ. The two teams sailed away towards the port layline while Oracle, Shosholoza, K-Challenge and Le Defi engaged in boat handling drills. K-Challenge broke their pole while hoisting their jib. BMW Oracle had a technical problems and lost of time tacking around the leeward gate. The following legs saw little change in the lead positions, while K-Challenge nosed out both Le Defi and Shosholoza in the bottom half of the order. The solid-looking South Africans in their first official race made no big mistakes despite today’s difficult conditions. It turned out to be a great win for Alinghi, who crossed the line 35 seconds ahead of Team New Zealand while a disappointed BMW Oracle Racing finish three minutes later after under mainsail alone. Two fleet races are scheduled tomorrow, and the postponed race 2 may be re-sailed on the reserve day Wednesday. --from CupInfo.com ©2004 |
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