Emirates
Team New Zealand made it four in a row at the
Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta on Saturday.
ETNZ the
only undefeated team in the round robin is top of the leader board with four
points. Azzurra is second with three
points and TEAMORIGIN, ALL4ONE and Artemis each on two points.
Today’s
race against ALL4ONE was sailed in a building breeze: 10 – 12 knots at the start, rising to 15
knots by the second down-wind leg.
Tactician
Ray Davies describes the race:
“We had a
good start. We managed to get below the pin end of the line with ALL4ONE to
leeward of us, making it very hard for them to get a good start.
“We both
started on port tack. ALL4ONE was quite slow and we immediately took a
comfortable lead. We had control and took them right out to the exclusion zone
(an area of shallow water and rocks) on the southern side of the course.
“We both
tacked away. We sheeted hard in and ALL4ONE was in our wind shadow but couldn’t
tack away. They were a couple of knots slower but had no alternative but to
follow us into the mark.”
The margin
at the first mark was 32sec. Ray Davies:
“On the run we again saw the power that the trailing boat has when it brings up
the pressure from behind. ALL4ONE took big chunks out of our lead.
“We took
the left end of the gate, giving us the right side of the course on the beat, and
covered hard to protect our advantage. Towards the top of the course the breeze
became very shifty so we have to play the shifts rather than cover the
opponent.
“We had
enough of a lead at the mark (21sec) to feel comfortable on the run. The breeze
was good and steady and they didn’t have any passing opportunities.”
The
margin at the finish was 26 sec.
Today’s
other results:
TEAMORIGIN
beat Aleph
Azzurra
beat Artemis