New Zealand beats
BMW Oracle Racing at La Maddalena
By the Louis Vuitton Trophy Media Team. |
| May 30, 2010. |
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| A hard-fought battle between Emirates Team New Zealand’s Dean Barker and BMW Oracle Racing’s James Spithill at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena today went the Kiwis’ way, when the American team lost a penalty call in an aggressive luffing match approaching the second weather mark. |
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Louis Vuitton Trophy, La Maddalena, Italy. Race Day 9. BMW
ORACLE Racing (USA) verses Emirates Team
New Zealand (NZL).
Photo © Bob Grieser outsideimages.co.nz /
Louis Vuitton Trophy.
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"It was close, just half a metre between the boats, as close as you’d
ever want to be," said Barker, describing the incident. "You could lean across and shake hands if you wanted to."
Sailed in the blustery 18 to 20 knot winds of a building mistral, the match was the only one sailed today as the wind continued to increase in intensity. Racing was canceled for the day, just as crews were preparing for a second race between the Kiwi boat and Sweden’s Artemis.
Race officials later cancelled all racing on Monday also, when the heavy winds of the mistral are forecast to make conditions impossible for competition. They plan to resume on Tuesday and complete the remaining races of the round robin on Tuesday and Wednesday. |
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Louis Vuitton Trophy, La Maddalena, Italy. Race Day 9. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA)
verses Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL).
Photo © Bob Grieser outsideimages.co.nz /
Louis Vuitton Trophy.
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Today, the umpires
penalised Oracle when Team New Zealand luffed
their opponent, forcing them up head-to-wind, as the boats
raced side-by-side towards the weather mark on port tack.
"They made a gain to the left approaching the top mark," Barker said. "They
were in a position where they probably would have led us around if we didn’t
make something happen, so we did a couple of luffs. The first one, we were required
to give them room to get clear but they didn’t take the room straight away
and make an attempt to keep clear so we luffed a second time and could easily
have made contact with them if we hadn’t avoided. The umpires saw it the
same way and penalised them." |
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Louis Vuitton Trophy, La Maddalena, Italy. Race Day 9. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA)
verses Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL).
Photo © Bob Grieser outsideimages.co.nz /
Louis Vuitton Trophy.
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| The confrontation
momentarily cost the New Zealanders the lead and gave the advantage
to Oracle, so the umpires added a red flag calling
for an immediate penalty turn. The American boat circled before
rounding the mark but was judged not to have completed a full
turn. The umpires called for a second circle before clearing Oracle. |
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Louis Vuitton Trophy, La Maddalena, Italy. Race Day 9. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA)
verses Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL).
Photo © Bob Grieser outsideimages.co.nz /
Louis Vuitton Trophy.
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"It was a good hard race for us. We back our crew work against any team and we came out on the right side of that one," Barker said.
"It’s hard because the emphasis has got to be on keeping the boats apart. We can’t afford any more damage here with one pair of boats already out of action." |
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Provisional win-loss leaderboard after Sunday racing
1. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 5-4, 5 points.
1. Artemis, 5-2, 5 points.
1. Emirates Team New Zealand, 5-2, 5 points.
4. TEAMORIGIN, 4-3, 4 points.
4. All4One, 4-3, 4 points.
6. Azzurra, 3-4, 3 points.
6. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 4-1, 3 points*.
8. Luna Rossa, 2-6, 2 points.
9. BMW Oracle Racing Team, 1-6, 1 point.
10. ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-4, -2 points*.
* Penalties deducted by Jury / Umpires |
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Louis Vuitton Trophy, La Maddalena, Italy. Race Day 9. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA)
verses Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL).
Photo © Bob Grieser outsideimages.co.nz /
Louis Vuitton Trophy.
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| Live streaming web coverage of the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena is available on the event website, http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com. The official site (in English, French, Italian and Russian) is also rich in team content, as well as features, audio, video and images. Racing starts at 0900 local time (GMT+2). |
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| Outimage and Louis Vuitton Trophy © 2010 |
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