Louis Vuitton Trophy, equilibrio e spettacolo
LV TrophyVela 20 Novembre 2009 Zerogradinord 0
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Foto courtesy Gianni Armiraglio.
Louis Vuitton Trophy – Nizza – Quella che si è da poco conclusa è stata senza dubbio la giornata più spettacolare del Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d’Azur. Dopo il rinvio di ieri, infatti, il Comitato Organizzatore non poteva sperare in condizioni meteo migliori. Il pubblico in mare e i tanti appassionati che hanno seguito le regate al Louis Vuitton Trophy Village tramite il Virtual Eye (con un mix di immagini digitali e lunghi momenti di diretta televisiva), hanno vissuto tutta l’emozione speciale che trasmette lo sport della vela.
Il vento, ruotato da nord verso est, è aumentato con il passare delle ore, consentendo lo svolgimento di cinque match ricchi di colpi di scena e manovre sul filo del regolamento, che hanno obbligato gli umpire agli straordinari.
Lavoro duro per gli arbitri, quindi, iniziato con il duello che ha contrapposto Azzurra a Team Origin, tornati ad affrontarsi a meno di ventiquattr’ore dalla regata che aveva dato alla barca italiana il punto dell’1-0. Obbligati a vincere, i britannici si sono assicurati il successo già nelle fasi precedenti il via, grazie allo spregiudicato approccio tattico del binomio Ainslie-Percy, capace di infliggere due penalità all’equipaggio italiano. La posizione di Azzurra si è aggravata quando è arrivata un’ulteriore penalizzazione da parte del Comitato di Regata, per aver attraversato la linea di partenza in leggero anticipo. Match chiuso sul nascere, quindi, e passaggio del turno affidato alla “bella”, in programma domani mattina.
All’insegna dell’equilibrio anche il confronto tra Emirates Team New Zealand e la rivelazione russa Synergy. Quanti si aspettavano una vittoria facile per l’equipaggio di Grant Dalton e di Dean Barker, sono rimasti sorpresi nel vedere Karol Jablonski prendere l’iniziativa e affrontare l’avversario senza alcun timore reverenziale. Un atteggiamaneto che ha prodotto due regate caratterizzate da continui cambi di leadership, numerose proteste, collisioni e penalità.
Conclusosi con il momentaneo 1-1, il duello è continuato a terra: Emirates Team New Zealand ha infatti presentato una protesta contro Synergy, reo a suo dire di non aver evitato la collisione che ha deciso proprio a favore dei russi la seconda regata.
Nel corso della giornata si sono conclusi i match utili a definire la parte bassa della classifica. A conquistare il quinto posto davanti a BMW Oracle Racing, Artemis e TFS PagesJaunes sono stati i franco-tedeschi di All4One.
[AGGIORNAMENTO ORE 19.44] Al termine della discussione della protesta presentata da Emirates Team New Zealand contro Synergy, accusato di non aver fatto il possibile per evitare la collisione, la giuria ha deciso di penalizzare entrambe le barche di un punto. Si ripartirà quindi da 0 a o.
Per leggere la cronaca delle regate odierne redatte per Louis Vuitton dal nostro direttore Mauro Melandri clicca qui.
Risultati odierni
1 – Knock Out: BMW Oracle Racing batte TFS PagesJaunes di 1’26”
2 – Semifinale: Emirates Team New Zealand batte Synergy di 20″ (1-0)
3 – Knock Out: All4One batte Artemis di 27″
4 – Semifinale: Team Origin batte Azzurra di 2’29” (1-1)
5 – Semifinale: Synergy batte Emirates Team New Zealand di 50″ (1-1)
Programma di domani*
1 – Semifinale: Azzurra vs Team Origin
2 – Semifinale: Emirates Team New Zealand vs Synergy
* il programma proseguirà in base ai risultati dei match del mattino
Classifica finale
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
5. All4One
6. BMW Oracle Racing
7. Artemis
8. TFS Pages Jaunes
[flashvideo filename=video/lvt/LVTNice_Semi2.flv /]
Video courtesy Louis Vuitton Trophy.
LOUIS VUITTON TROPHY, STRONG BREEZE AND CLOSE RACE
[Louis Vuitton Trophy Press Release] Emirates Team New Zealand has been the strongest team at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur. Synergy Russia Sailing Team has been the most surprising. Those forces collided today in the Semi Final Round of the regatta, and tonight the two teams are in the protest room trying to resolve an incident at the finish of their second race.
Team New Zealand won a thrilling first race by 20 seconds. The heat featured three lead changes and the Kiwis won after gaining control in a luffing match with the finish line about 10 lengths away.
“It was all on, a very close race,” said Team New Zealand tactician Ray Davies. “It was pretty tense onboard. You have to expect close races in this round. We’re down to the best teams and you have to expect close, ding-dong races otherwise they wouldn’t be worth winning.”
In the second race Team New Zealand was penalised in the pre-start for gybing too close. The Kiwis controlled the race around the track, but couldn’t get enough separation to perform the 270-degree penalty turn and convert the win.
A collision occurred when the pair was outside the committee boat end of the finish line. According to Synergy skipper Karol Jablonski, Team New Zealand called for water to clear the boat end. Jablonski said he responded to the call, but the yachts were downspeed and he had little steerage. The two 24-tonne yachts collided beam-on-beam and suffered some damage.
Although Synergy won the match on the water to even the score at 1-1, the protest was still hanging in the balance. A ruling was expected later tonight.
This regatta has suffered through starts and stops the past two weeks due to light winds. But that was all in distant memory today as the conditions on the Baie des Anges kicked up and added a compelling measure to the racing. Five penalties were issued and two teams were OCS as the conditions put a premium on boathandling.
After the morning offshore flow died, the wind shifted to the east and built to 15 knots, with gusts up to 18 knots. There was also a large seaway running as the winds offshore were blowing up to 25 knots.
Team Origin of Great Britain evened its match with Azzurra of Italy at 1-1. British skipper Ben Ainslie gained two penalties on his Italian counterpart, Francesco Bruni, in the 5-minute pre-start sequence. Bruni then misjudged his time and distance to the start line. After re-starting Azzurra was well behind Team Origin, which won the race by 2 minutes, 29 seconds.
“It was great to finally race in some wind and waves,” said Ainslie. “It was a ‘must win’ race for us and the guys did a great job all the way around. We have a long way to go yet in this competition, being first on tomorrow.”
“For sure today was harder for the crew, for everybody,” said Bruni. “To go from 15 days of very, very light wind and flat water to these conditions, to switch is hardest for me. I wasn’t as ready as Ben. I think he did a good job.”
In Knockout Round racing, the combined French/German team All4One placed fifth after winning two races. All4One earned a well-deserved win against Artemis by 27 seconds in its first race, and then met BMW Oracle Racing for 5th and 6th places. BMW Oracle Racing had defeated TFS – PagesJaunes in its first race.
BMW Oracle Racing controlled the match early, but made an unforced error at the windward mark. Approaching the first mark on starboard with All4One on its stern, BMW Oracle Racing helmsman Gavin Brady tacked to port to round the mark. But All4One had to bear away to avoid hitting BMW Oracle Racing, and the on-water umpires issued a red flag penalty.
BMW Oracle Racing had to perform its penalty immediately on the run, and when it did so All4One sailed into a commanding lead. All4One won the match by 1 minute, 23 seconds to place 5th and drop BMW Oracle Racing to 6th.
“This morning we had nothing to lose,” said All4One helmsman Sebastien Col. “We had the best conditions we could dream of for Nice. We were really waiting for these conditions because I think we have a strong team that can handle the boat well in a breeze. We started the regatta slowly and had some tough moments, but we are happy to finish well. It’s good for the team.”
Artemis of Sweden placed 7th on countback, and TFS – PagesJaunes finished 8th.
Racing is scheduled to resume tomorrow morning with a warning signal set for 0830 CET. The first race will be between Team Origin and Azzurra.
Today results
1 – Knock Out: BMW Oracle Racing batte TFS PagesJaunes di 1’26”
2 – Semifinale: Emirates Team New Zealand batte Synergy di 20″ (1-0)
3 – Knock Out: All4One batte Artemis di 27″
4 – Semifinale: Team Origin batte Azzurra di 2’29” (1-1)
5 – Semifinale: Synergy batte Emirates Team New Zealand di 50″ (1-1)
Tomorrow program
1 – Semifinale: Azzurra vs Team Origin
2 – Semifinale: Emirates Team New Zealand vs Synergy
Final ranking
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
5. All4One
6. BMW Oracle Racing
7. Artemis
8. TFS Pages Jaunes
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