Stories about Race Committee

Below are the latest stories which have been categorised as being about Race Committee.

Heart-stopping finish earns Kiwi boat another life

Posted 2 hours, 11 minutes ago by Sail Karma

Photos by Sander van der Borch / Artemis Emirates Team New Zealand came within one second of elimination from the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta today but kept Kiwi hopes alive with a brilliant finish. Tied 1-1, the host team will sail the third race of their Semi-Final with Italy's Azzura tomorrow.

The other Semi-Final went to three races, with the Italian team Mascalzone Latino Audi, representing the Challenger of Record for the America’s Cup, defeating Sweden’s Artemis in close competition.

The southwesterly breeze was lighter than preceding days, but shifts and lulls and delays in starting several races did not prevent the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Race Committee and PRO Peter Reggio from starting five of the six scheduled races. They tried for a sixth race but abandoned it at 7:15pm in a fading breeze and the fading light of dusk.

Although it was Friday in Auckland and a business day, a respectable-sized spectator grew in size as the afternoon wore on.

For its last two races, Artemis carried a distinguished 18th man. John Bertrand, the Aussie skipper who in 1983 lifted the America’s Cup from the clutches of the New York Yacht Club, rode on the stern of the Swedish boat, forbidden from offering advice but clearly enjoying the experience.

Paul Cayard, skipper of Artemis, was philosophical about his team’s dismissal. “We’re assembling a new team here, and we’ve got a lot of America’s Cup experience on board, and we need to get that all glued together,” he said. “We made a huge step forward here in Auckland, and we’re really happy with how we sailed.”

Asked about the quality of umpire calls, he added, “I think the umpires actually made good calls there, I think we slightly tacked in the last start and it was a fair call. All in all, the umpires are doing a good job and that’s part of the race.

Ray Davies, tactician for Emirates Team New Zealand described the penalty before the start that almost cost them their second race against Azzurra as “a bit of an unforced one.” He said, “we were in a real strong position, and we looked to gybe with them, but as they gybed, our jib just hit their sticks (wands) as we bore away. We were able to keep control of the start. It was a bit of a trade off.

After carrying their penalty all around the course, Emirates unloaded it on the finish line in a tight, foaming turn around the pin end as Azzurra bore down on them. The Kiwi boat had a 135-metre lead and Davies grinned as he estimated they needed a margin of 134 metres to pull off the win.

“That would be our absolute limit,” he said. “We couldn’t have done it with any less. It’s always pretty hard to slow down and try to do that. We talked about it at the top mark and we thought we were rounding in quite good pressure with a chance to extend, which we did. We sailed really good from there on.”

Morgan Larson, tactician on the winning Mascalzone Latino Audi, noted an extra layer in the competition between his boat and Artemis. “Terry Hutchinson and Gavin Brady are neighbours in Annapolis, so there was quite a bit on the line, more than we all know.” - http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/.http://www.sailkarma.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss more »

Under the Tuscan sun

Posted 2 hours, 11 minutes ago by Sail Karma

Tuscany Sailing: Grade 3 Match Race at La Marina di Scarlino. Finnish Oli Pekka Lumijarvi wins 8-0

Once again perfect racing conditions at La Marina di Scarlino in Maremma, Tuscany. Lumijarvi’s Finnish team with Dane Sten Mohr calling tactics wins the Grade 3 Match Race. Next race on the calendar is the Volvo Melges 24 Cup (9-11 April)

Marina di Scarlino, Maremma Tuscany - Two wonderful days of sunshine and strong Mistral breeze for the second ISAF Grade 3 match racing event organized in 2010 by the Club Nautico and La Marina di Scarlino. Nine teams from 4 nations faced off in Maremma racing on the six First 750 owned by the Club chaired by Guido Spadolini and directed by Carlo and Claudia Tosi.

Finnish Oli-Pekka Lumijarvi, number 49 in the ISAF world ranking, secured the victory with 8 wins and 0 defeats: calling tactics on board Dane Sten Mohr, world leader in match racing. In second position Swiss Eric Monnin, number 31 with 7 victories and 1 defeat. Third overall and first amongst the Italians, Fabio Amoretti (4-4), followed by Giuseppe Angilella, former National Olympic 49er class (4-4), Marco Scalabrin (4-4), Robbie Allam from Great Britain(4-4) and Francesco Serena (3-5).Closing the rankings Andrea Mottola (2-6) and Fabrizio Onofri (0-8). The Race Committee was able to complete the full round robin, with all 36 matches taking place.

La Marina di Scarlino’s intense 2010 racing season will continue with the Volvo Melges 24 class, a spectacular one design class that can count on a technical and large fleet. The Volvo Melges 24 Cup will be held in Maremma from 9th to the 11th of April. No less than 65 boats are expected, from 15 nations.

The Club Nautico Scarlino also announced it’s new partnership with Sorgenia for the 2010-2012 season. Sorgenia operates in the field of sustainable energy, and, with over 500. 000 customers, the group is the leading private operator in the Italian energy market. Sorgenia also operates in the fields of natural gas, photovoltaic and wind-generated energy. (www.sorgenia.it)

Atlante Marina di Scarlino is a modern marina located in the heart of Tuscany’s Maremma. It is the first enterprise launched by the gruppo Atlante. La Marina di Scarlino is a major real estate achievement integrating apartments, shops, a club house, bars, restaurants, a fitness centre & Spa and all the necessary amenities for both visitors and residents. Apartments have a view of the gulf and of the Islands of Elba and Montecristo.

La Marina di Scarlino is designed for sea & sailing lovers and is geared to meet the everchanging needs of an evolving market. www.atlanteproperty.comhttp://www.sailkarma.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss more »

Heart-stopping finish earns Kiwi boat another life

Posted 6 hours, 10 minutes ago by ISTiOSELIDA

Emirates Team New Zealand came within one second of elimination from the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta today but kept Kiwi hopes alive with a brilliant finish. Tied 1-1, the host team will sail the third race of their Semi-Final with Italy's Azzura tomorrow. The other Semi-Final went to three races, with the Italian team Mascalzone Latino Audi, representing the Challenger of Record for the America’s Cup, defeating Sweden’s Artemis in close competition. The southwesterly breeze was lighter than preceding days, but shifts and lulls and delays in starting several races did not prevent the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Race Committee and PRO Peter Reggio from starting five of the six scheduled races. They tried for a sixth race but abandoned it at 7:15pm in a fading breeze and the fading light of dusk. Although it was Friday in Auckland and a business day, a respectable-sized spectator grew in size as the afternoon wore on. For its last two races, Artemis carried a distinguished 18th man. John Bertrand, the Aussie skipper who in 1983 lifted the America’s...
more »

Louis Vuitton Trophy-Auckland by Paul Cayard

Posted 18 hours, 10 minutes ago by ISTiOSELIDA

Artemis moves into the Semi-Finals Another good win for Artemis today over the Brits on TeamOrigin. It was another tight race in tricky conditions. Winds were 12-14 knots from the Southwest. We were on hold for two hours as the winds were absent at 1000 this morning. The race committee informed the competitors that the best of three quarter final was reduced to sudden death as there would not be time to run 6 matches which would have been required had both quarter final matches gone the full three races. At 1330, conditions were acceptable and the heat was on....win and go forward...lose and go home. We wanted tight left but Ben Ainsle did a nice job in the prestart and had that spot occupied. He was in a bit of trouble as the wind went even further left in the last 30 seconds prior to the start. Terry Hutchinson was quick to take the race back at them and that got us out of phase and a tacking duel ensued. We kept it close up the first windward leg and trailed by two boat lengths at the top. My strategy was to keep it close and not do anything that had low...
more »

And then there were six!

Posted 2 days, 3 hours ago by ISTiOSELIDA

The Synergy Russian Sailing Team and ALEPH Sailing Team from France were eliminated from the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta today, leaving six international teams fighting for supremacy over the next four days. Top seed Emirates Team New Zealand and second-ranked Mascalzone Latino Audi from Italy each won their races and went through to the semi-finals to be sailed on Friday. Saved from sudden death by their ranking and/or their performance today, the other four teams were paired for best-of-three matches to be raced tomorrow. Standing besides a glistening, flood-lit America's Cup in a formal ceremony at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum, third-seeded All4One skipper Jochen Schuemann chose to race Italy's Azzurra. Sweden’s Artemis will race Great Britain’s TEAMORIGIN. Auckland’s harbour lived up to its name today. Waitemata means “sparkling waters” and whitecaps dappled the course in mostly bright sunshine and gusty, shifty southerly winds that ranged from 15 knots to 30 knots. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s race committee delayed racing three times waiting for...
more »

LVT en Auckland, el excesivo viento altera el programa de regatas

Posted 4 days, 1 hour ago by Juanpa Cadario

Fuente info LVT

15 Mar, 2010
Black clouds alter Louis Vuitton Trophy complexion

Menacing black clouds hung over the Waitemata Harbour at the start of day six of racing at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta today and settled over host team Emirates Team New Zealand while allowing a ray of sunshine for the struggling French sailing team.

Strong and gusty sou-west winds forced a cancellation to the day’s competition but not before previously unbeaten Emirates went down in defeat to France’s seventh-placed ALEPH.

Milder weather is expected tomorrow and racing will resume with flight seven, the last of the round robin. With an earlier start scheduled, the remaining matches of today’s abandoned flight six will be squeezed into the schedule tomorrow, or on subsequent days.

Four teams crowding the top of the points table were slated to square off today. Britain’s TEAMORIGIN, placed second-equal, was circling in the start box against Sweden’s third-placed Artemis with just two minutes to the start when the race committee signaled a postponement. The Italian teams Azzurra and Mascalzone Latino, each placed second-equal, were waiting in the wings for the third race of the day.

The Synergy Russian Sailing Team, winless in Auckland despite a good race record in Nice last November, was scheduled to race the German/French All4One, which is the other team in second-equal place.

After sending the race boats back to the dock, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron race committee, headed by American Principal Race Officer Peter "Luigi" Reggio, remained on station monitoring the weather conditions until 5:00pm before cancelling for the day.

Emirates weather man Roger “Clouds” Badham had cautioned this morning that early strong winds would gust over acceptable limits later in the day and curtail racing but the first match started without incident in 19-20 knots from the sou-west with gusts to 23.

The race featured two old team mates, each with a good read on the foibles of the other. In 2003 before the America’s Cup in Auckland, Emirates Team New Zealand’s skipper Dean Barker trained with ALEPH’s skipper Bertrand Pacé as the B-Boat helmsman. Later Pacé was Barker’s tactician.

At the five-minute gun Barker led deep into the start box, pursued closely by Pacé through a series of circles, before they broke away and lined up to start on starboard with the French boat to leeward and bow out. Barker, who wanted the right, got it, but was forced to tack away into an unfavorable shift.

The Frenchman led by two boat lengths at the first cross and continued to extend. “We wanted to play the shifts but we had to be patient,” Pacé said.

Emirates strategist Adam Beashel said afterwards “it was one of the worst races we’ve sailed in a long time.”

Beashel explained: “We were on the wrong side of the first two shifts of the first beat. ALEPH did a great job sticking to their game plan and staying in the left and doing well out of that and putting a bit a pressure on us. Then, unfortunately in our gybe-set hoist, we had a little tear in the chute. It was touch and go whether it would hold.

“Just a minute or two later it was a bit too big and the whole thing blew out and there was a little bit of a hiccup too with the pole and that ended up in the water.”

Observers rated it as a moderate to major hiccup. Emirates bowman Stuart Bettany went overboard too and joined the pole in the water as the firedrill on deck intensified. Extra crew rushed forward to retrieve Bettany, while others restrained the pole, which was still secured to the mast, to stop it sweeping aft and becoming the fourth snapped pole of the series.

Prevented by the tangle from hoisting a second spinnaker, the Kiwi team finished the run under jib and then began to steadily close with the French boat over the remaining two legs. “We fortunately picked up a little on the second beat on some shifts to the right of them, and we were able to put a bit of pressure back on, but they just made it pretty simple down the last run.”

Race One: ALEPH def. Emirates Team New Zealand, 00:38 – The day belonged to Pacé as he took the fight to his former sparring partner. Barker fought for the right side and got it, helped no doubt because Pacé wanted the left. After multiple circling duels they broke away and came to the line on starboard, with ETNZ in the weather berth. The French boat was bow forward and Barker was quick to tack away. The Kiwis trailed into the mark on port, five boat lengths astern. Disaster struck as they trimmed their spinnaker to chase the French. The clew exploded out of the chute, taking metres of sail cloth with it and the Kiwis were forced to dump the halyard and jettison the sail, leaving their chase boat to pick up the debris. They lost about 100 metres, finishing the first run under jib and then clawed back distance on the remaining two legs to finish a very respectable 38 seconds astern.

Provisional leaderboard after Flight Six (partial):

1. Emirates Team New Zealand, 5-1, 5 pts
=2. All4One, 3-2, 3 pts
=2. Azzurra, 3-2, 3 pts
=2. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 3-2, 3 pts
=2. TEAMORIGIN, 3-2, 3 pts
6. Artemis, 2-3, 2 pts
7. ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-4, 1 pts *
8. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 0-5, 0 pts

* Penalty point deducted more »

Black clouds alter Louis Vuitton Trophy complexion

Posted 4 days, 7 hours ago by ISTiOSELIDA

Menacing black clouds hung over the Waitemata Harbour at the start of day six of racing at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta today and settled over host team Emirates Team New Zealand while allowing a ray of sunshine for the struggling French sailing team. Strong and gusty sou-west winds forced a cancellation to the day’s competition but not before previously unbeaten Emirates went down in defeat to France’s seventh-placed ALEPH.Milder weather is expected tomorrow and racing will resume with flight seven, the last of the round robin. With an earlier start scheduled, the remaining matches of today’s abandoned flight six will be squeezed into the schedule tomorrow, or on subsequent days. Four teams crowding the top of the points table were slated to square off today. Britain’s TEAMORIGIN, placed second-equal, was circling in the start box against Sweden’s third-placed Artemis with just two minutes to the start when the race committee signaled a postponement. The Italian teams Azzurra and Mascalzone Latino, each placed second-equal, were waiting in the wings for the third race of the...
more »

Koh Samui Regatta to use SMS handicaps for Sportsboats

Posted 4 days, 11 hours ago by Sail World UK

The Race Committee has just updated the NOR in relation to the Sports Boat Class. more »

PUMA International Moth Worlds: Payne, McDougall and Funk take 1, 2, 3.

Posted 5 days ago by BYM Sailing News

Today was the final day of 2010 PUMA Moth Worlds.? The Race Committee was forced with an early onshore postponement for lack of wind.? After a morning on shore, the breeze in Dubai filled in nicely to get Race 13 ... more »

Mundial de Moth Puma 2010, ultima regata día sábado

Posted 7 days, 7 hours ago by Juanpa Cadario

Fuente info DOSC

Light winds and lots of low riding

Friday, March 12, 2010 at 15:40 Lisa Richards
Low riding was the name of the game and the end of racing on Day 4 at the World Championships.

Race 8 saw a brief postponement while the wind gained strength. 44 boats took to the water to start the first race of the day at 13.30. With a light but steady 7 knots all boats started with 1 OCS. Simon Payne dominated at every mark rounding and across the finish line with superior tactics and speed.

Race 9 pushed many boats to the limits of light wind sailing with over half the fleet residing to low riding for the majority of the race. Arnaud P took the lead from the start and carried it through to the final whislte.

With only 6 knots of breeze at the start line and tide running at the windward mark the race committee postponed the final race of the day until Saturday.

Resultados parciales con nueve regatas corridas click acá more »

LTW Readers Q but no A | 039; Finishing Seaweed?

Posted 8 days, 5 hours ago by Look To Windward

The following case was send in by two LTW readers from 'Down Under'.
The asked me to post this as they wrote it, without me giving any answers. They want you - as experienced LTW readers - to do this. I'm happy to oblige. Tell us your answers in a comment.

Finishing Line Problem – Seaweed
Here is a problem at the finishing line. Your comments are invited.

Scenario

The course to be sailed was windward-leeward with four legs. The leg length was 1 mile. The leeward mark was a gate comprising marks (3A) and (3B).
The gate marks were set approximately 12 boat lengths (300 feet) apart.
Sailing Instruction 7.7 said. "In the event, that the race committee decides a change of course is necessary for the first downwind leg, leg 2, one of the gate marks (3A) or (3B), will be removed and the remaining gate mark, set in it’s new location, shall be rounded to port.
There was no change of course signal made.
The race committee displayed the “S” flag with two sounds after several of the lead boats had rounded the windward mark at the end of leg 1.
The race committee intended the course to be shortened by boats passing through the gate in accordance with rule 32.2(c).
Because of difficulty in anchoring, the race committee boat was moored amidships alongside Gate mark 3B with the mark on her port side and gate mark 3A to port. Due to the light winds and strong current the race committee signal boat subsequently aligned itself with the current and the starboard side of the signal boat faced towards the course side of the course obscuring Mark 3B from boats approaching the gate.
When sailing the downwind leg and approaching mark 3A Seaweed could not see mark 3B nor hear any sound signals and, was unable to distinguish the “S” flag displayed. Other boats sailing near Seaweed corroborated this.
Seaweed said that she did not see a change of course signal made at the windward mark but when she saw only one gate mark, mark 3A, she considered the possibility that a change of course signal could have been made at the windward mark and that she simply failed to notice it which, in the absence of a sound signal and the apparent absence of gate mark (3B), led her to believe mark 3A was to be rounded to port according to SI 7.7.
The wind was very light, approximately 2 knots, and the “S” flag was not “flying” but rather “laying limp” (drooping down) on it’s staff.
Seaweed rounded the gate mark 3A to port. Seaweed was approximately 8-10 boat lengths in front of the nearest boat behind her when she rounded the gate mark.
When rounding mark 3A Seaweed saw the gate mark 3B on the leeward side of the signal boat and then made out the “S” flag displayed on the signal boat. Seaweed sailed back between the gate marks to the course side of the shortened course finish line then sailed back across the finish line between the gates in the direction from the previous mark as shown in the diagram.

Questions:
A.   Did Seaweed make an error under rule 28.1 at the finishing line?
B.   Has Seaweed corrected any error made at the finishing line under rule 28.1?
C.   Has Seaweed finished in accordance with the definition of finish?
D.   What should the Race Committee do?

more »

R/C Assist

Posted 9 days ago by Proper Course

Check out the latest iPhone app for sailors. R/C Assist is a tool for race committees which provides complete countdown timer functionality for several of the most common starting sequences used in sailboat racing. It allows your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad to start the races completely with sounds broadcast through an amplifier, or to help your race committee time start sequences and use the proper flags and sound symbols at the correct time. See the support page for full details.

You may remember that back in 2008 I nominated the ubiquitous Ollie Box starting system as the Best Sailing Innovation Ever. I wonder if R/C Assist will be as successful. It's certainly a lot cheaper at $4.99.

Check it out. And by the way the creator of this nifty little tool is B.J. Porter who writes the sailing blog Sail Evenstar.

more »

Azzurra delivers stand-out performance on opening day

Posted 10 days, 6 hours ago by Sail Karma

Azzurra, the Italian boat with the old name and the young crew, defeated Britain’s TEAMORIGIN in the closest of four hard-fought races on the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland.
© Bob Grieser/outsideimages.co.nz Louis Vuitton Trophy

Italian skipper and helmsman Francesco Bruni snatched a victory from Britain’s three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie at the first weather mark of their race as their boats rounded the mark overlapped. Sailing above the mark, Ainslie tried to luff his opponent only to see the Italian execute a swift spinnaker set, sail clear and go on to win.

“Azzurra sailed a good race today, they seem to have a knack of overtaking us which is getting very frustrating!” Ainslie said. “We were fully in contention at the top mark and tried to hold them up, we were unfortunately set up for a gybe set and they were set up for a straight hoist which allowed them to gain some distance.”

In their efforts to stay on schedule, the race committee spent a long first day on the water. In the morning, cloudy skies killed any chance of a sea breeze developing and delayed racing. The Rangitoto Channel entrance to Auckland Harbour was so glassy at late morning that Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio joked that it appeared to have been paved.

The long wait for wind ended at 2:45pm as the first pair started on the Blue Course at the mouth of the channel between Rangitoto Island and the Takapuna cliffs. The breeze was five to seven knots from the northwest. After a second race in similar conditions, the breeze switched to the south for the third race inside the harbour. The last race didn’t start until 7:10pm and finished after sunset just before 8:00pm

Race One: All4One def. Mascalzone Latino Audi Sailing Team, 00:44 – In the draw last night, the German/French boat All4One chose the starboard entry for the start and they protected the right side in the pre-start today. They split before the gun with All4One going out to the right on port tack, while Mascalzone Latino Audi enjoyed an early lead on starboard. All4One skipper and strategist Jochen Schümann said a man up the mast had spotted wind out to the right and they chose to concede an early lead to reach the stronger pressure. All4One eventually tacked to starboard to cover and Gavin Brady steering the Italian boat initiated a tacking duel. However Sébastien Col on the helm of All4One had already worked out to a controlling lead on the right that he never relinquished.

Race Two: Azzurra def. TEAMORIGIN, 00:53 – Great Britain’s TEAMORIGIN enjoyed the starboard entry in its match against Italy’s Azzurra and used it to advantage in a dialup that took both boats well above the line before they sailed back with Ben Ainslie on the British boat chasing Italian Francesco Bruni. Ainslie grabbed the right as they split away at the gun but Bruni kept it close and when they crossed for the first time Ainslie on starboard came down and hunted the Italian who tacked close to leeward and forced the British boat away. It happened again before they came into the weather mark overlapped, with Ainslie holding his opponent out from rounding. They tacked above the mark and the British boat luffed the Italian until Bruni capitalized on a miscommunication on Ainslie’s boat. Bruni was first to set a spinnaker and rolled over TEAMORIGIN forcing the British boat to gybe away. From there the Italians controlled the next three legs, finishing with a comfortable 53 second margin.

Race Three: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Artemis, 01:40 – Dean Barker overcame the handicap of a port entry in the pre-start to grab the right side of the course off the start line. Strong outgoing current and shifty breezes played a major role as Terry Hutchinson steering Artemis took the fight to Emirates Team New Zealand but trailed by 55 seconds at the weather mark. Artemis came charging back on the run to close within 12 seconds at the leeward gate but then lost ground in lighter air under North Head. The Kiwis extended to win comfortably.

Race Four: ALEPH Sailing Team def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 03:26 – The Russian boat steered by Karol Jablonski dominated Bertrand Pacé’s French entry in the pre-start only to see ALEPH wriggle clear and lead by three boat lengths at the gun. Jablonski kept it very close, pressuring Pacé on the first beat and was only 11 seconds astern at the top mark. As the sun set over the Auckland City skyline it was also sunset for the Russians as they ran over their spinnaker at the leeward mark. The French sailed away to a comfortable victory.

LIVE Sport Sailing 103.0 FM is featuring all-day live coverage of the Louis Vuitton Trophy. On television, during the seven days of the round robin, TVNZ is carrying nightly reports on its sports news. From March 16, during the elimination rounds, TVNZ will feature nightly half-hour reports. For the finals on 20th and 21st March there will be live coverage of the racing from noon to 4:00pm.

Live streaming web coverage of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Auckland is available on the event website, 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.http://www.sailkarma.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss more »

Comienzo en Auckland del Louis Vuitton Trophy, Azurra bate a Team Origin. Triunfos también para All4One, Aleph Sailing y ETNZ

Posted 10 days, 7 hours ago by Juanpa Cadario

Foto copyright Paul Todd/outsideimages.com.nz

Fuente info LVT

09 Mar, 2010
Azzurra delivers stand-out performance on opening day

Azzurra, the Italian boat with the old name and the young crew, defeated Britain’s TEAMORIGIN in the closest of four hard-fought races on the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland.

Italian skipper and helmsman Francesco Bruni snatched a victory from Britain’s three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie at the first weather mark of their race as their boats rounded the mark overlapped. Sailing above the mark, Ainslie tried to luff his opponent only to see the Italian execute a swift spinnaker set, sail clear and go on to win.

“Azzurra sailed a good race today, they seem to have a knack of overtaking us which is getting very frustrating!” Ainslie said. “We were fully in contention at the top mark and tried to hold them up, we were unfortunately set up for a gybe set and they were set up for a straight hoist which allowed them to gain some distance.”

In their efforts to stay on schedule, the race committee spent a long first day on the water. In the morning, cloudy skies killed any chance of a sea breeze developing and delayed racing. The Rangitoto Channel entrance to Auckland Harbour was so glassy at late morning that Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio joked that it appeared to have been paved.

The long wait for wind ended at 2:45pm as the first pair started on the Blue Course at the mouth of the channel between Rangitoto Island and the Takapuna cliffs. The breeze was five to seven knots from the northwest. After a second race in similar conditions, the breeze switched to the south for the third race inside the harbour. The last race didn’t start until 7:10pm and finished after sunset just before 8:00pm

Race One: All4One def. Mascalzone Latino Audi Sailing Team, 00:44 – In the draw last night, the German/French boat All4One chose the starboard entry for the start and they protected the right side in the pre-start today. They split before the gun with All4One going out to the right on port tack, while Mascalzone Latino Audi enjoyed an early lead on starboard. All4One skipper and strategist Jochen Schümann said a man up the mast had spotted wind out to the right and they chose to concede an early lead to reach the stronger pressure. All4One eventually tacked to starboard to cover and Gavin Brady steering the Italian boat initiated a tacking duel. However Sébastien Col on the helm of All4One had already worked out to a controlling lead on the right that he never relinquished.

Race Two: Azzurra def. TEAMORIGIN, 00:53 – Great Britain’s TEAMORIGIN enjoyed the starboard entry in its match against Italy’s Azzurra and used it to advantage in a dialup that took both boats well above the line before they sailed back with Ben Ainslie on the British boat chasing Italian Francesco Bruni. Ainslie grabbed the right as they split away at the gun but Bruni kept it close and when they crossed for the first time Ainslie on starboard came down and hunted the Italian who tacked close to leeward and forced the British boat away. It happened again before they came into the weather mark overlapped, with Ainslie holding his opponent out from rounding. They tacked above the mark and the British boat luffed the Italian until Bruni capitalized on a miscommunication on Ainslie’s boat. Bruni was first to set a spinnaker and rolled over TEAMORIGIN forcing the British boat to gybe away. From there the Italians controlled the next three legs, finishing with a comfortable 53 second margin.

Race Three: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Artemis, 01:40 – Dean Barker overcame the handicap of a port entry in the pre-start to grab the right side of the course off the start line. Strong outgoing current and shifty breezes played a major role as Terry Hutchinson steering Artemis took the fight to Emirates Team New Zealand but trailed by 55 seconds at the weather mark. Artemis came charging back on the run to close within 12 seconds at the leeward gate but then lost ground in lighter air under North Head. The Kiwis extended to win comfortably.

Race Four: ALEPH Sailing Team def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 03:26 – The Russian boat steered by Karol Jablonski dominated Bertrand Pacé’s French entry in the pre-start only to see ALEPH wriggle clear and lead by three boat lengths at the gun. Jablonski kept it very close, pressuring Pacé on the first beat and was only 11 seconds astern at the top mark. As the sun set over the Auckland City skyline it was also sunset for the Russians as they ran over their spinnaker at the leeward mark. The French sailed away to a comfortable victory. more »

Azzurra delivers stand-out performance on opening day of LV Auckland

Posted 10 days, 12 hours ago by Valencia Sailing

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] Azzurra, the Italian boat with the old name and the young crew, defeated Britain’s TEAMORIGIN in the closest of four hard-fought races on the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland.

Italian skipper and helmsman Francesco Bruni snatched a victory from Britain’s three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie at the first weather mark of their race as their boats rounded the mark overlapped. Sailing above the mark, Ainslie tried to luff his opponent only to see the Italian execute a swift spinnaker set, sail clear and go on to win.

“Azzurra sailed a good race today, they seem to have a knack of overtaking us which is getting very frustrating!” Ainslie said. “We were fully in contention at the top mark and tried to hold them up, we were unfortunately set up for a gybe set and they were set up for a straight hoist which allowed them to gain some distance.”

In their efforts to stay on schedule, the race committee spent a long first day on the water. In the morning, cloudy skies killed any chance of a sea breeze developing and delayed racing. The Rangitoto Channel entrance to Auckland Harbour was so glassy at late morning that Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio joked that it appeared to have been paved.

The long wait for wind ended at 2:45pm as the first pair started on the Blue Course at the mouth of the channel between Rangitoto Island and the Takapuna cliffs. The breeze was five to seven knots from the northwest. After a second race in similar conditions, the breeze switched to the south for the third race inside the harbour. The last race didn’t start until 7:10pm and finished after sunset just before 8:00pm

Race One: All4One def. Mascalzone Latino Audi Sailing Team, 00:44 – In the draw last night, the German/French boat All4One chose the starboard entry for the start and they protected the right side in the pre-start today. They split before the gun with All4One going out to the right on port tack, while Mascalzone Latino Audi enjoyed an early lead on starboard. All4One skipper and strategist Jochen Schümann said a man up the mast had spotted wind out to the right and they chose to concede an early lead to reach the stronger pressure. All4One eventually tacked to starboard to cover and Gavin Brady steering the Italian boat initiated a tacking duel. However Sébastien Col on the helm of All4One had already worked out to a controlling lead on the right that he never relinquished.

ALL4One beats Mascalzone. Auckland, 9 March 2010. Photo copyright Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz

Race Two: Azzurra def. TEAMORIGIN, 00:53N – Great Britain’s TEAMORIGI enjoyed the starboard entry in its match against Italy’s Azzurra and used it to advantage in a dialup that took both boats well above the line before they sailed back with Ben Ainslie on the British boat chasing Italian Francesco Bruni. Ainslie grabbed the right as they split away at the gun but Bruni kept it close and when they crossed for the first time Ainslie on starboard came down and hunted the Italian who tacked close to leeward and forced the British boat away. It happened again before they came into the weather mark overlapped, with Ainslie holding his opponent out from rounding. They tacked above the mark and the British boat luffed the Italian until Bruni capitalized on a miscommunication on Ainslie’s boat. Bruni was first to set a spinnaker and rolled over TEAMORIGIN forcing the British boat to gybe away. From there the Italians controlled the next three legs, finishing with a comfortable 53 second margin.

Azzurra beats Team Origin. Auckland, 9 March 2010. Photo copyight Ian Roman / Team Origin

Race Three: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Artemis, 01:40 – Dean Barker overcame the handicap of a port entry in the pre-start to grab the right side of the course off the start line. Strong outgoing current and shifty breezes played a major role as Terry Hutchinson steering Artemis took the fight to Emirates Team New Zealand but trailed by 55 seconds at the weather mark. Artemis came charging back on the run to close within 12 seconds at the leeward gate but then lost ground in lighter air under North Head. The Kiwis extended to win comfortably.

Race Four: ALEPH Sailing Team def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 03:26 – The Russian boat steered by Karol Jablonski dominated Bertrand Pacé’s French entry in the pre-start only to see ALEPH wriggle clear and lead by three boat lengths at the gun. Jablonski kept it very close, pressuring Pacé on the first beat and was only 11 seconds astern at the top mark. As the sun set over the Auckland City skyline it was also sunset for the Russians as they ran over their spinnaker at the leeward mark. The French sailed away to a comfortable victory. more »

LiveSport Telecom New Zealand Women's Match Racing : Katie Pellew wins championship

Posted 11 days, 22 hours ago by BYM Sailing News

Australian Katie Pellew (nee Spithill) won the one and only race in the finals against rival and fellow Australian Nicky Souter to win the LIVESPORT TELECOM New Zealand Women’s Match Racing Championships. The Race Committee was unable to complete ... more »

ISAF Q&A 2010 - 010 | SAILORS, this one is for you!

Posted 13 days, 22 hours ago by Look To Windward

This ISAF Q&A 2010-010 is something EVERY sailor , who's ever been or will be in a regatta where the race committee is posting OCS - boats at the windward mark, should read. It can make the difference between getting a place in the race or being scored points as DNF or OCS.

Even if you successfully request redress in which you can prove that your boat was not OCS, the wording in the sailing instructions can make a BIG difference. That is because getting a result does not depend solely on the fact that you must convince the PC that the Race Committee made a mistake, it also depends on what you did (or did not do).

Most sailors seeing there number posted at the windward mark will leave the race. That is normal practice. That is what is expected, they claim:"If I don't do it I will get a DNE!"

It all depends on the wording in the sailing instructions. Posting numbers is not something that is written in the rulebook. There is a guideline how to do it in Instruction 14.6 of Appendix LE (Expanded Sailing Instruction Guide available at the ISAF website) and normally restricted to a boat that failed to start or has broken rule 30.3, where a clause requiring such boats to retire immediately is included in the sailing instructions.

But if that clause is written badly and does not place an obligation on boats to leave you MUST not leave the course and should finish the race. If you don't finish the race, redress cannot be granted because it is partly you own fault that you did not.

Here's the link to the Q&A: ISAF Q&A 2010-010
I suggest you have look.

.

more »