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La
Luna es Rossa What
a great day was spent by this reporter under the Valencian sun. To be honest,
the wind was freezing, but the racing was hot. We had about 9.5 to 10 knots,
from the start and it suddenly upped the pace of this Louis Vuitton Cup.
Every day now it is getting better and as an offshoot, it is making the
teams get better as well. Not so many mistakes, better sail selection, and
all in all a much more coordinated effort. I can't imagine what it must
have been like for the crews sitting under a roasting sun for ten days waiting
for wind, but I can tell you from first hand experience that sitting on
a press boat watching them was sheer hell. Today we had a ball. We got roasted,
and so did some of the competing boats, but it was entertainment and that
is what it is all about. Flight 6 The first outing on the "Romeo" (north) course was between Luna Rossa and Areva. To be honest it was a bit tame as they seemed to be a bit wary of each other; as though the Italians were scared to try snails in garlic butter and the French had no idea how to eat spaghetti without covering the table cloth with Bolognese sauce. They fumbled and generally played around, on what could have been two different courses, until the gun went. They crossed the line almost equal, but from then on it was all for Luna Rossa; she didn't need to cover, she didn't really need to try. She looked to me to be sailing about 2º higher on the wind and she did what she had to do. I wouldn't say that Luna Rossa had such great boat speed when compared to the French, boat but I will just mention that Areva has a really dreadful looking main, with more wrinkles than a bulldog, and it needs throwing away. Second away were Victory Challenge and +39. Now if you like match racing then you'd have loved the start of this one. I don't know if the Swedes have something against the Italians, or visa versa, but they were out for each others throats. They used the pre-start box to its full extent and it was enthralling. By the end of the battle, as the gun sounded, they both hit the line well and headed out left, but from then on it all went Victory Challenge's way. +39, as I keep saying, still has a lot to do and no time to do it in; they were left for dead in a very one sided race. Flight 7 The first race of flight 7 had even the journalists sitting on the edge of the rail when BMW Oracle took on Areva. Whatever lessons the French had learnt from the morning fiasco, it looked like they'd put them all into place for this difficult encounter. Yes, everybody knew that BMW O was going to win. But when the two contenders start a tacking battle amongst multi-million dollar spectator boats, then you really do have to sit up and take notice. One minute they were on top of the committee boat and the next they were almost inviting themselves to lunch at Larry's floating pad. It was great and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but the French boat didn't enjoy it for long, because that was the end of their moment of glory for the day. BMW took the line, controlled the course and relaxed. Second away in flight 7 were Luna Rossa and +39. They weren't really up to much in the pre-start, thought they made some moves to keep us all happy, but once over the line - almost neck and neck- we had a spectacle of true match racing. For all the first beat they were like a choreographed ballet; he tack, I tack, he free, I free as well. They seemed so evenly matched that the Italian radio reporter, jabbering away next to me, didn't know who to shout for. For me, it was the best so far and it's such a pity that - following that mast breakage - +39 has lost that equilibrium and speed the boat had going into ACT13. Little by little, Luna Rossa ground +39 down and led from the windward mark onwards, but it wasn't as one sided as it might have seemed. They had to work hard and although they won the race, I think that there will be some serious talking in the clubhouse tonight. +39 sailed a good second race, but they obviously have some mainsail problems. The luff looks scruffy and all that turbulence must be costing boat speed. Opinions Victory Challenge: Yesterday I mentioned that they look better each time they come to the water, today they did again. BMW/Oracle. They came in as favourite and showed us what a great boat they have, but they didnt start to gain until that starting box was out of they way. They could have done better and I bet that they will be working on it. William Wallace / BYM News 04/26/07 |