Kiwi yachties pick the home breeze
10 Mar 2010
New Zealand yachties are excelling in home waters as the Auckland Festival of Sailing moves into its second phase with the start of racing in the Louis Vuitton Series.
Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, who emerged as world match racing champion after the festival’s lead-in regatta last week, also sailed to victory in the opening of the Louis Vuitton series yesterday (9.03.10).
Familiarity with the boats and an eye for the fickle winds of the Waitemata Harbour - where the racing is easily visible from the shores of Auckland city and coastal suburbs - has given the local sailors some advantage.
Emirates Team NZ win
Emirates Team New Zealand tactician Ray Davies spotted shifting breezes well before his rivals to give his team a 1m 40s victory over Paul Cayard’s Swedish Artemis team in Round Robin 1.
Lack of breeze had delayed racing for six hours and it was early evening before Team NZ and Artemis crossed the line in a streaky breeze against a strong outgoing tide.
In the other opening day races, the Italian team Azzurra, winners of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice last year, scored their first victory over Britain’s TeamOrigin; All4One (France) chose the right side and beat Mascalzone Latino Audi (Italy) by 44s; and French team Aleph had an easy victory over Russian Synergy after the Russians dropped a spinnaker in the water.
World’s top sailors
Eight teams, made up of the world’s top sailors, are competing in the Louis Vuitton series which runs from 9 - 21 March.
They are sailing the yachts that Team NZ used for the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia.
The establishment of the Louis Vuitton World Series followed the success of the one-off Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland in March 2009 when Team NZ beat the then America's Cup holder Alinghi of Switzerland in the final.
Racing in this event follows the same format - teams take it in turns to race the two boats in four matches a day to complete a round-robin seeding series before a ladder elimination culminating in the finals on 21 March.
Regatta success
Louis Vuitton trophy sailing organiser Bruno Troublé says he expects the current regatta to be even more successful than the Pacific series last year and believes it will also build on the recent progress made with the America’s Cup.
He says BMW Oracle’s America’s Cup win seems to have rejuvenated some interest in the Louis Vuitton series.
Extensive television and internet coverage world-wide will also fuel interest in top-level sailing competition and the current Louis Vuitton series is being screened live in a number of countries including the UK, Italy, France and Russia.
News material is being distributed to more than 950 television channels across all continents and websites are also streaming the sailing live - even to countries that don’t have teams involved in the series.
Peschardt’s World
International media representatives in Auckland for the event include the BBC’s Michael Peschardt who was 18th man with Team NZ for yesterday’s opening race.
Peschardt is hosting a one hour broadcast from Auckland as part of his show, Peschardt’s People, which attracts more than 76 million viewers and is screened worldwide.
An interview with ETNZ manager Grant Dalton formed part of the show as well as Peschart’s on-board experience which he called "astonishing".
"Suddenly I understand why billionaires and multi-millionaires spend what they do on the America's Cup. It was a truly astonishing experience - the best technology man can come up with combined with the equally raw power of the crew.
"I do not think I've seen a more striking example of a group of people working as a team. The conditions are cramped. The tension is high. And yet there's just a gentle buzz of conversation as each crew member trusts implicitly the other to do their job.
"My favourite thing? There we were on an America's Cup boat in an international regatta and just by the start was a flotilla of tiny dinghies with children sailing after school. What a place to grow up. On the water from the time most of them can walk," said Peschardt.
Festival of Sailing
For the next three weeks Auckland will live up to its name as the 'city of sails' as festival events dominate the harbour and marine village.
Off-the-water entertainment will centre around the Viaduct Harbour - port-side of downtown Auckland - where an event village is the hub of activity and celebration.
For locals the buzz is reminiscent of the days when America’s Cup regattas were hosted in the city.
The Auckland International Boat Show timed to coincide with the international sailing events, will be held from 10 - 14 March, and the Festival of Sailing ends with the BMW Sailing Cup final from 22 - 25 March.
More information:
Auckland Festival of Sailing
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