Americas Cup Racing Report - RR2 Day 2
Swiss and America True Shake-Up the Standings
It was a big day on the race course today with two upsets and more gear failure. The Swiss FAST 2000 team earned its first win of the Louis Vuitton Cup and America True won the battle of the San Francisco rivals. This was a blow for AmericaOne as Paul Cayard was over the start line early and America True held the lead from start to finish.
Japan's Asura got off to a flying start doing an early hook on Prada and winning the start. Asura was still in the lead (40') when the clew of its mainsail broke. Gilmour had to retire, surely frustrated at coming so close to being the first to beat Italy's Luna Rossa.
Racing started under overcast skies with light drizzle and 12 to 15 knots of wind. But soon the sky cleared and the wind built. By the end of the racing the wind had increased to 22 knots from the North.
LUNA ROSSA WON, ASURA DID NOT FINISH
With a
flurry of activity in the pre-start, the initiative switched
from Luna Rossa (ITA-45) to Asura (JPN-44) with just a
minute to go. Gilmour won a great start and headed out to
the left of the course. Luna Rossa crossed the start line 15
seconds later and tacked away to the right to gain
separation and try to sail past. But the left hand side of
the course was obviously the place to be. Gilmour built his
lead by staying on the left of the pair. He rounded the
first mark with a 20 second lead. Luna Rossa lost more time
with a poor spinnaker hoist. Gilmour stayed in control on
the run to lead by 23 seconds at the leeward mark. But then
disaster struck. Half way up the second windward leg the
titanium clew ring on Nippon's mainsail broke and the
Japanese syndicate was forced to retire. This allowed Luna
Rossa to continue around the course and collect four more
points.
BE HAPPY WON, ABRACADABRA DID NOT
FINISH
be hAPpy (SUI-59) engaged in a pre start
battle with Abracadabra (USA-54). The Swiss forced Kolius to
tack away at the start line and continued with speed over
the line, winning the start with three seconds. On the first
beat be hAPpy could nearly cross ahead but tacked to
leeward. A left-hand shift gave the Swiss just what they
needed. When the boats met again Pajot and Schümann could
cross in front of Abracadabra to take the right side
approaching the first mark. The Swiss rounded the top mark
19 seconds ahead. After a very slow manoeuvre around the
mark on be hAPpy, Kolius caught up. But downwind the Swiss
could sail deeper and kept the lead. It was a close race. At
the bottom mark the delta was 16 seconds, at the second
weather mark the lead was only 14 seconds. Downwind Kolius
forced Schümann to gybe often but lost three seconds in the
process. The Swiss started the third beat with a two
boatlength lead. The wind increased to 18 knots when
disaster struck for Abracadabra. The mainsail ripped from
leech to luff just underneath the second batten. Kolius
continued with a headsail only. But on the last run
Abracadabra retired.
AMERICA TRUE BEAT AMERICAONE -
DELTA 01:29
John Cutler and Paul Cayard battled hard
for the dominant position at the start. Cutler, lured
AmericaOne into starting early. By the time AmericaOne had
re-crossed correctly, it was 38 seconds behind. The first
beat saw 11 tacks as Cayard and Kostecki tried to
re-position themselves relative to the windshifts and
America True. But their efforts were in vain. John Cutler
and his team stayed calm and in control of the race and
rounded the first mark with a lead of almost one minute. The
first run saw America True pull 20 seconds out from the St
Francis Yacht Club's challenger. The race continued in much
the same vein with America True gaining all the time in the
building breeze to finish the course with a significant
lead.
YOUNG AMERICA BEAT BRAVO ESPAÑA - DELTA 01:23
After an even start Young America (USA-53) skippered
by Ed Baird defeated Bravo España (ESP- 47) sailed by Pedro
Campos. The pre-start was lively with Baird quickly going on
the attack, chasing Campos away from the line in a series of
circles before they both headed back. Campos went for the
left side of the course, successfully protecting the pin
end. Both boats hit the line at the gun but Baird was
pointing higher and accelerating faster. Boat speeds were
similar with a slight height advantage to Baird who edged
away on every leg except the first run.
LE DÉFI BEATS
YOUNG AUSTRALIA 2000 - DELTA 01:43
Le Défi (FRA-46)
avenged a loss in the Rugby World Cup with a win over Young
Australia (AUS-31). French skipper Bertrand Pacé showed good
form in the pre start forcing his Australian counterpart
James Spithill to tack away from a trailing, leeward
position to the committee boat end of the line. Le Défi
crossed the line first, tacked and consolidated its lead
with a quick covering tack after the start. Pacé pushed
Spithill towards the left layline and led by 32 seconds at
the windward mark. France was never threatened the rest of
the
way.