Luna Rossa Wins Over Victory Challenge

Luna Rossa Wins Over Victory Challenge And Doubles Against GBR Challenge

Ideal conditions today on the Hauraki Gulf. The wind is around 10-15 knots and the Race Committee is able to start the matches of flight 6 in perfect time. Luna Rossa, with Rod Davis at the helm, starts at 10:50 about mid-line, while Victory chooses the pin end on the left. The boats are sailing pretty much even at the beginning of their first beat.

Luna Rossa takes the lead in the early part of the first windward leg and, after a series of close tacks at the top end of the field, rounds the first mark with a 22 seconds advantage. At the beginning of the first run the two boats sail together with Luna Rossa leading. Then Orm gybes away and heads for the left, while ITA 74 keeps to the right. Victory takes advantage of a wind shift, closes the gap and takes the lead. The two boats reach the bottom mark close together and Orm takes the inside lane leading Luna Rossa by 8 seconds. The second beat sees a close duel between Luna Rossa and Victory. At the last windward mark, Victory rounds with a couple boat lenghts of advantage over Luna Rossa. The wind is going lighter and Luna Rossa hoists a gennaker while Victory opts for a spinnaker. The race is still very much open. During the last run downwind Francesco de Angelis attacks from behind with an intense gybing duel and is able to close the gap and take the lead. Luna Rossa wins the race over the Swedes by 10 seconds.

In the afternoon Luna Rossa races against the British. The Race Committee fires the start gun at 13:45 in ideal weather conditions, with 15 knots of wind. A few seconds before the start Rod Davis, at the helm of ITA 74, forces GBR to tack to the right. ITA 74 heads at full speed toward the pin end. During the first beat GBR defends the right. Halfway through the leg the two boats battle with an intense and close tacking duel and GBR gets the inside lane. Luna Rossa trails by 4 seconds at the first mark. An extremely exciting spinnaker run follows, with Luna Rossa sailing less than a metre behind GBR. Francesco de Angelis tries to get the overlap over the British, pushing them further and further towards the left lay line and trying to gain the inside lane for the next mark. The crew on Luna Rossa sails very aggressively and gains the lead. The boats reach the mark only a few meters apart and ITA 74 is ahead by 9 seconds at the rounding. The wind picks up to 20-22 knots. Luna Rossa consolidates her lead in the second beat and rounds the last mark with a 14 second advantage over GBR Challenge. The boats are now sailing to the finish under spinnaker. Francesco de Angelis defends his lead controlling every move of his opponent. A victorious Luna Rossa crosses the finish line ahead of the GBR Challenge team by 16 seconds in an exciting match that saw very close racing and some heartstopping moments near the marks.

The scheduled match of flight 7 between Le Defi and Oracle has been postponed to a further date as the French boat sustained technical failures during the first race of the day.

Tomorrow Luna Rossa has a bye in the morning. In the afternoon she is scheduled to race against OneWorld.

Today's Results

Flight 6 Of Round Robin Two - Off Alinghi SUI 64 Match 1 Wight Lightning GBR 70 wins against Mascalzone Latino ITA 72 (1' 40" lead) Match 2 Luna Rossa ITA 74 wins against Orm SWE 73 (10" lead) Match 3 Oracle BMW Racing USA 76 wins against OneWorld USA 67 (40" lead) Match 4 Stars & Stripes USA 66 wins against Le Defi FRA 69 (1' 12" lead)

Flight 7 Of Round Robin Two - Off Mascalzone Latino ITA 72 Match 1 Oracle BMW Racing USA 76 against Le Defi FRA 69 (match postponed due to technical failure on Le defi) Match 2 Alinghi SUI 64 wins against Stars & Stripes USA 66 (49" lead) Match 3 Luna Rossa ITA 74 wins against Wight Lightning GBR 70 (16" lead) Match 4 OneWorld USA 67 wins against Orm SWE 73 (21" lead)

Today's Crew On Luna Rossa 1. Bowman, Paolo Bassani 2. Mid bowman, Massimiliano Sirena 3. Mastman, Simone de Mari 4. Pitman, Cristian Griggio 5. Left grinder, Massimo Galli 6. Right grinder, Romolo Ranieri 7. Upwind trimmer, Lorenzo Mazza 8. Downwind trimmer, Andrew Hemmings 9. Mainsail trimmer, Sean Clarkson 10. Center grinder, Massimo Gherarducci 11. Helmsman, Francesco de Angelis 12. Tactician, Torben Grael 13. Afterguard, Rod Davis 14. Downwind grinder, Daniele Bresciano 15. Strategist, Michele Ivaldi 16. Navigator, Matteo Plazzi

Race Course Windward leeward course of 12.5 miles, four legs total, two windward legs and two downwind legs; first and last legs are 3.25 miles, the remaining two are 3.00 miles.

Weather Conditions Today Wind from SW 5-10 increasing to 15-20 knots. Mainly sunny.

Current Overall Standings At The End Of Today's Racing 1. Alinghi Swiss Challenge, 12 pts (12 wins out of 13 races) 2. OneWorld Challenge, 11 pts (11 wins out of 13 races) * 3. Prada Challenge, 10 pts (10 wins out of 14 races) 4. Oracle BMW Racing, 7 pts (7 wins out of 11 races) 5. Victory Challenge, 6 pts (6 wins out of 13 races) 5. GBR Challenge, 6 pts (6 wins out of 13 races) 7. Team Dennis Conner, 5 pts (5 wins out of 13 races) 8. Mascalzone Latino, 1 pt (1 win out of 14 races) 9. Le Defi Areva, 0 pts (0 wins out of 12 races) * OneWorld will be penalised one point at the end of Round Robin Two.

Calendar For Tomorrow - November 1

Flight 8 Of Round Robin Two - Off Luna Rossa ITA 74 Match 1 Wight Lightning GBR 70 versus Orm SWE 73 Match 2 Le Defi FRA 69 versus OneWorld USA 67 Match 3 Alinghi SUI 64 versus Oracle BMW Racing USA 76 Match 4 Mascalzone Latino ITA 72 versus Stars & Stripes USA 66

Flight 9 Of Round Robin Two - Off Stars & Stripes USA 66 Match 1 Le Defi FRA 69 versus Mascalzone Latino ITA 72 Match 2 OneWorld USA 67 versus Luna Rossa ITA 74 Match 3 Orm SWE 73 versus Alinghi SUI 64 Match 4 Oracle BMW Racing USA 76 versus Wight Lightning GBR 70

Weather Forecast For Tomorrow Wind from NW 15-20 knots. Increasing cloud. Afternoon showers.

Official Suppliers Prada Challenge 2003: Enervit (active nutrition). Fabianelli (pasta). Makita (power tools). Saima Avandero (transport). Sanpellegrino (mineral water and soft drinks). Technogym (fitness equipment).

Corporate Technology Partners Prada Challenge 2003:

PTC Parametric Technology Corporation (engineering design and analysis software). SGI Silicon Graphics, Inc. (computer systems).

Official Technology Partners Prada Challenge 2003:

CEI Computational Engineering International (engineering visualization software). ICEM-CFD Engineering (mesh generation software).

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