The final day of the CNEV regatta in Valencia, Spain, saw some of the closest racing yet. The results were similar to the previous day with Alinghi gaining two more firsts, Luna Rossa two more seconds and the Spanish and TEAMORIGIN with a third and fourth each, but the action was closer than before and the four teams had some tight battles.
Mike Sanderson, Team Director, commented as he stepped off the boat: “How fantastic was that we still had a chance at second place overall going into the last race. I am so happy with the results given this early stage. We have a great bunch of guys, who all enjoy sailing together. Our aim is to win the America’s Cup and that is not done in an instant, but for sure over the next few years we are going to win plenty of races and have a great time doing it!”
Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Helmsman, added: “Another good day on the water. Different conditions again so all good practise for us. I particularly want to thank Desafio Español and Alinghi for helping to make this happen for us, I am really pleased with how things have gone this week.”
The next event for TEAMORIGIN will be the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series which takes place in Auckland, New Zealand, in Jan/Feb 2009.
Race Report
Race Five
The teams experienced a shorter delay on day three with race five getting underway at 1340. TEAMORIGIN had an impressive start, one in from the committee boat with good speed. Alinghi tacked off and TEAMORIGIN and the Spanish took to the left side of the beat. Alinghi looked high and fast on the right hand side of the beat but it was Luna Rossa who were first at the top windward mark, then Alinghi followed by TEAMORIGIN in third position.
Downwind, TEAMORIGIN seemed to find some speed and closed the gap on the front two. Luna Rossa lost out to Alinghi’s superior boat speed and by the leeward gate, Alinghi had pulled ahead to first place.
The second beat saw some close tacking but no place changes and all rounded the second windward mark in the same positions. TEAMORIGIN hoisted but had a retriever line caught up. They sorted this out quickly and continued to move downwind with good pace.
The fleet crossed the line in the same positions, with the Spanish losing out on distance to TEAMORIGIN.
Race Five results:
1st Alinghi
2nd Luna Rossa
3rd TEAMORIGIN
4th Luna Rossa
Race Six
The final race got started just after 1500 with a slightly fresher breeze. TEAMORIGIN again had a good start, second in from the committee boat, but on the line and with pace. Luna Rossa tacked off first and on the first cross, TEAMORIGIN was just slightly behind Alinghi but very close. The Spanish tacked under Luna Rossa and all four teams stayed in very close contact all the way to the windward mark where the order of rounding was Alinghi first, Luna Rossa second, the Spanish third and TEAMORIGIN shooting the mark for a close fourth place.
Downwind the pack stayed tightly packed but with no place changes and so the leeward gate rounding followed suit. TEAMORIGIN threw in a dummy tack against the Spanish and they headed up the final beat of the day. Luna Rossa kept very good pace with Alinghi and they rounded the final windward mark in close proximity.
On the final downwind, TEAMORIGIN suffered a broken spinnaker halyard so did a quick spinnaker replacement and lost some ground to the Spanish, ending up in fourth place for that race, but securing the third place overall – a great result for such a new team.
Race Six results:
1st : Alinghi
2nd : Luna Rossa
3rd : Desafio Espanol
4th : TEAMORIGIN
Overall results after 6 races:
1st: Alinghi – 3rd; 1st; 1st; 1st, 1st, 1st = 8 points ; 5 points after discard
2nd: Luna Rossa – 2nd; 4th; 2nd; 2nd, 2nd, 2nd = 14 points; 10 points after discard
3rd: TEAMORIGIN – 1st; 3rd; 4th; 3rd, 3rd, 4th = 18 points; 14 points after discard
4th : Desafio Espanol – 4th; 2nd; 3rd; 4th, 4th, 3rd = 20 points; 16 points after discard
Further quotes from the sailing team:
Iain Percy, Tactician, commented: “It’s been great to finally race with all the guys together for the first time. For sure there is lots to improve on and we knew that would be the case. The team spirit is really high, we have gone through the steepest learning curve and we are better off by far for having done this event.”
Andrew Simpson, strategist, added: “It’s great to be sailing again, putting a new team together takes time and we are very lucky to have been given this opportunity by the Spanish team.”
Finally Robert Greenhalgh, strategist/traveller and wind spotter up the mast added: “We won our first race at our first regatta and ended up third overall – a great start for us. For me it was interesting to have such a different view of the race course from up the rig. I’m looking forward to Auckland for sure!”
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