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Santa Irene Club de Vela Newsletter - 28th June 2007
Bang that drum – sound that horn – ring that bell - the America´s Cup remains in Europe for another 4 years Oh! how I wish I could have been in Valencia when “Alinghi” crossed the line 2 seconds ahead of “Team New Zealand” in the 7th race to win the cup 5 races to 2. We will learn a lot more from the yachting press in the near future, I hope there will be a DVD of the whole event.
Thanks to BBC World Service I did see the last race. What a race it was, they crossed the start line together halfway to the windword mark. N.Z was ahead but with some good tactics Alinghi rounded the mark first with NZ only a few seconds behind.
On the down-wind leg NZ went ahead once again. Tactics on the upwind leg again plays its part. Alinghi on starboard tack was impeded by NZ on Port tack – the umpire immediately gave them a yellow flag (penalty) which meant they had to make a 360º turn before crossing the finishing line. Again Alinghi went round the top mark and extended their lead to 140m but with light winds NZ were gradually closing the gap, who made the decision to move away to the left.
With seemingly nothing to stop Alinghi winning – the wind dropped, NZ had picked up more on the left, so dropped her spinnaker – put up a Jib to catch the wind-shift and were moving fast towards the finish line. Alinghi dropped their spinnaker but had not picked up the wind and were moving slow.
NZ had to make that 360º penalty turn which they did, both boats were now very near the finish line. Alinghi arrived 2 seconds ahead of NZ. The Cup was theirs! Which means I have a second chance of seeing those American Cup boats racing in Europe. I wonder, will they pick the same sailing waters? Were they happy with the light winds of Valencia?
The average wind speed for the Louis Vuitton Cup to find the Challenger was 9.6 knots, F3. I would suggest Weymouth and Portland in 2011, that’s a year before the 2012 Olympics. Oh! I also have friends living Nearby – hello Ann and Robin, hope to see you soon.
Take care
John Talliss
Tel : 950 475 157
Movil: 658 548 790
E-mail John@Sailrway.com
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