Race1:
Emirates Team New Zealand bt. BMW Oracle Racing
Race2:
Greek Challenge bt. Team Shosholoza
Race3:
Damiani Italia Challenge bt. China Team
Race4:
Alinghi bt. Luna Rossa
Interesting day with the match of the day with BMW Oracle vs Emirates Team New Zealand, or was many were calling it the 'Deano Vs Russell' race, which essentially heralded Russell Coutts's return to IACC cup class yacht racing.
Not bad by BMW Oracle but ETNZ got the shift they wanted, well spotted and pulled away to a good comfortably lead, not pushing it but enough so BMW Oracle never had a show of attacking. Nice & clean, match racing at its finest. 28s delta.
The Greeks put away Team Shosholoza without too much trouble, they are really coming out of their shell more and more and I think they are ones to watch out later on in AC racing. Good on them for coming to Auckland and getting stuck in. A wealth of talent there.
Damiani Italia Challenge, well what can I say. Another interesting note, DIC have filed a protest against LVPS/ETNZ due to the points scoring system, as ETNZ are apparantly taking points in these races, details are not clear as the protest is being heard by a panel tonight but sounds interesting, will keep you updated.
They put away China Team pretty well as expected.
The other BIG match of the day, Luna Rossa vs Americas Cup holders Alinghi.
Well sailed by Alinghi, smooth operators, put Luna Rossa away early in the start box, LR arriving late, never regaining Alinghi, thanks to the short courses.
Alot of people have been complaning about the lack of coverage for overseas fanatics.
Well do I have some news. Not only can you view at the TVNZ PAGE HERE the text & storys but you can also watch Virtual Eye HERE.
Great news, that should keep people happy. I think for the next regatta there will be more international interest so they will have to up the game on the boats with the TV camears and also TV coverage of the event overall. TVNZ are doing their best but given the time frame everyone had, they are coping.
I was not able to make it down to the Viaduct today as much as I would have liked to. I had a pressing meeting to attend which I could not afford to miss but rest assured, I will be there tomorrow with my father, who is coming down with me for a look so watch out for some pics coming your way tomorrow!
Races tomorrow:
Race1:
Damiani Italia Challenge vs K Challange (could be interesting)
Race2:
Alinghi vs Team ORIGIN (good match up, but I think Alinghi will eat Ben for breakfast & lunch)
Race3:
BMW Oracle Racing vs China Team (Russell, you better win this or I might loose the faith & you might loose your job!)
Race4:
Luna Rossa vs Team Shosholoza (Very even given their performances if you ask me, should be a good match race to see)
All in all, a good all round day of sailing in the City of Sails tomorrow.
Weather wise, they are looking at conditions much like today, not scientific I know but most people like it that way. Breezes around 14-20kts, light chop, SW approx allthough the wind was going around 20degrees today so abit of variation up the corners there of the course.
Catch you guys tomorrow!