NZL 92 takes emphatic win over USA 98

Valencia May 9 2007
Emirates Team New Zealand scored an emphatic 1 min 34 sec win over BMW Oracle racing today to finish top of the leaderboard in round robin 2.
And as top challengers, Emirates Team New Zealand can choose its opponent in the semi-finals that start on Monday.
It was the match everyone was waiting for. The two teams heading the leaderboard going head-to-head. The money was on Oracle to win.
NZL 92 finished the round robin 2 unbeaten. USA 98 was beaten twice – by China and New Zealand.
The start was even, with NZL 92 taking the right and holding it. A drag race ensued with NZL 92 tacking away to the right in search of an anticipated wind shift.
They got it, there was more pressure in it, and NZL 92 quickly extended. USA 98 decided to stay in the left and suffered.
NZL 92 closed on the top mark with the gap extending further and rounded a massive 54 sec ahead.
On the run NZL 92 extended by four boat lengths as USA 92 was powerless to reduce the distance. At the first leeward mark, NZL 92’s margin had increased to 1min 13 sec.
The story was the same on the second windward beat. NZL 92 extended relentlessly and USA 98 had no answer. At the top mark NZL 92 extended to 1min 27sec. And at the finish the distance between the yachts was close to 500 metres which translated to 1 min 34sec.
Grant Dalton said after the race that the team had done nothing different today than it had all regatta. “We prepared exactly as we always do. We put together a game plan that suited the conditions. We got a good call from the weather team. Then Dean and the boys performed a perfect execution.
“We expected a wind shift from the right on the first beat and it came on cue. We built a good lead quite quickly and from then, the plan was simply to keep our boat between USA 98 and the finish mark. We didn’t have an anxious moment during the entire race.
“The team has finished the rounds robin exactly as we planned so long ago… strong and sailing well. On Monday the game starts all over again. Every win to date in the Louis Vuitton Cup counts for nothing.”
Rankings after two rounds robin 1
NZL 92 Emirates Team New Zealand 38 2 USA 98 BMW ORACLE Racing 37 3 ITA 94 Luna Rossa Challenge 35 4 ESP 97 Desafio Espanol 2007 29 5 SWE 96 Victory Challenge 26 6 ITA 99 Mascalzone Latino- Capitalia Team 22 7 RSA 83 Team Shosholoza 20 8 FRA 93 Areva Challenge 17 9 ITA 85 +39 Challenge 12 10 GER 89 United Internet Team Germany 5 11 CHN 95 China Team 3
TODAY’S SAILING TEAM Skipper - Dean Barker Tactician - Terry Hutchinson Navigator - Kevin Hall Strategist - Ray Davies Traveller - Mark Mendelblatt Mainsail trimmer - Don Cowie Trimmer upwind - Grant Loretz Trimmer downwind - James Dagg Main grinder - Chris Ward Pit - Barry McKay Runner/pit - Tony Rae Grinder – Rob Waddell Grinder - Jono Macbeth Mast - Matt Mason Floater - Grant Dalton Mid-Bow – Andrew McLean Bow - Jeremy Lomas
TODAY’S RESULTS Flight 11
ITA 99 beat SWE 96 +38s ITA 94 beat ESP 97 +1.54 NZL 92 beat USA 98 +1.34 ITA 85 beat GER 89 +30s RSA 83 beat FRA 93 +14s
Bye – China Team
CHALLENGER SAIL NUMBERS Emirates Team New Zealand – NZL 92 BMW Oracle Racing – USA 98 Luna Rossa Challenge – ITA 94 +39 Challenge – ITA 85 Team Shosholoza – RSA 83 Areva Challenge – FRA 93 Victory Challenge – SWE 96 Desafio Espanol 2007 – ESP 97 Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia Team – ITA 99 United Internet Team Germany – GER 89 China Team – CHN 95 Challenger elimination series semi-finals start Monday May 14 Finals start Friday June 1.