Two tough matches, two wins

Emirates Team New Zealand took two good wins on Day 6 of the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta, beating  Azzurra (Italy) by 13s and the French team Aleph by 29s.

The back-to-back wins put Emirates Team New Zealand on 4 points, with 4 wins and 1 loss, first equal with overnight leader Artemis with a 4-1 record and Mascalzone Latino, also 4-1.

With its matches scheduled first and second for the day, Emirates Team New Zealand was almost assured of racing before the day ended. The team had seen little racing – three in five days – the victim of delays caused by fickle winds and boat damage.

The team had to work hard for its wins. As tactician Ray Davies said: “On these short courses, the racing is always going to be close. And with the competition so sharp, there’s no such thing as an easy race.”

Azzurra got the better of the start, going to the left and gaining. ETNZ, also on starboard tack, split and went right. Azzurra crossed in front and looked comfortably in control.

Near the top Azzurra handed NZ an opportunity. Skipper Francesco Bruni gave up the right to get to the left layline and Dean Barker and his crew pounced. They whittled away Azzurra’s lead and gained overlap at the mark, luffing  the Italians  hard.

With Azzurra slow, Barker put his helm down and went for the mark, rounding 13s ahead. From there it was a matter of maintaining cover and fending off the attacks.       

New Zealand extended on the run rounding 27s ahead and from there sailed a conservative cover to finish 13s ahead at the finish.

Next up against Aleph, Barker won the start and was completing the beat well in control when the race was abandoned because the mark was out of position.

The beat on the restart was a replay of the first; Emirates Team New Zealand was in control and led to the top. It was close and Aleph kept attacking. At the weather mark NZ rounded 7s ahead, extending on the run and taking the right gate pushing the delta out to 28s. 

The lead was comfortable, but NZ sailed a conservative hard cover to prevent any passing lanes opening up. The tactics were sound, rounding mark 3 with an advantage of 26s and finishing 29s ahead.

Other results today: TeamOrigin beat Synergy by 6s

Mascalzone Latino b Artemis by 46s

Join us on Facebook – www.facebook.com/emiratesteamnewzealand

Get instant updates on Twitter-  www.twitter.com/emiratesteamnz  

Watch the racing live .... go to www.emiratesteamnz.com and follow the link