Foto copyright Ian Roman/TEAMORIGIN
Momento en el que TO rompe el tangón al clavarse en el agua del lado de estribor
Fuente info Team Origin
TEAMORIGIN LOSE TO KIWIS : PRESSURISED MANOUEVRE CAUSES SPINNAKER POLE BREAKAGE
11 Mar 2010
TEAMORIGIN FORCED TO RETIRE WHILST IN THE LEAD : A PRESSURISED MANOEVRE CAUSED BROKEN SPINNAKER POLE IN DRAMATIC RACE AGAINST THE KIWIS
EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND EXCEL IN STRONGER WIND CONDITIONS WITH SEAMLESS CREW WORK TO TAKE THEIR THIRD WIN
Thurs 11th March
TEAMORIGIN lost their race today against Emirates Team New Zealand – after they took the lead on the first beat and rounded the first mark ahead, a late call at the bottom gate caused them to make a pressurised manoeuvre that they did not manage to pull off, resulting in a broken spinnaker pole and enforced retirement.
In the 2nd race today, All4One overtook the Italian Azzurra team in blustery conditions and went on to take their 2nd win; race 3 should be underway shortly.
Hotly tipped to be the race to watch of round robin 1 – Ainslie v Barker; TEAMORIGIN v Emirates Team New Zealand, all eyes were on the first race of the day with superb conditions prevailing in the Gulf – streaming sunshine, visibility clear as a bell, course set off Mission Bay, wind direction 235, wind speed 15/16 knots The talk was of a building wind so the aim was to get all four flights done by 3pm.
The warning signal went at 1020 for the TEAMORIGIN vs ETNZ start. Both teams started circling in the start box almost immediately, with both talking of wanting the pin end of the line. ETNZ crossed the line slightly ahead but with TEAMORIGIN able to tack off and claim the right hand favoured side of the beat.
TEAMORIGIN quickly went bow forward in good pressure on the right and at the first cross the advantage went to the Brits. Both teams tacked off and TEAMORIGIN kept control of the right. At the 2nd cross, that advantage was extended to TEAMORIGIN, and they appeared to consolidate and keep control.
At the windward mark, TEAMORIGIN lead around by a close 14 seconds with the Kiwis managing to shoot the mark and close up some distance. Downwind, a wind shift meant both boats stayed on the same gybe until the bottom third of the run, ETNZ trying to cast a wind shadow on the Brits but not quite managing to get close enough. As they approached the bottom gate, the pressure was piled on to TEAMORIGIN with ETNZ breathing down their necks. A sudden but significant wind shift caused the afterguard of TEAMORIGIN to change the call on the spinnaker drop not leaving enough time for the manoeuvre to be completed.
In a moment of drama, the change of spinnaker side drop call caused the spinnaker pole on TEAMORIGIN to be on the wrong side and drop into the water and break – also leading to them not being able to hoist the headsail nor drop the kite, a huge calamity for the Brits forcing them to have to retire from the race altogether leaving the Kiwis to sail away and gain a ‘come from behind’ victory – their third win of this series.
Mike Sanderson, Team Director gave his views on the day’s action, “Obviously a frustrating result, we did lots of the hard stuff well, we had a great start, a strong first beat on the side we wanted to be and we led at the top mark. We then chose the aggressive option at the bottom mark and did not manage to pull it off. The more training we do, the more options we open up to chose from to react to situations and sadly we crossed that line and could not pull off that manoeuvre. The positives of leading at the top mark in all the races we have done so far is important and may make or break some of the races later on in this event.”
Matt Mitchell, Bowman, explained, “We were set up to get the shoot (spinnaker) down on the left, there was a big wind shift to the right and this meant a changeover to the port layline which took longer to set up, the gybe right call was too late for us to respond to, as the spinnaker pole was then on the wrong side, it went in the water and broke.”
Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Helmsman, added his views, “A good start and a bad end. Everything happened very quickly at the end of the bottom run, we made a mistake of trying to do something we could not pull off – for sure a lesson learnt.”
Fuente info LVT
La regata de ETNZ contra Team Origin al detalle:
1112 - The spinnaker pole is broken on NZL92, the boat ORIGIN was using. This will cause a delay to the next start as the pole gets replaced and any ancilliary damage is looked at.
1100 - ETNZ have now finished. One more point for Barker and crew. Next up is All4One against Azzurra. We'll bring you the expected start time as soon as we know it.
1057 - With ORIGIN retiring, that could indicate a problem on board the boat. We'll bring you more information as soon as we have it.
1054 - TEAMORIGIN has retired from the race. But the Kiwis will have to sail the course to collect the point. ETNZ are around the top mark now, spinnaker up, and just need to sail down to the finish line to take their record up to 3-0.
1048 - The crew work and experience on board ETNZ has come to the fore for the second consecutive day and taken them from a trailing to winning position.
1047 - ORIGIN still sailing downwind, hundreds of metres to leeward of the gate now. Meanwhile, Barker and the Kiwis are away upwind. This race is all but over.
1045 - There's a problem on the gybe by ORIGIN. The headsail isn't up. ETNZ pushing them hard. ETNZ are taking the left side of the gate, while ORIGIN is still sailing downwind. They can't get the headsail up or the gennaker down. Immaculate crew work by the Kiwis has put the pressure on ORIGIN and they can't respond.
1044 - ETNZ gybes now. The RC is changing the course axis to 225.
1043 - ETNZ are soaking down well now. They're narrowing the gap a little bit.
1042 - ORIGIN doing a nice job of sailing deep here, staying away from the ETNZ windshadow.
1041 - ORIGIN gybes now too, but the Kiwis are inside them now. The VirtualEye advantage line is about 70-metres for ORIGIN.
1040 - The Kiwis shoot the mark. Gybe set on ETNZ. ORIGIN leads by 14-seconds around the top mark.
1038 - The Brits can't lay, they have to throw in a pair of very quick tacks. But the right shift is hurting the Kiwis too. They'll have to really try hard to shoot this mark.
1037 - ETNZ is trying to avoid getting to the layline early, but Percy and Ainslie have done a nice job of pushing them over there. ETNZ have been pushed out above the layline now. ORIGIN is just shy of it. But they'll surely try to squeeze up from there rather than making another pair of tacks.
1036 - ORIGIN comes over to hit the Kiwis again, forcing them further left.
1035 - The Brits are pushing the Kiwis out to the left side of the course. This has been a big push towards the port tack layline. The advantage line favours ORIGIN by about 65 metres now.
1033 - There's a slight right-hand shift here, giving an advantage to ORIGIN. The Brits have about a one length lead as they engage in a tacking duel with the Kiwis now.
1032 - The Kiwis tack now too. With both boats settling in after their tacks, the boats are bow to bow. ORIGIN tacks again here, coming in for first cross on starboard tack. The Kiwis can't cross and tack away, Ainslie protecting the right.
1030 - With two minutes to go, the boats continue circling, killing off time. ORIGIN making quick, tight circles and on the chase with one minute to go - pushing Barker and ETNZ. The kiwis lead back. Percy says he wants the left, the pin, but the Kiwis are down to leeward and seem to have the pin end if they want it. Percy and Ainslie are on the right, they'll need to tack at the start. Barker is slightly ahead at the pin, both boats on port tack as the gun fired. ORIGIN tacks after the start, holding the power ofr the right.
1027 - ORIGIN is a little bow forward now as both boats bear away, ETNZ and Barker holding the power of right as they circle around.
1025 - ETNZ is in to the start box from the right, dialing up TEAMORIGIN as we get into the start sequence.
