BMW Oracle continue their winning ways

After action packed day three of the UBS Trophy in Newport, Rhode Island

A regatta which was to have been a 'friendly' - or a 'pillow fight' as one correspondent described - turned into a full scale fistfight today during day three of the UBS Trophy match racing between Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing, in Newport.

Conditions for racing today could not have been more perfect with a stable 15-20 knot southwesterly sea breeze for race one that piped up to 20 with change for the second race today.


Race five (or 12)

The start saw BMW Oracle Racing helmsman Gavin Brady again looking strong in the pre-start, with tactician John Kostecki took advantage of the narrow race course to obtain a controlling position.

In the pre-start, Alinghi helmsman Peter Holmberg allowed Brady to avoid a dial-up and the boats immediately started a series of tight circles, each looking to hook in behind the other and gain the advantage.

When the boats eventually broke for the starting line, they appeared to be dead even, Alinghi on the right, and BMW Oracle tucked close on the left, tight to leeward. The boats raced on starboard tack towards the shoreline, and Alinghi was forced to allow BMW Oracle Racing room. Both boats tacked simultaneously and Brady was able to gently nose ahead, inching forward, and eventually gaining enough to blanket Holmberg.
Alinghi fought hard to escape, but wasn’t able to break coverage until the damage had been done. BMW Oracle went on to lead by 22-seconds around the first mark.

The boats surfed down the leeward leg in the strong breeze, but Alinghi wasn’t able to make a significant gain. BMW Oracle held its advantage around the rest of the track taking the winning gun by a 35-second margin.

This race showed the strength of the American team. Their boat has been modified and it is believed her mast has been moved forwards. As a result she now seems to have an important edge upwind over Alinghi. However while BMW Oracle Racing had a six week training session prior to last year's Moet Cup, following it up with another six week stint in Auckland earlier this year, the UBS Trophy is the first occasion Alinghi have sailed as a team since the San Francisco regatta. They are also lacking Coutts and Butterworth and don't have new sails as BMW Oracle Racing have.


Race six

This was the first two-point race of the UBS Trophy, and the BMW Oracle Racing team certainly earned the extra reward. This match was very close through the first leg, until a stunning sequence of action near the first windward mark allowed the American team to extend away from Alinghi.

The pre-start sequence was very aggressive in the heavy conditions with the boats dialling up extremely close, before breaking off in a series of circles. Alinghi’s Peter Holmberg appeared much stronger in this start, forcing BMW Oracle’s Gavin Brady to tack away for the right side before the start gun fired, and the boats split off at the start.

Brady found a nice little shift early off the start line and held a tiny advantage as the boats converged, and using his starboard tack advantage, he kept forcing Holmberg back towards the shore. The boats split and converged a dozen times up the first leg, but neither boat could get clear ahead. Approaching the top mark, Brady luffed up, and held Holmberg out from rounding the mark for several seconds before breaking off to round the first mark with a narrow seven-second lead.

But the spinnaker hoist went wrong on BMW Oracle and the sail shredded as it went up, allowing an opportunity for Alinghi. The Swiss boat executed a clean hoist and looked to be in a strong position, but Brady, without a spinnaker, aggressively luffed towards Holmberg, who couldn’t respond quickly enough. The boats came very close, and the Umpires assessed Alinghi a penalty for not keeping clear when her spinnaker touched.

As Brady aggressively tried to fend off the Swiss overtake, Brad Webb, bowman on BMW Oracle, was hurled overboard. He was picked up by a support boat and returned to the racing yacht. For this the American team was awarded a penalty, cancelling the earlier Alinghi infraction. Responding to the aggressive luff in the heavy conditions caused Alinghi’s spinnaker to blow too and in the end it came down to who could sort out their chaos the quicker. In the event BMW Oracle was able to hoist a new sail and get racing again more quickly than Alinghi did, stretching to a 30-second lead around the bottom mark.

BMW Oracle held on the rest of the way, winning by 48 seconds and earning a two point victory, to go 5-2 up against Alinghi.