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The Brazil Cup Matched Up Not a lot to report from the Brazil Cup, Group A that includes Ed Baird (Alinghi), Thierry Peponnet (K-Yachting), Gavin Brady, Peter Gilmour (No Show with Visa Problems), Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge), and Daniel Glomb saw no racing as of yet due to lack of wind. I wish I had more for you and all the anarchists but so far Brazil is all about the Samba dancers and tremendous hospitality of the Brazilian´s and not a lot about the racing. When we get around to racing I am doing tactics for Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand. On our team is Don Cowie, Jared Henderson, and James Dagg which has been our World Match Racing Tour team for the past 6 months. We have been placed in the second group which includes our Emirates Team New Zealand sparring partner Ben Ainsle, James Spithill (Luna Rossa), Cameron Dunn (Mascalzone Latino), Ian Williams, and Staffan Lindberg. The line up is strong and when the wind cooperates the racing will be extremely competitive. Anybody who wishes to follow the happenings down south can check it out on www.brasilsailingcup.com.br. As the days racing unfolds I will keep you posted. Day 2 of the Brazil Cup was wet. The morning started with the 0900 briefing and then the wait. Group A went out around 11:00 a.m. to finish off there round and since we are in group B we chilled at the hotel. By 1:30 in the afternoon group A rapped up there series with Magnus Holmberg winning 4-0; behind him was a three way for second between Baird, Brady, and Peponnet. In theory Peponnet should go into the repachage but with the wind gods acting up I personally think that it is going to be a struggle to complete the event in the current format. Group B went out and up first for us was James Spithill and the Luna Rossa team. James did a good job in the pre-start to start wide right. Being fairly light and shifty we attacked as best we could without losing too much distance and basically nipped at his heels for 3 legs. On the final run to the finish we managed to get on James’s breeze and slowly roll forward while reaching for the favored pin end. His two boat length lead was quickly diminishing and as both boats crossed the finish line Spithill’s blue flag was raised signaling a win; from my perspective probably not much more then a ¼ boat length. Race 2 for us was against Cameron Dunn and the Mascalzone Latino team. Dean did a great job of controlling the start winning the favored pin end. Unfortunately for us the breeze shifted fairly hard right and Dunn came charging out of the right hand side to cross by a length. Again, we sailed as conservative as you could given the conditions and sailed around Dunn on the first run. The second beat was fairly one sided and from that point on there was not a lot of opportunity for Dunn to get back into the race. In the conditions that was fine by me! The rest of Group B….well I do not really know what happened other then Ben and the guys are sitting 2-0 with wins against Dunn and Williams. They did a great job to have a come from behind win against Williams in race 2. The day concluded for us with a MASSIVE electrical storm. Literally as we unhanked the jibs with bolts of lightning coming down you could not touch the wire forestay as you would be shocked. So far the conditions are challenging for everybody….competitors, RC, and umpires! We will battle again tomorrow with the wind gods to finish off Group B and then the organizers will have some hard decisions to make as there is A LOT of racing to be done in 3 days. Standing by in Angra dos Reis, Brazil. Best Regards, Terry Hutchinson 03/17/06 Day 3 Update
Race 1 against Lindbergh saw us cop a pre-start penalty; the short version of the story is we tacked and hit Stefan in the transom. One of those you don’t even put the flag up because you know the call. However, Dean quickly recovered from the less then desirable position and we went off the line a boat length clear and in control. As we stretched the lead on the first beat we were all confident that we would gain enough distance to shake the penalty. To Stefan’s credit he did a really good job of not letting up and stayed within about 4 lengths the entire race. Every trap we set on the final run he escaped. Half way down the run to the finish we forced some boat handling errors on Stefan’s boat and stretched to a 5 length lead. Unfortunately for us we needed 5 ½ as we went for the penalty at the finish and loss by about a quarter length. Race 2 and now on a 1-2 record became must win! Unfortunately for us we were going against our team mate Ben Ainslie. For anybody who does not know, Ben has more Olympic gold in his closet at home then Ft. Knox and is an unbelievable competitor. The race did not disappoint. From the get go it was not like we were in the middle of World Match Racing Tour regatta but more at home on the Hauraki Gulf, racing for bragging rights on the day. Collisions yes (penalty on Ben), yelling yes, and what would a race be without some laughter and trash talking between team members. It seemed, as hard as we tried to get away from each other the more the boats came together. Dean did a great job of getting the wide right start that we wanted. Ben and the guys started at pace just to leeward and we dragged race out towards the port tack layline. In the full hike position I knew it was not going well when Dean asked how much longer to layline. I responded with about 30 seconds when Ben went for it, he tried to tack and cross. The operative word there was “tried”. It became quite clear as I saw Ben’s bow come across ours that it was not going to happen. I hopped up over the side and braced for impact. Dean swung the bow down to miss hitting Ben’s stern and some how the boats did not collide but we hooked Ben’s backstay. Between the yelling/laughing Ben copped an immediate red flag penalty. We got sorted from our pirouette and stretched out to a comfortable 5 boat length lead. Being a penalty up the lead stayed the same and we got back to an even 2-2 record. Race 3, again another must win race against Ian Williams. Ian won the start tight to leeward. We tacked immediately sticking with our plan of wanting the right side of the track. From this point we slowly chipped at Ian’s lead gaining at every intersection. By the starboard tack layline we were far enough advanced that Ian followed us around. The run was uneventful and again at the leeward gates we protected the left hand gate mark looking downwind, wanting the right up the beat. Ian took the right gate and a lot of separation to the left. Unfortunately for us the breeze stayed left and at the first intersection up the beat Ian was right back on our hammer. That is basically where he stayed. The top mark he was a quarter lengths behind and at the finish he was a quarter lengths behind. All and all a very solid win and good ending to the day. On deck for tomorrow we will race Gavin Brady in the best of 3 quarterfinals. Gavin is a fierce competitor and now that we are neighbors it is somewhat of a “South County” grudge match. Stay tuned!
Day 4 Well, the battle for South County (Anne Arundel) bragging rights was lost to Gavin Brady and the Beau Geste sailing team. Gavin defeated us in the best of 3 series 2-1. Race 1 was pretty much over at the start as Dean did a great job of pushing team Beau Geste over the line and clearing us at the same time. Not a lot to report on that one! Race 2. A little bit of the same. All though in this race it was clear that each team had different game plans. We wanted the right and they wanted the left. Dean nailed the split tack start with us at full speed on port going off the line and Gavin did the same going off at the pin on starboard. Both teams extended to their respective laylines; not your typical match race, and when the boats came together at the top team Beau Geste crossed by 2 lengths. From that point on we never really got any closer. The second beat was more of the same except this time both teams switched sides. We went hard left, and team Beau Geste hard right, tacked on the laylines, and what you know about two lengths apart at the top. Gavin sailed a clean run and took the win by 2 lengths. Race 3. This race was what I expected the entire series to be like. Our plan was to start tight to leeward and work the left side of the beat for pressure. Well what was becoming standard on the day saw both teams go to opposite sides on the first beat, us on the left and team Beau Geste on the right. As we approached the top mark the left shift that I was willing for us slowly appeared but just not enough to get across Gavin’s bow. We tacked to leeward, waited for Gavin to tack back and followed around the top by about a half length. Very strong for the run! Both boats gibed to starboard and the fun began. As we slowly rolled forward and blanketed Gavin’s wind he gave us a couple of half hearted luffs. We broke the overlap and Gavin gibed to port with us going immediately with; Gavin gibes back to starboard and CRASH!!!!!! Penalty Gavin for gibing to close; unfortunately for us it did not end there! As both boats approached the gates Gavin gibed to go around the right hand gate, we went up behind and much to our surprise Gavin gibed back and gave us a luff. It was a really good move on his part as it put us into a complete flap….literally. The spinnaker ended up over the bow, around the keel, and from the front row it was very atypical for us as a team as generally speaking the close boat race is a strength. Needless to say, Gavin and the guys were tied up at the dock while we were still getting the spinnaker out of the water. It was not pretty to say the least! In the other matches, our teammates’ went quite well. Ben and his guys disposed of Ed Baird and the Alinghi team 2-1, James Spithill beat Ian Williams 2-0 and Thierry Peponnet beat Magnus Holmberg 2-1. While Brazil has been great and the people as friendly as any place in the world I will be quite happy to hang with my kids, play some soccer, and perhaps catch some of the NCAA before heading off to Spain. Best Regards, 03/20/06
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