Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Racing shortened due to strong winds

TEAMORIGIN has gone up 2-0 in The 1851 Cup. The British team took control of Race 2 early when BMW ORACLE Racing was on the course side at the start gun. BMW ORACLE Racing was in good position on TEAMORIGIN’s lee bow, but with the current flowing westerly the crew misjudged the time to the line and was OCS. TEAMORIGIN led by 1:14 at the first windward mark, an advantage maintained to the finish. The race was shortened at the leeward gate because of strong winds around 18 knots from the west/southwest and the westerly flowing current of 4 knots.

Race 1 of The 1851 Cup went to TEAMORIGIN by 7 seconds. BMW ORACLE Racing led around the first, getting the right side of the first beat and controlling a tacking duel. TEAMORIGIN closed up on the run and both boats went through the gate virtually simultaneously. BMW ORACLE made a starboard rounding through the gate (which is also the finish line) and TEAMORIGIN a port rounding. That proved a deciding factor in the race.

Up the second beat with both boats on starboard tack, TEAMORIGIN opened a lead of one and a half boatlengths to the right of BMW ORACLE Racing, which it extended to close to three boatlengths at the windward mark. The tide also seemed to have an influence, as it shifted from flood to ebb during the race. BMW ORACLE closed up on the run to the finish, but ran out of time on the short racecourse that is less than 5 nautical miles in length.