NEWS RELEASE
ALFA ROMEOTAKES FIRST BLOOD IN THE MAXI YACHT ROLEX CUP 2007
Alfa Romeo, skippered by New Zealand’s Neville Crichton, has taken line honours in the first race in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2007, which started yesterday (3 September 2007) in Porto Cervo, Sardina, beating Australian rival, Wild Oats.
The eagerly anticipated head to head between Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo (NZL) and Bob Oatley's Wild Oats (AUS) let no one down. Stuck together for much of the race in a primeval match-race with their carbon black sails glinting in the sunshine, first blood on the water went to the slightly lower rated Alfa, which finished 30 seconds ahead of her rival.
The key moment came one minute before the start when Oats apparently suffered an engine failure and was unable to power up the hydraulics.
Whilst the Oats' crew was occupied sorting out the problem, Alfa was free to choose their favoured end of the line and take the opportunity to grab a lead that she would not relinquish despite the best efforts of Oatley's crew.
The downwind duel between these two was something special and Murray Spence, the Team Manager on Alfa, happily described conditions, "good winds today. We're very happy that it started out with a nice breeze, (that was) pretty consistent. It freshened a little in the second half of the race, which probably favoured the little boats a bit but it was a good breeze to start off the regatta."
Of the contest at the head of the fleet, Spence continued, "we had a good tight tussle with Wild Oats today. They're our main competition and it was very close racing, so quite exciting especially coming back under the spinnaker."
Overall victor on handicap in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup Racing Division was Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory (GER). She too put on a display of downwind prowess, completing the course in 2 hours 28 minutes only 6 minutes behind her larger competitors. Tactician, Morgan Larson, reflected on an enjoyable day, "it was a great coastal race. Tacking around the rocks and the islands was very challenging for the crew with a lot of sail changes. Everything went very well on board, with no particular difficulty. We very much enjoyed the race, the wind and the fabulous scenery of the Costa Smeralda. If the Mistral blows in tomorrow it's going to be a lot of fun."
(ends)
Photo:Team Alfa Romeo
For further information
Text and high resolution pictures:
Neville Crichton Edward Rowe
Tel: +61 (02) 9701 8000 Tel: +61 (02) 9701 8015
Fax: +61 (02) 9701 3555 Fax: +61 (02) 9701 3555
Mob: +61 (0)409 166 166 Mobile: +61 407 913 244
E-mail:
EJR/ejr/2-63
8-Dec-18