Heavyweights shine as wind gods respond

By JULIE ASH

There were no surprises in yesterday's round of the Louis Vuitton challenger series, with OneWorld, Oracle BMW Racing, Alinghi and Prada all sailing away with victories.

With just three races completed since Monday, the wind gods finally answered the prayers of race organisers and produced 10 to 15-knot south-westerly winds.

While competition favourites and big-budget syndicates OneWorld, Oracle and Alinghi all claimed easy wins over Victory Challenge, Le Defi Areva and Team Dennis Conner, Prada were forced to work a little harder for their success against Britain's GBR Challenge.

Andy Beadsworth replaced Andy Green as GBR's starting helmsman and managed to control most of the pre-start manoeuvring.

But the winning start was not enough as Prada's Luna Rossa (ITA74) snuck past the British to grab a 6s lead at the first windward mark.

The Italians edged ahead in every leg but the last two to win by 22s, which although it was a good win was hardly astounding considering the British are returning after a 15-year absence and Prada are the defending Louis Vuitton Cup champions.

GBR's substitution of Green was a surprise after syndicate head Peter Harrison declared his team would not change their afterguard in the first round.

Many thought 28-year-old Green had been fired, something which GBR Challenge general manager David Barnes, of Auckland, was quick to deny.

"Andy Green continues to be a very valuable member of the GBR Challenge afterguard and one of our key starting helmsman," Barnes said.

"GBR Challenge has identified the sailing team as a squad and therefore we have the ability to rotate the crew depending on their performance, the conditions and the opposition."

GBR skipper Ian Walker praised Beadworth's efforts in their start against Prada.

"Obviously we have been sailing together for a year-and-a-half in this squad and have been trialling different combinations in different circumstances so it is not a new thing for us.

"But Andy stepped up to the plate today against Prada. I thought he really showed what he was capable of in getting the right-hand start for us which is what we called for.

"But the start is not just about the helmsman. It is about the guys trimming the sails, the grinders - it is a whole team effort."

After three wins and three losses, Prada tactician Torben Grael said his team took some confidence from their success over the British.

"I think we still have a long way to go," said Grael.

"We are still working on the boats to try and get more speed out of them and are working on other aspects of our campaign to get better all the time."

GBR had their red protest flag up for the entire race but decided not to proceed with the protest.

In today's racing, Team Dennis Conner face Mascalzone Latino and Oracle meet Alinghi on course Romeo, while on course Juliet, OneWorld clash with Le Defi Areva and GBR Challenge take on Victory Challenge.

Organisers predict nine to 12-knot winds increasing to 15 knots during the day.

Racing is scheduled to start at 12.15pm.