Racing on all circles Wednesday was a mess as squalls and light air wreaked havoc with the race committee’s best laid plans. Out of four matches scheduled for the morning, only two were completed, and the afternoon’s races were blown off entirely.
For the first three legs of Mascalzone Latinos race with Prada, it looked as though a Cinderella story was taking place as the Latin Rascals led Luna Rossa around the four-leg course. However, a combination of light air and a bad jibe by Mascalzone Latino helmsman Flavio Favini was enough to allow Prada by their fellow Italians just yards away from the finish line.
In their match with GBR, Alinghi managed to cross the finish line before the 45-minute leg time limit expired, but GBR protested the race committee. “I think anyone out there watching the race would have seen a host of errors by the race committee,” said GBR skipper Ian Walker. “We feel that we have grounds for redress emanating from those errors.” The protest hearing will be held Thursday.
The OneWorld/Stars & Stripes drifter was blown off on the final leg after some big lead changes between the two boats in the light and shifty conditions. The Oracle/Victory race was abandoned as well. The four races scheduled for the afternoon were postponed because of lack of breeze.
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Results for 10/30
Prada beat Mascalzone Latino by 1m:42s
Alinghi beat GBR Challenge by 7m:45s
Scores as of 10/30
11-1 Alinghi Challenge
10-1 OneWorld Challenge*
8-4 Prada Challenge
6-4 Oracle BMW Racing
6-5 Victory Challenge
5-6 GBR Challenge
4-7 Team Dennis Conner
1-12 Mascalzone Latino
0-11 Le Defi Areva
