Weather delays meant no racing took place on the first three race days of the schedule, prompting fears the Race Committee would run out of days to complete the Repechage. But OneWorld and Prada helped out by needing just four days to win their matches.

The racing took place under a backdrop of legal activity as Team Dennis Conner filed a protest with the International Jury before the first race, alleging OneWorld broke Rule 2 – the Fair Sailing Rule – through numerous breaches of the Protocol. That protest, and an earlier joint submission (with Prada) to the America’s Cup Arbitration Panel over the same issue cast a shadow over the entire Quarter Final Repechage series.

The first race showed both winning teams this Repechage would be no walk-over, as early in both matches it was the underdog who was leading in the light, shifty conditions.

Victory Challenge helmsman Jesper Bank earned an early advantage and led Prada most of the way up the first beat. But Prada squeezed past just before the mark and stretched away to a commanding lead.

In the all-American match up between Team Dennis Conner and OneWorld, the Stars & Stripes crew fared even better, leading around the first three marks. But OneWorld was allowed to gain separation on the second run and picked up a favourable shift to take the lead for good.

The second race day saw OneWorld helmsman James Spithill establish a pattern for the rest of the series, when he soundly beat Stars & Stripes’ Ken Read in the pre-start to gain an early advantage. Spithill used that pre-start victory to win the first cross, and from there he covered well and picked his shifts to earn OneWorld’s second win of the series.

Similarly, Prada’s starting helmsman Rod Davis handed skipper Francesco de Angelis a handy advantage at the start, and Prada stayed in phase with the shifts to lead by 43-seconds at the top mark, en route to a convincing victory.

A mistake on Stars & Stripes, just seconds before the start gun handed an important early lead to OneWorld in Race Three. Approaching the start line with speed and good position, Stars & Stripes helmsman Ken Read inexplicably bore off away from the line, mistakenly thinking the boat would be over early. That was all OneWorld needed to win the first cross and from there a safe, covering game, ensured another win.

The Victory Challenge appeared to lift its game in Race Three, and helmsman Jesper Bank was very aggressive in the pre-start, hitting the line in a favourable position at top speed. Indeed, Orm carried the advantage up the beat and led around the top mark for the first time. But on the first run, it all went wrong for Victory. Under immense pressure from Prada, Victory broke its spinnaker pole, dropped the spinnaker in the water and picked up a penalty as the Italians sailed past. Race Three was a heartbreaking loss for the Swedish team.

The fourth race in the both matches proved the winning teams were just too strong for their opponents, as both OneWorld and Prada continued their winning ways to sweep into the Semi Finals.

Before the final race, the Arbitration Panel notified the teams it would convene in Auckland on December 7th to hear the case against OneWorld before the start of the Semi Finals. The International Jury will rule on the protest after the Arbitration Panel hearing.

After racing, Dennis Conner said a tentative goodbye, thanking the people of New Zealand for their support of his campaign.

“Without the support of the New Zealand people it wouldn’t be the same. They’ve done a terrific job and the people just couldn’t be any nicer,” said a beaming Conner. “While I am disappointed in the way the boat performed in the series…I think we made considerable strides.”

For Victory Challenge, this America’s Cup was bittersweet. Syndicate founder Jan Stenbeck passed away unexpectedly just weeks before racing started. But his son, Hugo, came to Auckland to fulfil his father’s dream.

“I think we surpassed my father’s expectations,” Hugo Stenbeck said after racing. “It’s a great equation – the mix of technology, personal skills, weather, nature, everything put in to an equation that can’t be solved…I think it’s intriguing. (I’ve been told) ‘watch out, you’re going to catch America’s Cup fever.’ I think that might have already happened. I like to say we’ll be back, but we’ll see.”

Assuming neither the protest, nor the case before the Arbitration Panel overturn the results on the water, OneWorld will face Prada in the Semi Finals on December 9th. The other Semi Final pairing sees Alinghi Challenge racing Oracle BMW Racing.

Source: Peter Rusch