After two days of postponement, the Louis Vuitton Cup PRO, Peter Reggio was able to hold 4 races on Friday, Oct. 4 in perfect sailing conditions. Victory Challenge was finally able to race and crushed a hapless Le Defi Areva by 1m:6s. The French seemed to have boatspeed but crew work was an issue; it took an inordinately long period of time for the French crew to replace a spinnaker blown shortly after the first mark rounding, and they were never able to recover.
Stars & Stripes mauled the LV Cup defender Prada by 36s, with USA-66 leading from the first cross thanks to a lifted breeze on the left side of the course. Larry Ellison and the OracleBMW Racing crew had a nice practice race against Mascalzone Latino, the team that didn’t come to win and is proving it. The barnburner of the day was the tight match between Alinghi and OneWorld in which Russell Coutts was beaten in an ACC match for the first time in seven years. Alinghi never gave up and pushed OneWorld hard, the delta for the entire race never exceeded 22 seconds, and OneWorld crossed the finish line only 10 seconds ahead of the Swiss boat.
Race Schedule for Oct. 5
OneWorld vs. GBR
Victory vs. Stars & Stripes
Mascalzone Latino vs Alinghi
Le Defi vs. Prada
“I think it was mostly him against me.”-Doug Peterson.
In a very public airing of dirty laundry, Prada syndicate head Patrizio Bertelli either demoted or dismissed–depending on which press conference you believe–chief designer Doug Peterson.
“Doug Peterson has not been fired,” said Bertelli during a press conference on Oct. 4. “He simply does not hold any longer the position of Design Team Director.”
In his own press conference held later that day, Peterson disagreed with Bertelli’s comments. “I was terminated,” said Peterson, who, when asked about Bertelli’s statement that the dismissal/demotion was a “unanimous team decision,” stated, “Obviously you don’t know Bertelli very well. I don’t think there’s any voting in the Prada organization.”
