Trieste Challenge: Chris Dickson unbeaten in Round Robins and wins first semifinal match

Chris Dickson, BMW Oracle skipper, finished the double round robin of the Trieste Challenge at the top of the leaderboard and unbeaten. As a result he advanced to the semifinals together with Luna Rossa, Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team and Areva Challenge. China Team got eliminated after their defeat against Luna Rossa at the penultimate match of the double round robin.

Despite the light conditions that prevailed in the Trieste gulf, two semifinal matches took place this afternoon: In the first one (the first qualified facing the fourth one) BMW Oracle beat Luna Rossa, while in the first semifinal match between Areva Challenge and Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team, the Italian team had a comfortable win: Hansen guaranteed his victory during the prestart after succeeding in having his adversary penalized twice. BMW Oracle and Mascalzone Latino Capitalia have advanced a step towards the finals.

The semifinals, best-of-three series, will conclude on Saturday while the finals will take place on Sunday.

Semifinal 1-4: BMW Oracle beats Luna Rossa in their first match
The match was decided at the prestart as Luna Rossa, obviously more agressive than in the previous races, fell on the Americans during dial-up and was penalized one minute before the gun. Chris Dickson started with an advantage that increased in the first leg. His control over the rest of the race lead him to a comfortable victory.

BMW Oracle sailing to victory against Luna Rossa in their first semifinal match. Trieste, 1 September 2006. Photo copyright: Massimo Silvano / Trieste Challenge

Semifinal 2-3: Mascalzone Latino Capitalia beats Areva Challenge in their first match
Although it was a match decided in prestart it was hard fought till the last tack. An excellent Jes Gram Hansen managed to stay calm against Sébastian Col, a born provocateur, and got him penalized twice, the second one due to a collision. Col had to offload one penalty right after the start (due to having accumulated two) and the lead built by the Italian team was enough to keep them ahead, even if the French didn't give up and closed in on the Italians, trying to get them penalized as well. Nevertheless, Hansen did not lose his temper, defended his lead till the end and would start the Saturday races with a point pocketed already.

Highlights of the round robin races in chronological order

Areva – Luna Rossa : 1 – 0
Areva Challenge climbed top second place in the leaderboard after the first match of the day. Just like yesterday, there is very little wind in Trieste, just a thermal breeze that doesn’t forgive any errors. Sébastien Col starts on the right side of the course, with slightly more wind, just enough to lead a few meters after the start line. Francesco de Angelis will try to attck during the first leg but the French skipper will be very careful not to allow the Italian to find stronger winds. In the third leg de Angelis tries to recover a couple of meters but short of threatening Col. The French ends up winning the race without further problems, simply trying to sail as fast as possible under the very light conditions.

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team – Luna Rossa : 1 – 0
Second consecutive defeat for Luna Rossa that keeps disappointing. Jes Gram Hansen did not encounter too many difficulties to beat Francesco de Angelis. He started the race with a small advantage that managed to keep till the end, matching each tack and gybe of his opponent. Finally, Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team won the race two boatlenghts ahead of Luna Rossa.

BMW Oracle - Areva: 1 – 0
This race was an interesting play by Chris Dickson. Despite leading the race from the start without any great difficulties, at the end of the third leg while approaching the top mark he chose to force Sébastien Col into an error and get him penalized. As a result he got even more breathing space, resting assure the French wouldn't threaten him by getting into a puff of wind. Another victory for the BMW Oracle skipper.

Areva Challenge - China Team: 1 – 0
It was the hardest fought match of the day. At the start, a highly motivated Sébastian Col pushes China Team to the left side of the course. Unofrtunately for the chinese it is not the favored one, despite initially having better speed. estremamente motivato spinge sulla sinistra del campo di regata China team, che parte con più velocità, ma nella parte sfavorita del campo di regata. The upwind leg uses the port wharf as obstacle, allowing the French to build up their lead and have an easy victory. Had the Chinese won they would have put Luna Rossa in a very difficult position, even eliminating them.

Luna Rossa - China Team: 1 – 0
It was an even start in the match between a reinvigorated Luna Rossa and China Team. The Italians covered the wind from their opponents and managed, meter by meter, to start building a lead, given the strong fight of the chinese. Mas pushed his opponents to the wharf but Luna Rossa only followed him to the lay line. At the top mark, Luna Rossa's advantage was five boatlenghts, always with light winds. During the first downwind leg, China Team reduced the gap but was unable to do more than that. Luna Rossa won the race, moving to the semifinals and eliminating the chinese.