Video: Ben Ainslie and Terry Hutchinson talk on the eve of the LV Trophy

A few hours are left until the start of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice, the inaugural event of the World Sailing Teams Association. Four matches are scheduled for the opening day, on two yachts, GBR-75, loaned from Team Origin, and FRA-93, loaned from FRA-93.

The wind tomorrow is expected to blow up to 15 knots in the morning before increasing to 25 knots or more in the afternoon. That might put an early halt to racing as the organisers are concerned with the sea state and the damage the AC sloops could incur from shock loading.

Terry Hutchinson talks about Artemis. Nice, 6 November 2009. Video copyright BTS Broadcast

In addition, the event schedule was thrown into flux when ITA-99, one of two sloops on loan from Italy’s Mascalzone Latino team, was damaged during practice. The combined French/German team ALL4ONE was sailing ITA-99 when it clipped the transom of the race committee boat. The mishap put a two-meter cut in the starboard side of the hull. Twenty members of the Mascalzone shore team are on site and some have been working on the repair all day. The yacht could return to action as soon as Monday.

The matches for Saturday are as follows:

Match 1: Synergy (GBR-75) vs Team Origin (FRA-93)
Match 2: Team French Spirit-Pages Jaunes (FRA-93) vs Emirates Team NZ (GBR-75)
Match 3: Azzurra (GBR-75) vs BMW Oracle (FRA-93)
Match 4 Artemis (FRA-93) vs ALL4ONE (GBR-75)

Don't forget to tune in to Valencia Sailing in order to watch live the Virtual Eye and commentary from the races, starting tomorrow Saturday, November 7th.

Our friends at BTS Broadcast caught up today with Terry Hutchinson, helmsman on Artemis, and Ben Ainslie, helmsman on Team Origin, who talked about their team's goals and expectations in this regatta.

Ben Ainslie talks about Team Origin. Nice, 6 November 2009. Video copyright BTS Broadcast