Let's Hear More From the Boys On the Boats

The commentators for the TVNZ main feed are the colorful veteran, Peter Montgomery, and former AC competitor Ed Baird. After nearly three months they apparently have realized, following some highly charged criticism, that viewers want to hear not only their expert insights but some of the chatter from the boats, as well.

Otherwise, why have on-board microphones, right?

Ian Burns, a growing presence in the Oracle BMW afterguard, brought it up at Friday's post-race press conference when he was asked, "You have Cameron Dunn in the crew list as in charge of 'traveler tactics,' [but] he seems to be making the calls 'be patient,' 'look for the left shift.' [Is he] sort of an extra guy in the afterguard?"

Burns: "Cameron is a local Kiwi guy and has spent a lot of time sailing Lasers in the area that we sail in, so he is very skilled at the shifts. He also operates the traveler right in front of the helmsman, so he has almost a direct line of communication with the helmsman. It’s quite easy for him to talk quietly to the helmsman to give him a good picture about what’s happening.

"If you look at most of the crews now there’s some important members of their team sailing on the travelers right in front of the helmsman. There is also a consensus of similar comments coming on the boat. Tommaso [Chieffi] said exactly the same thing as well as Peter [Holmberg]."

But Dunn was the one wearing a mike, and his remarks were pertinent early on the first leg of Friday's race when Oracle BMW went left and OneWorld went right.

Burns said, "If you heard the audio from our boat, you could hear continuous people saying, 'Be patient, be patient, there’s a lefthander [shift] coming.' It wouldn’t have taken much of a left shift to get us in to fairly good shape, and as it turned out the left shift was quite large and took us out in front."

Burns seems to have taken a more prominent role since Chris Dickson became skipper. While Dickson, when he isn't steering, wanders around checking details, Burns usually stands right behind Holmberg.

Tactical and Practical

As racing sailors know, who "wins" the start is less important than who is in front at the initial convergence, otherwise called the "first cross," at which point the crosser assumes control of the race over the crossee.

Until then, they often have separated in opposite directions, each believing---hoping?---they are sailing the favored side of the course. Apparently, OneWorld really didn't want to go right Friday but was forced that way because, in fact, Holmberg gave Oracle just enough of an edge at the gun.

Charlie McKee said, "Our call was to be separated right, but they did a little better in the start and we were forced to tack away. They did a nice job and put us under pressure early. If you looked on Virtual Spectator it looked like we were pretty even, but we never felt in control of the beat at any stage."

Unlike Thursday, when a 40-degree wind shift turned the Seattle team's 10-second deficit at the last mark into a 4-minute 8-second loss, Friday's final run in better breeze was the nearest thing to a thriller seen so far. As they approached the finish it appeared for a moment that OneWorld might pull it off.

McKee replayed the climax: "There’s plenty of discussion about things you may possibly do, but the bottom line is if you're not laying the finish as the winning boat, you have to break the overlap and force them to jibe on the proper course to the finish. They were able to hold us just long enough, so by the time we broke the overlap and then forced them to jibe away they were in a tight enough angle into the finish to hold on and win. If we were 30 seconds or a minute sooner it probably would have gone the other way."

Enhancing the drama was that after Oracle rounded the last mark and hoisted an asymmetrical spinnaker, OneWorld went for a symmetrical chute.

Burns said, "It was a bit of a crossover the breeze we were in, and I think both boats made the right decision. The leader often takes the A-sail for a little bit of straight-line speed and the trailing boat take the spinnaker that is better for maneuvering and picking your course with the shifts."

The Oracle Driver, One More Time

Everyone that represents Oracle at a press conference is sure to be asked about the helm situation, as Burns was.

Q: "The matter of Peter Holmberg starting, then handing over the helm to Chris Dickson for only the first beat for the second race in a row . . . do we know why Chris insists on sailing only the first beat after Holmberg has done such a good job?"

Burns gave a logical answer: "It’s a pattern we’ve developed and we’re pretty happy with it and it’s successful. Chris is pretty good at getting the boat settled down and configured the right way for the conditions very quickly and off the starting line. Once it’s set up and you're into more tactical situations Peter takes over and runs the boat. It's been working well and we are happy with it."

Do You Believe In Miracles?

After Friday's second race, Oracle needed to win only two more to survive the semifinals repechage. OneWorld, starting with a one-point penalty, needed to win five.

McKee was asked: "Charlie, what needs to happen to turn this around? Have you got strengths that you haven’t yet been able to employ, or is it just going to be a question of a lucky break here and there?"

Did the questioner think OneWorld was holding something back?

McKee, patiently, replied, "The way you turn it around is by winning some races, and you do that by sailing slightly better than your opponent. We are not feeling like we are in a position where we feel that we need to make changes or panic. We got a little on the back foot today and from that point forward we felt we sailed a pretty good race."

A better question followed: "Charlie, we heard Ian mention afterwards on television that he maybe felt that Oracle was a faster boat. Would you agree?"

McKee: "I would say that they are going well upwind, and a lot of the time in these last few races the boats seem like they are exactly the same speed. I would say when the breeze is up we they might have a little edge but we tack a little better. When the wind is a little lighter we are comfortable with our speed. All in all, it’s pretty damn even."

Then another beauty, to Burns: "Ian, after two wins in the bank, in terms of the overall picture do you feel that you have an advantage over OneWorld?"

Burns, possibly suppressing a hearty laugh, replied: "Yes, we have raced eight times and won the last seven, but if you look at the deltas between the boats it's incredible how small they are. But I certainly would rather be in our situation than theirs."