THE
AUSTRALIAN JAMES SPITHILL WINS THE FOURTH EDITION
OF THE NATIONS CUP
TEAM
ALINGHI BEATEN IN THE FINALS
Trieste,
21 June 2003.
The
young Australian skipper James Spithill (24 years
old), also the skipper of OneWorld in the past
America’s Cup, is officially the winner
of the fourth edition of the Nation’s Cup
in Trieste, Italy. Before Spithill, Rusell Coutts
in 2000, Paul Cayard in 2001 and Dean Barker in
2002 have won the last editions.
With
a double win for OneWorld, with the Italian Michele
Ivaldi (ex Luna Rossa), they had the better against
Team Alinghi driver by Jochen Schuemann.
In
the first race, sailed with a nice wind of about
10 knots, Spithill won the start and inflicted
a penalty on Alinghi, remaining in an advantage
for the entire race winning with a minute and
30 seconds.
In the second match of the day, yet another great
start for the American team of OneWorld. The Swiss
were, however, able to surpass them in a battled
out match race and were in an advantage of 12
seconds at the first mark. In the next leg, the
Swiss team made an error and lost their gennaker
in the water. The Americans were able to take
advantage of this error and take the lead, thus
winning the race with 18 seconds.
It
wasn’t possible to race the final races
between the third and fourth place, due t o lack
of wind. The race committee, headed by Luciano
Giacomi, awarded third place to Victory, taking
into consideration the past races sailed in the
first Round Robin between the two teams of Mascalzone
Latino and Victory Challenge.
The
morning began with the last two matches of the
semi-finals, to be able to decipher the teams
racing the final match. OneWorld and Victory Challenge
sailed the first match, and OneWorld brought home
the victory. In the second match, Mascalzone Latino
against Alinghi where Alinghi won a place in the
semi-finals match with a 32 second lead. Vascotto
lost the match due to an error and a penalty.
The
overall Results of the Nation’s Cup Finale
2003:
1. OneWorld, James Spithill
2. Alighi, Jochen Schuemann
3. Victory Challenge, Peter Holmberg
4. Mascalzone Latino, Vasco Vascotto
