Saturday 20 February 2010

LVT: Azzurra Prepares for Auckland


Azzurra sailing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy off Nice, November 2009. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.

by Jill Campbell

The Italian sailing team Azzurra, skippered by Francesco Bruni and with Tommaso Chieffi calling tactics, today finished a training session in Valencia in preparation for the Louis Vuitton Trophy which will take place in Auckland from 9th to 21st March 2010. Azzurra will be one of the favourites in the regatta after beating Emirates Team New Zealand to win the previous Louis Vuitton Trophy event in Nice in November 2009.

The team has been training on SWE63, the version 5 ACC boat used by Victory Challenge in the 32nd America’s Cup.

Azzurra’s skipper Bruni was satisfied with the week’s work: “It has been a challenging week, particularly due to the weather conditions. The team did a great job and the group is working even better together than before. We would have liked to have seen more stable conditions with more wind but nevertheless it has been a great opportunity to try different maneouvres. We were able to do a few training races against Mascalzone Latino and All4One and we are looking towards the next regattas in Auckland – the Omega Cup and the Louis Vuitton Trophy – with confidence.”

Azzurra

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