Kiwi Super Maxi Consolidates Her Lead in Yachting S World Cup

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KIWI SUPER MAXI CONSOLIDATES HER LEAD IN YACHTING’S WORLD CUP Alfa Romeo Yacht Team

Kiwi super maxi ‘Alfa Romeo’ and skipper Neville Crichton have consolidated their lead in yachting’s World Cup, with their second line honours and handicap win in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup’s third race.

Alfa Romeo’s main competition was provided by Australian super maxi Wild Oats, with the two yachts from down under leading by an impressive margin over the German Maxi turbo sled Morning Glory.

Exactly as in day two, under the shores of La Maddalena the wind dropped completely and turned through 180 degrees. Once again the crews had to face a tough tactical choice - sail all the way to the shoreline hoping to get into the shift or stay in the centre lane.

Alfa Romeo, leading by a couple of boat lengths, opted for the middle, while Wild Oats went to shore and was unlucky to be caught in the doldrums, in a carbon copy situation of yesterday.

A relieved Alfa Romeo was able to stretch its lead to a comfortable margin. After rounding the islet of Barettinelli di Fuori, the boats headed on a close reach to the Gulf of Pevero and the finish line off Porto Cervo.

Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo maintained tight control over Bob Oatley's Wild Oats, claiming once again the double victory on the water, with a 3-plus minute lead, and on handicap. Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory came in third on real time but claimed a second on handicap and now sits - with a string of consistent results - second overall, just ahead of Wild Oats.

Neville Crichton recapped the day's racing: "We came off the starting line well and we were pretty close boat for boating with Wild Oats; she got through us just before the top mark. We followed her to the spinnaker running leg (at Secca Tre Monti), where we put a Code Zero up and she put a running spinnaker up. We sailed around the outside of her, opened up about three boat lengths on her and we just held it at three boat lengths for the rest of the race."

Alfa Romeo Yacht Team Street Address: Heritage Building, Campus Business Park, 350 Parramatta Road, Homebush NSW 2140 Australia. Postal Address: Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd, Locked Bag 260, Silverwater, NSW 1811, Australia Telephone: 02 9701 8000; Direct Telephone 02 9701 8015 Fax: 02 9701 3555. Mobile +61 0407 913 244 E-mail: [email protected] Web sites: Alfa Romeo: www.alfaromeo.com.au/maxiyacht SLAM: www.slam.com A.B.N. 34 000 486 70 Of the first critical moment in the victory, Crichton thought they made a better choice of spinnakers and that paid off. Regarding the second critical stage inside the channel, Crichton added:

"It was difficult in the islands, at the same point as yesterday [off La Maddelena] she got up to us and once again it could have gone either way but we got the breeze probably 30 seconds before and opened up again. That was the end of the race virtually for them Alfa Romeo Yacht Team then. All we want to do once we get in front of her is just keep our gap and not do anything silly. We didn't take any risks and all we've got to do is finish with her and we beat her on handicap."

Crichton is well aware that Morning Glory could be a real threat: "Morning Glory is there every race so I think in windward-leewards she would probably beat us on handicap. It's going to be pretty close, she's just about as quick as us upwind so it would be interesting."

America's Cup skipper and former match race world champion Karol Jablonski, sailing aboard Y3K - who today came in fourth on handicap - would have liked more upwind sailing in today's course, but overall was satisfied with the outcome of this third day:

"We had another good start, but the upwind legs today were too short, we had a lot of reaching and we were sailing on 'rail tracks', without many tactical options. Half the way through the course we were still leading Morning Glory by roughly one minute on handicap. At the end of the race the light wind died and shifted against on us, so we lost some time at the end. Under 8 knots of breeze you have a problem when you have 45 tons competing against 28 tons racing machines [the Super Maxis]. We had a nice match racing against ABN AMRO One, they were 3-4 knots faster reaching down, but we rolled them again in the channel passage thanks to better tactical gybes. All in all it's been a faultless race from our crew, we've made the most out of the day."

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA), runs from September 3rd to September 9th.

CURRENT PROVISIONAL STANDINGS

Place Boat Name Owner Nation, R1/R2/R3/Points

Racing 1. ALFA ROMEO Neville Crichton NZL, 1/1/1/3.0 2. MORNING GLORY Hasso Platner GER, 3/2/2/7.0 Alfa Romeo Yacht Team Street Address: Heritage Building, Campus Business Park, 350 Parramatta Road, Homebush NSW 2140 Australia. Postal Address: Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd, Locked Bag 260, Silverwater, NSW 1811, Australia Telephone: 02 9701 8000; Direct Telephone 02 9701 8015 Fax: 02 9701 3555. Mobile +61 0407 913 244 E-mail: [email protected] Web sites: Alfa Romeo: www.alfaromeo.com.au/maxiyacht SLAM: www.slam.com A.B.N. 34 000 486 70 3. WILD OATS Robert I. Oatley AUS, 2/4/3/9.0

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Picture credits: Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

For further information Alfa Romeo Yacht Team Text and high resolution pictures: www.alfaromeo.com.au/maxiyacht

Neville Crichton Edward Rowe Tel: +61 (02) 9701 8000 Tel: +61 (02) 9701 8015 Fax: +61 (02) 9701 3555 Fax: +61 (02) 9701 3555 Mob: +61 (0)409 166 166 Mobile: +61 407 913 244 E-mail: [email protected]

EJR/ejr/2-45 16-Jun-06