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Team New Zealand's crew hard at work in Nice - Source: Reuters -
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The International Jury for the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice
Côte d'Azur has penalised Synergy Russia Sailing Team a half
point for a collision with Emirates Team New Zealand at the finish
of their second Semi Final race earlier on Saturday.
In the second race Emirates Team New Zealand had been penalised in
the pre-start for gybing too close. The crew carried that penalty
around the course. Approaching the finish, Team New Zealand was
trying to either complete the 270-degree penalty turn or offset it
with a penalty on Synergy when the pair wound up outside the
committee boat end of the finish line.
Both crews had their genoas hoisted trying to get upwind and over
the top of the committee boat, but Team New Zealand got close to
the committee boat. The New Zealand crew tacked to port and hailed
for water, calling the committee boat an obstruction.
Both boats were downspeed in the sloppy seaway and they collided,
Synergy's port side hitting Team New Zealand's starboard
side.
After the match the on-water umpires penalised Emirates Team New
Zealand 1 point and Synergy a half point for the beam-on-beam
collision that caused some damage to the 24-tonne yachts.
In a later protest hearing the International jury found that there
was a hard collision between Team New Zealand and Synergy. The jury
deemed that when Synergy, the starboard-tack yacht, became the
right-of-way boat it altered course down towards Team New Zealand
and didn't do enough to keep clear.
"That change of course was an infringement of Rule 14 (Avoiding
Contact), so we deducted a half point for that," said Chief Umpire
Bill Edgerton. "In the end we penalised Team new Zealand 1 point
and Synergy a half point for the rule to make sure the crews don't
do massive damage. Then we deducted a second half point from
Synergy for not doing everything to keep clear."
Although the teams have each won a race in their match the score is
now 0-0, setting up a one race, winner-take-all match on Sunday
morning.
Racing is scheduled to resume on Sunday morning. The first race
will be between TeamOrigin and Azzurra with the Emirates Team New
Zealand-Synergy to follow.
