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Louis Vuitton Trophy boats compete - Source: Bob Grie/Louis Vuitton Trophy, Nice Côte d'Azur -
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Louis Vuitton race day seven
How times change. It used to be the case that a regatta sailor seeing the moon in a dawn sky was on his way home after another night's revelling hoping to snatch a few minutes kip before racing.
Not in Nice in November. The moon was still up, but most yachties here have taken to getting early nights because the boats have been docking out not much after day break.
The reason is that the northerly wind in the morning is providing the best racing, while the southerly that replaces it in the afternoon is often unpredictable in it's arrival, velocity and direction. When it does fill in it snakes down the course in a series of "Ss" making it incredibly hard to pick the shifts.
There was also determination in the race committee's early call to try and wrap up the schedule as early as possible to prepare for tonight's Louis Vuitton Party in a chateau above the city. The camera crews I'm working with were also anxious to get off the water so they could buy an outfit smart enough to gain entry.
As it transpired this was the most action-packed day of racing. Penalty flags flew in the race between Artemis and BMW Oracle Racing with the Swedes heading the Americans until half way when when their sails sagged indicating all the hydraulics had failed.
Trimming was out of the question and up on the bow they punched a hole through the jib beside the tack and lashed it to the forestay to prevent the luff pulling out of the headfoil. The boat was swimming with hydraulic fluid and the crews battled to keep going.
Despite some great seamanship they couldn't hold the lead, Gavin Brady pouncing on the wounded yacht to take the win for Oracle. At the Artemis helm Terry Hutchinson was particularly gutted as the defeat dropped them out of the top four.
The protest flags were out again for Dean Barker's crunch match with his former Emirates Team New Zealand sparring partner Ben Ainslie now skippering Britain's Team Origin.
Leading into the top mark Ainslie dialled down at Barker in a move their coach Rod Davis told me is called the "top mark schmuckle drill" which they'd practiced hundreds of times against each other in the run up to the last America's Cup.
Half way through the fracas even Davis couldn't pick a winner but Ainslie proved to have a fraction more speed in his favour. Once the umpires decreed he was in the clear he was off and the Kiwis had lost for the first time in the regatta.
The Italians on Azzurra scored some revenge on the Kiwis' behalf with a come from behind win over Ainslie which lifted them above Origin to second place on the table behind Emirates Team New Zealand at the end of the first round robin.
That's it for Day Seven. I need to scrub up. Party time.
