12 Metre Worlds: KZ-5 opens with two wins to lead in Imperia

Three races were sailed in winds building to 16-17 knots and a well-developed sea state on the opening day of the ITMA World Championship. Andrea Bianchedi’s KZ-5, representing the Yacht Club Italiano, posted two wins and a second place, while a consistent KZ-7 ended the day second overall.

KZ-5 opened the Grand Prix division of the 12 Metre World Championship in Imperia with two wins and a second place. Andrea Bianchedi’s boat, with Pietro D’Alì at the helm, Flavio Favini calling tactics and Tiziano Nava as skipper and mainsail trimmer, ended a more demanding opening day than expected at the top of the standings. After an initial postponement due to a lack of wind, the Race Committee was able to complete three races.

The sight of the 12 Metres charging through the sea in the crisp, clear light of the Gulf of Imperia inevitably brought back memories of the 1987 America’s Cup in Fremantle, Australia. These were the same boats, or at least hulls born out of that Cup cycle, sailing in a similar sea state, although with roughly half the wind. The breeze started at around 13-14 knots and gradually built to 16-17 knots from the south-west.

The right-hand side of the course, towards the shore, generally paid, particularly from the second race onwards. These were demanding conditions for boats around 20 metres long and displacing almost 25 tonnes, keeping the crews constantly busy through the tacks, gybes and spinnaker-pole manoeuvres.

KZ-5 won the opening two races before finishing second in the last behind Kookaburra II, Patrizio Bertelli’s reigning world champion. The result was particularly significant for the Italian crew as this was their first real opportunity to measure themselves against the fleet after a series of training sessions spent tuning the boat.

The team also had to deal with a problem with the outboard end fitting of the spinnaker pole, which tended to open. For the third race they replaced it with another pole around 30 centimetres shorter.

“The boat seems to be going very well, although we will have to see how she performs in different conditions,” Pietro D’Alì said back at the dock. “The fleet is very close and on these boats strategy, tactics and covering are all very important. Even if you don’t have the fastest boat, you can still stay in front by playing the shifts well and sailing the boat properly.

“We also had a problem with the spinnaker pole today which cost us downwind. In the last race we used another one, but it was shorter and we gave a little away.”

Kiwi Magic KZ-7 moved into second place overall after a consistent day, posting scores of 2-2-3. Owned by Denmark’s Johan Blach Petersen and skippered by Jes Gram-Hansen, she underlined her competitiveness without winning a race but never finishing outside the top three. KZ-7 was the boat aboard which New Zealand reached the final of the 1987 Louis Vuitton Cup after dominating much of the challenger selection round robins.

Kookaburra II, Patrizio Bertelli’s reigning world champion, made a number of tactical and boat-handling errors in the first two races before bouncing back to win the third ahead of KZ-5. Kookaburra III, helmed by owner Maurizio Vecchiola with Tommaso Chieffi on tactics, showed some good bursts of speed and rounded the first windward mark of the second race ahead of KZ-5. Bianchedi’s boat, however, made the gains back on the run to retake the lead.

The narrow gaps between the leading boats confirmed just how evenly matched this fleet is. Outright speed is only part of the equation: starts, choosing the right side of the course, covering rivals and clean boat-handling can quickly reshuffle the order.

The Grand Prix World Championship continues tomorrow in the Gulf of Imperia, with the first start brought forward to 10:00. Racing is scheduled to continue through Tuesday, 1 September, when the world title will be decided.

Giuliano Luzzatto

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