After four days where racing was postponed due to a lack of wind, the Louis Vuitton Cup started on Friday 20th April with Flights 1 and 2.

FLIGHT 1.
Racing started on time on the south course. BMW ORACLE Racing won against United Internet Team Germany, while Luna Rossa triumphed over China Team.The closest race on the south course was between Victory Challenge and Team Shosholoza. Paolo Cian at the helm of the South African boat won the start causing Victory Challenge to tack away. Victory was bounced out to the starboard layline by Shosholoza but the two boats remained neck and neck up the beat. Victory Challenge managed to round the top mark 16 seconds ahead of Shosholoza. Despite the South Africans remaining close the Swedish team were able to extend, particularly down the final run, to win by 46 seconds.

The biggest upset came on the north course. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team chose the right side of the course at the start and pulled ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand. The New Zealanders were unable to catch the Italians on the first beat and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team reached the top mark 19 seconds ahead. The Kiwis appeared to have a small speed edge on the run, reaching the leeward gate on the transom of her rival, but Vasco Vascotto and team sailed ahead for the next two legs and led Dean Barker and his crew across the finish line by 15 seconds.

FLIGHT 2
Team Shosholoza put South Africa’s first ever point on a Louis Vuitton Cup scoreboard when they led United Internet Team Germany around the race track to win by a comfortable 1:10.BMW ORACLE Racing’s match against China Team was one sided, Chris Dickson and his crew leading Pierre Mas’ Franco-Chinese team from the start, and going on to finish 4:36 ahead.

The margin was small between Victory Challenge and Luna Rossa. Magnus Holmberg at the helm of the Swedish entry got the better of Spithill in the start and was able to keep his boat ahead for much of the first beat. Eventually, the speed of Luna Rossa prevailed and they scored two points on the board, finishing ahead by 1:07.

In the most aggressive pre-start of the day was Desafío Español 2007 flew into the box and straight into the losing end of a port-starboard incident with +39. However the Spanish led out of the start and with better boat speed pulled out a large enough lead to carry out their penalty turn before rounding the top mark. +39 tried valiantly but the Spanish extended as the wind went light on the final run to cross the line 2:45 ahead.

Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team proved again that their ITA 99 has pace. While skipper Vasco Vascotto kept it close in their match with the French Areva Challenge team, they were barely challenged and crossed the finish 1:41 ahead, and scored their second win of the day. 

Flight 3
After lack of wind delays Flight 3 got underway on Sunday 22nd April. Surprisingly China Team led Magnus Holmberg’s Victory Challenge team for two thirds of the first beat. They were then overhauled by the Swedes who proceeded to extend, scoring the highest finish delta (3:50) of the five races.

Team Shosholoza led off to the start aagainst BMW Oracle Racing in their race after claiming the favourable right side. Paolo Cian and his young Shosholoza crew did a superb job fending off Chris Dickson’s vastly experienced team and led them around the first lap, despite dropping their spinnaker in the water at the leeward gate. In the closing stages of the second beat they were finally overhauled. Dickson then prudently covered Shosholoza to win by 47 seconds.     

United Internet Team Germany also looked strong on the right of the first beat against Luna Rossa. James Spithill engaged the German team’s Jesper Bank in a tacking duel in the latter stages of the first beat to take control. Luna Rossa led for the rest of the race but only won by 50 seconds.

On the south course, there was further upset between Areva Challenge and Desafio Espanol when the French led off the line. They were eventually overtaken by the Spanish team who led round the top mark. But disaster struck on the Spanish boat when during their first gybe the end of their spinnaker pole broke. While Karol Jablonski and his Spanish team caught up on the second beat with their broken pole they were crippled, Sebastien Col and the French team going on to win with a comfortable 2:06.

In the final match on the south course +39 gained the right at the start, but were unable to match the pace of Emirates Team New Zealand who scored a large win.

Flight 4.
Racing once again resumed on Tuesday 24th April. Shosholoza beat Luna Rossa one of the most significant upturns seen so far in this Round Robin 1. Paolo Cian, at the helm of the South African entry, was able to edge ahead on the left of Luna Rossa off the line. The Italian team had no speed advantage upwind and skipper James Spithill started a tacking duel. However the South Africans, showing considerable maturity lost nothing from this duel to lead around the weather mark. Shosholoza led down the run. After a lengthy tacking duel up the second beat, the Shosholoza crew kept cool and Luna Rossa were unable to catch them. Shosholoza finished 36 seconds ahead, proving there performance against BMW had not been a fluke.Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team and Desafio Espanol 2007, possible contenders for the all-important final place in the semi-finals met in this flight. After an aggressive pre-start between helmsmen Karol Jablonski on the Spanish boat and Jes Gram-Hansen, starting helmsman for the Italians, the Spanish controlled the start and the first beat, bouncing the Italian team beyond the starboard layline, pulling out a lead the Latin Rascals were unable to recover.

In their matches Emirates Team New Zealand comfortably beat Areva Challenge, the Kiwis sailing safely and confidently, while Victory Challenge were unable to match the speed of BMW Oracle Racing, and Jesper Bank’s skill prevailed in United Internet Team Germany’s against China Team, where one crewman fell over board and had to be picked up by a chase boat.

FLIGHT 5.
The best match of Flight 5 took place between Luna Rossa Challenge and BMW ORACLE Racing. This was a close race and after an aggressive pre-start, both boats raced out to the left side of the course, with BMW ORACLE Racing in a more powerful position to the right. Skipper Chris Dickson converted tactically powerful advantage into an 8-second lead at the top mark. This tiny margin was only extended to 15 seconds when the teams reached the top for the second time and Luna Rossa was able to attack on the final run to the finish. But in the event, Dickson held his nerve and the Americans remained undefeated by virtue of a 6 second victory.

The other matches in Flight 5 weren’t as close, with +39 Challenge falling behind in the pre-start and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia extending the rest of the race. Emirates Team New Zealand out-sailed the Spanish to win by 1:12, while Victory Challenge had more pace than United Internet Team Germany. And Shosholoza won its second victory of the day by beating China Team.

Flight 6
Wednesday started with the most promising wind seen so far in Round Robin 1, with 8-9 knots on both courses. All eyes were on Team Shosholoza as they lined up with the Louis Vuitton Cup favourite, Emirates Team New Zealand. The two boats were evenly matched out of the start and after a long tack out to the left with the New Zealanders holding a narrow lead to weather, Paolo Cian at the helm of the South African boat tacked towards them. The two boats carried out an extensive tacking duel up the first beat, with Emirates Team New Zealand slowly pulling away to round the weather mark 23 seconds ahead. While the New Zealanders were unable to extend dramatically over the South Africans, they did manage to slowly gain seconds on each leg to win by 1:23.  

The closest match of this flight was between Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team and United Internet Team Germany. At the helm of the German boat Jesper Bank and his team headed right and kept close to the Italians during a tacking duel off towards the starboard layline. The two boats were metres apart all the way up the beat, but the Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team slowly pulled away rounding the top mark with a 22 seconds advantage. United Internet Team Germany were unable to catch the Italians despite gains from a wind shift on the final run to finish just 24 seconds behind.

Areva Challenge did well against Luna Rossa. After their two defeats yesterday, the Italians got two extra points on the scoreboard, but Areva finished only 33 seconds behind. Victory Challenge sailed +39 over the port layline, then extended to win by 55 seconds while as expected Desafio Espanol dispatched China Team to finish with a final delta of 2:01

FLIGHT 7
Team Shosholoza and Desafío Español  enjoyed the best winds seen so far at winds this Louis Vuitton Cup. the match started with winds gusting near 15 knots. The South Africans nearly locked out at the committee boat end of the start line but won the favoured right. The Spanish charged away toward the pin. The two boats took a long leg out to the left side with Shosholoza a nose ahead. After a tacking duel, the boats still neck and neck, Shosholoza narrowly led around the weather mark with the Spanish on their transom. But the South Africans appeared to have problems on their spinnaker hoist, while the Spanish crew work was slick and with a faster hoist on ESP 97, the Spanish drew level and then slowly pulled ahead. From the leeward gate rounding they were 20 seconds astern, the South Africans were never again in contention. The only minor hiccup came when a bowman on the Spanish boat briefly fell overboard as they rounded the leeward gate, but he was retrieved by the crew as they passed by.
A close match took place between Italian teams Luna Rossa and +39 Challenge. On the first beat Iain Percy’s team on +39 claimed the right, putting them ahead of Luna Rossa. This situation remained the same in spite of a prolonged tacking duel out towards the starboard layline. +39 Challenge was in good shape leading into the weather mark until they tacked too early, following an aggressive luff from Luna Rossa helmsman James Spithill. The two extra tacks into the mark let the powerful Luna Rossa through and from there they went on to win by 1:22.

In BMW ORACLE Racing’s match against Areva Challenge, Larry Ellison’s well polished team pulled ahead on the first beat, ultimately finishing the race ahead of the French team by an impressive 2:54 margin. Similarly despite a brave pre-start from Jesper Bank at the helm of United Internet Team Germany, Emirates Team New Zealand outshone the German team and finished ahead by more than one minute.

Finally Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team race turned into a walkover when China Team suffered damage half way up the first leg of the race course and were forced to retire.

Flight 8
Flight 8 will be remembered for its penalties. The first match saw United Internet Team Germany pick up a penalty in a pre-start port/starboard incident. Desafio Espanol won the early advantage and took the favoured right, the Germans regained ground later on the first beat to round the weather mark just 13 seconds behind. United Internet Team Germany once again chose the correct side going left on the run and ended up just 9 seconds astern at the leeward gate. On the second lap Desafio Espanol’s speed and tactical decisions prevailed to finish 52 seconds ahead.

Victory Challenge gained the upper hand in the pre-start against Areva Challenge who eventually crossed 15 seconds behind. Areva Challenge entered into a tacking duel with the Swedes up the right side of the beat. Areva were allowed to take the right and during the tacking duel the Swedes picked up a penalty for tacking too close. Matters went from bad to worse when Areva pulled ahead on the water, to round the weather mark 7 seconds ahead. Victory Challenge extended by three seconds on the run, but then chose the left side of the second beat. The Swedes pulled ahead to round the weather mark ahead by 9 seconds, still holding a penalty. The boat speed of their Mani Frers design prevailed on the final run and Magnus Holmberg and his team were just able to carry out their penalty turn in time to squeeze 5 seconds ahead of Victory Challenge.

Mascalzone Latino and Team Shosholoza was no less tense. After an early advantage to the Italians, a tacking duel at the latter stage of the first beat saw the Italians lead around the weather mark just 8 seconds ahead. The Italians sailed well on the run extending their lead to 38 seconds on the run after the South Africans ripped their spinnaker. However another prolonged tacking duel on the third beat saw the South Africans recover once again to an 8 seconds deficit. An ambitious gybe set at the second mark rounding momentarily delayed Shosholoza who once again began closing on the Italians down the left side of the course. Unfortunately just out from the finish Shosholoza ripped another spinnaker and could only watch as Mascalzone Latino sailed on to victory.

+39 failed to threaten BMW Oracle Racing in their match. Due to line up against Emirates Team New Zealand, China Team failed to show up due to technical problems, allowing the Kiwis two easy points

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