Louis Vuitton Act 10 - Day 2 - Flight 3

It was the third flight so far with all races having "predictable" outcomes, meaning that in all races, the higher-ranked team beat their lower-ranked adversary.

Luna Rossa, BMW Oracle and Emirates Team New Zealand all won with a comfortable lead over +39, Areva Challenge and United Internet Team Germany respectively. Alinghi beat Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team by a mere 8 seconds, as the Italian challenger sailed an excellent race, with Jes Gram-Hansen on the helm at pre-start and Flavio Favini afterwards.

Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team aboard ITA-77 in an agonizing finish of their race against Alinghi. During the last leg, the lead changed various times between the two teams. Photo copyright: Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team

Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team racing against Alinghi with a brand new boom on the boat. Photo copyright: Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team

Desafío Español 2007 had an easy start over China Team, but the chinese Challenger abandoned the race after the first leg due to broken winch connection.

Last but certainly not least, in what was supposed to be a race to watch closely, Shosholoza, commited the third consecutive error in as many pre-starts and crossed the starting line ahead of time. By the time the South African challenger was back in the game, Victory Challenge could not be threatened. The "Soul of Sailing" must do some soul searching in their pre-start strategy.