Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Day 3 - Preview: First battle of the Big Four

Good morning from Valencia, where the third day of Louis Vuitton Act 12 begins once again under a shiny sunny sky, promising a repeat of yesterday's weather patterns. While wind conditions have not been astonishing so far they haven't been disappointing either, with the usual 5 to 8 knots at midday building up to around 10 to knots in the afternoon. There could also be thunderstorms developing in the interior, west of Valencia, but they are not supposed to affect the coastal region.

Without any doubt, today's show is stolen by the two races among the Big Four (Alinghi, BMW Oracle, Luna Rossa and Emirates Team), all of them unbeaten so far. As a result in about 10 hours from now the top of the score table will get more exciting.

In the north race course we could have the race that will also start a year from now, Alinghi facing BMW Oracle. The last time these two teams met in Louis Vuitton Act 10, the Defender of the America's Cup beat the Challenger of Record. At that time it was the first time BMW Oracle was using its brand new boat, USA-87, and various commentators expressed the opinion Chris Dickson and his crew were sandbagging the Swiss team since the stakes were low. Of course nobody, except for a handful of people in the BMW Oracle team, will know the truth, but it is hard to imagine a team of top professional athletes goes out to the field with the intention to lose. Nevertheless, the America's Cup is not just another sport and subtle chess-like tactics are used all the time. Teams, especially the top ones, might not want to reveal their latest technological advances or gadgets, while still giving the best of themselves. Whatever the case, we look forward to watching this race.

The other big race of the day sees Luna Rossa against Emirates Team New Zealand. In their previous race in Louis Vuitton Act 10, the Italians beat the Kiwis that suffered from spinnaker break, a result of excellent tactics and maneuvers by James Spithill. The Prada-sponsored Italian team will also face the Spanish Desafío Español in the second race of the day and all locals will be hoping for a repeat of their unexpected victory against Luna Rossa, or the shocking defeat for James Spithill and his crew, depending on your point of view.

This evening, the situation in the middle and bottom of the score table will also get clearer, given the number of races between these teams. United Internet Team Germany has two difficult rivals and might finish pointless, Shosholoza might be for two victorious, albeit tough, races against Areva challenge and +39 Challenge. Finally, Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team might have the golden opportunity to score two wins and climb to fifth place.