Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Day 9 - 1st Semi-final : Order reestablished, amazing Shosholoza win over Desafío Español

Order was re-established in the first semi-finals of the day, with BMW Oracle beating Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa losing against Alinghi. The day´s most exciting race took place in the second division where Shosholoza kept a very thin lead over Desafío Español throughout the race and despite a very bad gybe at the final stretch made a last-second run and won by 4 seconds.

First Division

Emirates Team New Zealand - BMW Oracle : 1 - 0
This time around BMW Oracle played it by the book and tried to avoid the kind of tactical errors of the previous races. The pres-start procedure was very tight and both teams left on time with a very small advantage for the Kiwis who went to the left. During the first leg both boats were neck and neck and a luffing incident took place a few hundred meters before the top mark but Emirates Team New Zealand avoided getting the penalty. BMW Oracle rounded the top mark 17 seconds ahead of the Kiwis and managed to increase their lead by a couple of seconds in each leg. In the final downwind leg, BMW Oracle got the correct wind shift and finished 35 seconds ahead of their opponent.

Luna Rossa - Alinghi : 0 - 1
Alinghi took revenge of their defeat two days ago, although it was amuch close race than the other semi-final of the first division. Although Luna Rossa had a 2-second advantage at the start line, Alinghi was mush faster and rounded the top mark 22 seconds ahead of Luna Rossa. Although at some points of the downwind legs the Italians managed to close the gap, they were never really able to reach the Swiss team. The bottom line was that it was a story of Alinghi going musch faster upwind while Luna Rossa seemed a rocket downwind. If the Italians manage a lead in the first leg and don´t make any errors they might be able to beat once again Alinghi.

Second Division

Victory Challenge - Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team : 0 - 1
The race was decided before the starting gun went off as Jes Gram-Hansen, helmsman of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team during prestart, squeezed and trapped the Victory Challenge boat right of the committee boat, forcing them to turn around and waste a precious 25 seconds. This difference proved to big for the Swedes to recover, although they did manage to considerably diminish the Italian lead, that went from 46 seconds at the first mark to 15 seconds to the finish line.

Team Shosholoza - Desafío Español : 1 - 0
The weakest team of the division dealt a blow to Desafío Español. At the start, the South African team had a very small lead but during the first leg both boats were neck and neck. Shosholoza rounded the top mark 7 seconds ahead and after another very close downwind leg they rounded the leeward gate a mere second ahead of the Spanish. Their lead increased in the final upwind leg, but a very poor gybe halfway through the final leg allowed Desafío Español to overtake Shosholoza. Nevertheless, Tomaso Chieffi's excellent helmsmanship gave Shosholoza the chance to gybe ahead of the spanish and cross 4 seconds ahead.

Third Division

It was the third division that finally proved to have the most predictable and comfortable wins. United Internet Team Germany finished 1:11 minutes behind +39 Challenge, while Areva Challenge beat China Team by almost a minute.