Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Day 9 - 2st Semi-final : Majestic recovery by Alinghi secures them spot in final

First Division

Alinghi - Luna Rossa : 1 - 0
What an incredible comeback by Alinghi and what a stupid way to lose an incredible early advantage by Luna Rossa. The prestart was very even and a few seconds before the gun went off both boats raced to the start line but to the enormous surprise of everybody, because of an entirely unforced error, Alinghi crossed a second before time. While James Spithill and his crew sailed away, Peter Holmberg had to steer SUI-75 back to the starting line and recross it, resulting in a 33-second gain for the Italians. It looked like it was over for the Swiss Defender of the America's Cup, but conventional thinking was not what Peter Holmberg and his crew did.

Not only did Alinghi manage to eat away seconds in all legs of the race but a great call by Brud Butterworth aboard SUI-75 and a childish error by Luna Rossa to allow a tremendous separation from their opponent resulted in Alinghi turning over the game and winning by 29 seconds. The Swiss turned the left wind shift into their advantage and ridiculed the Italians. Their spot at the finals of the first division is now secured.

Second Division

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team - Victory Challenge : 1 - 0
The second Italian-Swedish confrontation turned out to be quite easy for Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team. Helmed by Jes Gram-Hansen in prestart and Flavio Favini during the rest of the race, ITA-77 was always ahead of the Victory Challenge, increasing their lead in the first three leg and despite a final push by Victory Challenge, the Italians finished 47 seconds ahead. Just like Alinghi in the first division, Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team will be one of the finalists in the second division.

Desafío Español - Team Shosholoza : 1 - 0
Unlike the previous race, Shosholoza was no threat for the Spanish team. Despite starting well and gaining an early advantage of a couple of boatlenghts, Shosholoza could not keep it as the Spanish called tactics correctly, positioning themselves on the correct side of the course, especially in the last leg, and winning by 35 seconds. Tomorrow´s race between them will decide who fights against Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team for the first place of the second division.

Third Division

There was no change from the first round of semi-finals, earlier in the day. The Italian +39 Challenge secured their spot in tomorrow´s battle for first place in third division, after beating United Internet Team Germany by more than a minute, without feeling any threat during the race. The second spot in the final went to Areva Challenge who beat China Team, but with great sweat. The Chinese team was ahead in the first downwind leg but a poor spinnaker drop in the leeward gate resulted in a tremendous drag and loss of the race.