Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin 1 - Day 10: BMW Oracle leading unbeaten, good breeze, no surprises

Note: Due to the delays of the start of the races in the south race area and the late return of the media boat from there, our report from the tenth day of the Louis Vuitton Cup will be considerably reduced. Our apologies.

The action in the tenth day of the Louis Vuitton Cup will probably make journalists forget about the lack of wind last week. Not only did we have a constant breeze, we also witnessed the first incidents and breakages, especially in the south race area and during the day's second flight. The breeze started at around 10 knots and by the beginning of the second flight it had increased by a couple of knots and a chop developed.

All results, with no exception, followed our prediction in this morning's preview. We had chosen to follow the races on the south course where Shosholoza was facing two of the toughest rivals, Emirates Team NZ and Desafío Español, hoping to watch a repeat of yesterday's upset against Luna Rossa. This was not to happen, either with the South Africans or any other of the smaller teams.

BMW Oracle continues leading the challenger regattas, unbeaten, while the top 6 spots of the leaderboard are within a 5-point range.

Louis Vuitton Cup leaderboard after Flight 7
Action of the day
Without any doubt, the action of the day was the fall of Desafío Español's mastman, Enrique Cmeselle, in the water after he was hit by a wave while the yacht was rounding the leeward gate. The rest of the Spanish crew immediately retrieved him without any consequence in the race against Shosholoza. It was certainly a demonstration of excellent crew work. Here is the sequence:

Valencia, 25 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 25 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 25 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 25 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 25 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 25 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing