Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin 2 - Day 1: Preview

BMW Oracle and especially Luna Rossa have an easy start in this second round robin. Racing against the Germans and Chinese, respectively, shouldn't be a problem for the two top teams of the first round robin.

In the north race area Shosholoza and Victory Challenge will fight for a place in the semifinals and in the south race area Mascalzone Capitalia will try to repeat their victory over Emirates Team NZ. There is speculation, particularly in the Italian and Spanish media, that yesterday's defeat of BMW Oracle by Desafío Español was actually a "gift" from the Americans in order to help them get into the semifinals, at the expense of Mascalzone Capitalia.

Weather forecast
Today's forecast is not encouraging but then yesterday's as well was pessimistic and we had 6 great matches, albeit in light and shifty conditions. There is a low just to the north of Valencia and together with its associated trough they will bring rain and light winds. They will mainly be northeast 5-7 knots. Cloudy skies to start, with risk of rain at times, clearing later.

Racing Schedule Flight 1
BMW Oracle - United Internet Team Germany: It shouldn't be a problem for the leader of Round Robin 1. Most probably the Germans are already thinking about the next America's Cup.
Victory Challenge - Shosholoza: A must win for both teams if they want to be in the semifinals.
Luna Rossa - China Team: James Spithill and his crew have a very relaxed beginning for this Round Robin
Emirates Team NZ - Mascalzone Capitalia: Will the Italians be able to repeat their surprise win of round robin 1?
Areva Challenge - +39 Challenge: Interesting match at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Last but not least
A friend of ours sent us this interesting picture of the bulb and keel of BMW Oracle's USA-87. The American Challenger of Record have been carrying a great number of tests on their older boat.

Bulb and keel of BMW Oracle's USA-87 on Saturday morning. The Challenger of Record took their boat out very early on Sunday morning for tests off Valencia's coast. Valencia, 28 April 2007. Photo copyright Leah Shalom / Valencia Sailing