Monday, April 30, 2007

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

Will the second day of Round Robin turn out to be better than the first one? Although half of the scheduled races were carried out yesterday, it was under light and very shifty conditions. BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa had two easy races that allowed to gain 2 more points each while Shosholoza further distanced themselves from the semifinals after suffering a spinnaker pole breakage and losing a race they were leading against Victory Challenge.

The races from the south course cancelled yesterday are now scheduled to take place after flight 2. The match of the day will face Mascalzone Capitalia and Emirates Team New Zealand. Can the Rascals repeat their surprising victory against the kiwis? Another top-three team is also facing one of the serious contenders for the fourth place. Luna Rossa must beat Victory Challenge who will be fighting hard for the two points.

At least, it is encouraging to read that most forecasts coincide in that the day promises a good and steady seabreeze.

Louis Vuitton Leaderboard as of 29-04-2007
Weather forecast
America's Cup organizers expect today a good sea breeze day, dry and warm. Winds will start as south westerlies 5-7 knots, then building and backing to southeast 8-10 knots. Some cloud are forecast inland but the day will be dry.

Here is the forecast by BMW Oracle's meteorologist Chris Befdord, as always courtesy of the BMW Oracle Blog.

wxmon1_bmwPreview

Racing Schedule Flight 2
Shosholoza - United Internet Team Germany: After their defeat against Victory Challenge, Shosholoza have almost lost all chances of advancing to the semifinals. If they lose this one then the first South African America's Cup challenger can start packing up for the trip back to Cape Town on May 9.
BMW Oracle - China Team: Easy two points for BMW Oracle.
Luna Rossa - Victory Challenge: The Swedes will certainly try to win the race and produce a major upset.
+39 Challenge - Desafío Español: The Spanish shouldn't encounter any problem against the Italian team.
Areva Challenge - Mascalzone Capitalia: The first race of the day for Mascalzone Capitalia should be much easier than the second one and the French shouldn't be much of hurdle in the Italian's race to the semifinals.

Racing Schedule Flight 1
Emirates Team NZ - Mascalzone Capitalia: The match of the day, rescheduled after it was cancelled yesterday. If Mascalzone Capitalia repeat their victory in round robin 1 they will place themselves closer to the semifinals and do BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa a favor.
Areva Challenge - +39 Challenge: Interesting match in the bottom of score table.

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