Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin 2 - Day 2: BMW Oracle's shocking defeat by China Team

The Dragon's son beats the American eagle should read tomorrow's headlines in the sport sections of the Chinese newspapers. Not only did China Team score their first victory in the Louis Vuitton Cup, they did it against the leader BMW Oracle.

It was supposed to be the day's dullest and least interesting race but it turned out into one of the most interesting and spectacular. China Team must have entered the start box with a mindset of losing by the lowest margin possible while BMW Oracle lined up their so called "B Team" and for the first in the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup, USA-98 was helmed by Sten Mohr.

It was indeed a one-sided match till halfway through the first leg when the genoa sail pulled out of the headstay foil on USA-98. The Americans tried to hoist a second genoa but to no avail. They were forced to continue the first upwind leg with just their mainsail. That mishap gave the Chinese the chance to build an enormous advantage over BMW Oracle. The Americans fixed the problem during the first downwind leg and sailed with the genoa in the second upwind leg and despite gaining more than 1 minute on each of the 2 legs, that was not enough and crossed the finish line more than 3 minutes behind China Team.

This is the second time BMW Oracle suffer from this type of failure in a very short time. As recently as three weeks ago, USA-98 went through the exact same failure in Louis Vuitton Act 13 and the crew were unable to hoist the genoa twice.

Prestart in the race between China Team and BMW Oracle. Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

China Team got squeezed at the start. Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Both boats went to the right and BMW Oracle started increasing their lead. Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Far away in the course, the unthinkable takes place, severe gear failure on BMW Oracle's USA-98. We then learned it was a repeat of the failure in Act 13. Sorry for the picture but we were not allowed to go further upwind due to the other two simultaneous races on the same course. Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Far away and coming downwind, yes downwind, China Team's CHN-95. After their recent mishaps in spinnaker drops and given their 5-minute lead over BMW Oracle, the Chinese decided to play it safe and dropped the spinnaker hundreds of meters before reaching the leeward gate. Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

A photo for the history books. China Team's CHN-95 starting their upwind leg while BMW Oracle were downwind, hundreds of meters from the leeward gate. Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

BMW Oracle also avoided all unnecessary risks and dropped their spinnaker far away from the leeward gate. Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Despite their evident speed advantage, BMW Oracle was unable to reach the Chinese. Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Dragon's Son a few hundred meters before his first victory in the 32nd America's Cup. Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Without any doubt the happiest moment for China Team in their 3-year long journey in the 32nd America's Cup. They cross the finish line 3:15 minutes ahead of BMW Oracle Valencia, 30 April 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing