Monday, May 07, 2007

Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin 2 - Day 9: Victory Challenge score life-saving win over Desafío Español

It was THE match of the day not only because of its importance for the leaderboard but also due to its extremely close finish. Desafío Español lost by a mere 7 seconds, despite a run in the final stretch of the race, and were unable to secure the fourth spot in the rankings.

The match started after an aggressive prestart and Victory Challenge had a slight advantage crossing the line on the left. The first upwind leg saw a tacking duel but the Spanish were unable to catch the Swedes who increased their lead and rounded the top mark with a 22-second advantage. Before arriving at the leeward gate, Desafío Español began to win back ground due to greater wind pressure. As they passed the buoy, Victory Challenge let their spinnaker fall into the water, a maneuver to which the Spanish team protested, raising any flag they had onboard. The Spanish boat passed the leeward gate 15 seconds behind the Swedes.

On the second upwind beat, the Spaniards launched another attack, but the Swedish boat pulled away and continued to lead by 20 seconds at the top mark. During the last downwind leg, a combination of poor gybes by the Swedes and more wind pressure on ESP-97 helped Desafío Español close the gap and it seemed for a moment they could win but SWE-96 crossed the finish line a mere 7 seconds ahead.

The thriller for the semifinals is far from over. Both teams must win their very difficult matches on Tuesday.

Prestart of the race between Desafío Español and Victory Challenge. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Start of the between Desafío Español and Victory Challenge, with the Swedes having a small advantage. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

During the first downwind leg, Desafío Español were able to close in on Victory Challenge aided by favorable wind pressure. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Nobody could obviously suspect what was going to happen when Victory Challenge started hoisting the jib at the approach of the leeward gate. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Pepe Ribes, Victory Challenge bowman, is getting ready to let the spinnaker go... Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Off it goes, the Swedish spinnaker started flying... Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Someone has to coin a new term for such a spinnaker drop. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Victory Challenge round the right buoy of the leeward gate. The spinnaker is still falling and at the top of the picture one can barely distinguish the halyard that flew off the mast. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Desafío Español start rounding the right mark of the leeward gate. This is certainly not an artistic photo but one can observe that the spinnaker in the water is quite far from the buoy in order to obstruct the Spanish boat. As it turned out, the Spanish team did not file any protest because they felt their case would be difficult to prove. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Desafío Español round the right mark of the leeward gate without any apparent problems. It also seems Victory Challenge got lucky as the spinnaker was carried away of the buoy some 10 meters by the sea. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The second upwind leg saw another tack duel but Victory Challenge held on. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Spanish team was aided in the last leg by more wind pressure and a number of poor gybes by Victory Challenge. Momentarily, Spanish spectators thought the green boat would manage to snatch the win on the finish line but the Swedes held on to their lead and won by 7 seconds. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Yet another extremely close finish in this Louis Vuitton Cup. Victory Challenge beat Desafío Español by only 7 seconds. Valencia, 7 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

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3 Comments:

At 9:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There actually is a term for such a drop. It's called a chase-boat drop.

 
At 12:23 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

One suggestion from Tom Ehman is the "Hugo."
http://blog.bmworacleracing.com/stories/3316963/

 
At 1:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

gotta be "the Hugo"

 

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