| BMW ORACLE Racing speeds away from Desafío Español |
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 The Spanish Prince Felipe sailed with Desafío Español in Flight three today when the home team took on the Defender, Alinghi. But his royal presence couldn't spur the team on to what would have been its first win over the Swiss. In fact the Spanish lost both races on a difficult day against Alinghi and BMW ORACLE Racing; the new Spanish boat, ESP 88, wasn't enough to make in-roads against two of the top America's Cup teams on the planet.One year out from the first race of the 32nd America's Cup Match, Alinghi is still a dominant team over all but the best challengers. But some challengers who spent time near the bottom of the table last year are rapidly moving up for consideration. Shosholoza, for example, earned a straightforward win over United Internet Team Germany and followed that up with a close 20-second loss to Alinghi; a performance which would have been unthinkable in the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts last year at this time. In a disappointing turn of events, China Team was ahead and looking for its first win of the season when crew member Olivier Herledant fell overboard. He was picked up by a chase boat, and the Umpires were obliged to assess the team a penalty, allowing +39 Challenge to jump into the lead. It was another day of light to moderate sea breeze conditions on the waters off Valencia. Racing was conducted in 7 to 10 knot Easterlies. FLIGHT THREE There were some closely-matched pre-starts in Flight Three of Louis Vuitton Act 11. With the 8 knot breeze shifting significantly throughout the afternoon, there appeared to be significant opportunities for an upset, for one of the less-fancied teams to topple one of the 'big ones'. But it wasn't to be, with all of the matches running to form. Alinghi sailed away from Desafío Español's new boat ESP 88, with Spanish Prince Felipe riding as 18th man. Shosholoza defeated United Internet Team Germany, and BMW ORACLE Racing beat Areva Challenge convincingly. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team defeated China Team very easily, as did Emirates Team New Zealand over Victory Challenge. The match showing most promise was the Italian derby between +39 Challenge and Luna Rossa, and while Iain Percy's team did well to hang in there with their rivals, James Spithill's superior firepower pulled them ahead to a comfortable lead by the finish. FLIGHT FOUR Following three flights of racing where the favourites prevailed, Flight Four showed promise of some real upsets. China Team tied +39 Challenge in knots during an aggressive pre-start, with Pierre Mas dictating the approach back to the line. The red and yellow Dragon controlled the Italian team nicely up the first leg and looked set for a famous first victory for 2006. However, a man overboard incident during the first mark rounding resulted in a penalty given against the Chinese. Teams rarely go back to pick up a man overboard, leaving the sailor to be picked up by a chase boat. But the price for not recovering a sailor to the race yacht is an obligatory penalty. In any case the Italians split from the Chinese down the run and came back marginally ahead. When China Team made a poor spinnaker drop at the leeward gate, the Italians sailed away to a clear victory. BMW ORACLE Racing led Desafío Español by a narrow margin up the first windward leg, but Karol Jablonski got close enough to Chris Dickson to luff the Americans and get a penalty against USA 87 for failing to keep clear as windward boat. This was shaping up to be an intriguing match, until the Americans found an extra gear and sailed away from ESP 88. By the second windward leg, Dickson had gained sufficient distance to be able to shake off the penalty and still lead the Spanish home comfortably. A particularly aggressive Dean Barker steered NZL 84 in circles around a slower Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia, handing a penalty to the Italians from which they never recovered. Emirates Team New Zealand notched up their second easy victory of the day. Alinghi was never seriously troubled by Shosholoza, although the Defender never broke far away from the slick South African team, who are looking very strong with their boathandling and tactics. Victory Challenge appeared not to have made many mistakes against Luna Rossa, although the margin of victory for the Italians was considerable by the finish. Magnus Holmberg will be looking forward to getting into a new boat later this year. Meanwhile, Areva Challenge found good speed to sail away from United Internet Team Germany in a one-sided match. Related Items:
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