BMW ORACLE Racing take the prize in Valencia

by Louis Vuitton media on 17 May 2006 The American BMW ORACLE Racing team has won the Louis Vuitton Act 10 in Valencia.

The Americans beat Luna Rossa Challenge in Flight 11 to move into a four-way tie with the other leading teams.

Although they have sailed one less match than the other teams, BMW ORACLE Racing pops out the top on the tie-breaking procedure to confirm the top spot.

It’s the first Louis Vuitton Act victory for BMW ORACLE Racing since the opening Act in Marseille in 2004, when there were just six teams competing.

The American team will likely still sail its last match, scheduled for Wednesday, against +39 Challenge, to improve its position on the challenger rankings, although it won’t affect the overall results for Act 10. If the Americans win on Wednesday they finish clear ahead on points in both the Act and for the Louis Vuitton Challenger Rankings.

Equal tonight on nine points with BMW ORACLE Racing is Luna Rossa Challenge, Emirates Team New Zealand and Alinghi. Under the tie-breaking rules, the championship is decided on the best performance in head to head matches between the tied teams. BMW ORACLE Racing and Luna Rossa both have 2 -1 records, and as the Americans beat Luna Rossa, they end up on top, with the Italians in second place. Emirates Team New Zealand ends up third by virtue of defeating Alinghi in their match.

Further down the table, the home Spanish team, Desafío Español 2007 won its last match over Victory Challenge to draw level with the Swedes on points, and win that tie-break for fifth place.

There were perfect racing conditions on Tuesday in Valencia, with a solid 10-12 knot Easterly blowing down the race course under sunny skies. Over 100 spectator boats ringed the race courses to catch all the action.

Provisional ranking after 16/05/2006:

1 USA 87 9pts
2 ITA 86 9pts
3 NZL 84 9pts
4 SUI 75 9pts
5 ESP 67 6pts
6 SWE 63 6pts
7 ITA 77 5pts
8 RSA 83 4pts
9 ITA 59 3pts
10 FRA 60 3pts
11 GER 72 2pts
12 CHN 79 0pts