Reshuffle on the LV Leaderboard after Day 4

by BMW Oracle Racing Media on 16 May 2006 The Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 leaderboard underwent a reshuffle today as BMW ORACLE Racing won its first match, but lost the second.

The day opened for the BMW ORACLE Racing team with a comprehensive win over China Team by one of the biggest margins of the regatta so far. However, in their second match, against Swiss Defender Alinghi, a tight battle all the way round the track ended with Alinghi taking the win. All four of the top teams have now registered one loss in the regatta, with some important matches yet to come.

'The race against Alinghi was very close,' said BMW ORACLE Racing skipper and CEO, Chris Dickson. 'We got the position we wanted at the pin end of the startline, but we could not quite get around them. During the race, we did a good job of staying close, but Alinghi did not leave any openings. We have had close races with Alinghi for the past three years. I am sure we will have a lot more. We still have a lot to learn about USA 87. She is a quick boat with a lot of potential, but we haven’t got all the potential out of her yet.'

Peter Isler, BMW ORACLE Racing navigator: 'The race against Alinghi was really won and lost at the start. As we came off the line, Alinghi was on our windward hip and there was a 5-6° windshift to the right. That allowed them to hang in on what would normally be a tenuous position so close to us on the windward side. We made a good recovery on the second windward leg to gain 20 seconds on the Swiss team. The wind was quite shifty and tactician Bertrand Pacé did a great job of bringing us back into the action. On the final run to the finish, we were in striking distance, but Alinghi did a nice job of protecting their lead to the finish.'

Race Summary: Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 - Day Five - Match Two - USA 87 vs SUI 75.

Off the startline, USA 87 gained the favoured pin end of the line and started on starboard tack to leeward of Alinghi, also on starboard tack.

Both yachts engaged in a long drag race out towards the port hand layline, did just one tack each and headed up to the windward mark, with Alinghi holding the advantage. Alinghi rounded the first mark with a 20 second advantage.

On the downwind leg, the two yachts separated to opposite sides of the course. Alinghi rounded the leeward mark with a 33 second advantage.

On the second windward leg, BMW ORACLE Racing attacked from astern and made a 20 second gain to round the final mark with just 13 seconds separating the yachts.

After an excellent gybe, BMW ORACLE Racing moved across to the left side of the course, and halfway down the run looked poised to threaten the Swiss lead, but the Defender held on to take the win by 21 seconds.

Race Summary: Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 - Day Five - Match One - USA 87 vs. CHN 79.

This match was virtually over before it began, because USA 87 managed to completely outplay the China Team in the pre-start duel.

Shortly before the start gun, skipper Chris Dickson and his BMW ORACLE Racing crew gained a controlling position to leeward of the China Team. In the final countdown, USA 87 wound up to full speed and forced the China Team to cross the line before the gun.

USA 87 hit the line at pace exactly at the gun, while the China Team had to turn back and re-start, finally trailing off the start more than 40 seconds behind. After that, the race became a procession with USA 87 extending to a massive lead, finally finishing nearly 1km ahead of their opponents with a margin of 4 minutes 38 seconds – one of the biggest deltas of the racing so far this week.