Desafío Español 2007's Double Triumph

by Desafío Español 2007 media on 26 Apr 2007
Desafio Español 2007 has scored two wins today against China Team and Shosholoza. With these two victories the Spanish team gains four more points on the Louis Vuitton Cup classification table and moves up to fifth position with 11 points.

Desafío Español 2007 faced China Team in the first flight today, and in the pre-start the Spanish team was dominant. From the first moment the Spaniards had defended the right hand side and they left the box on that side a lot faster than their opponent. Soon they were two lengths ahead and despite the attempts of the Chinese team to close on them via lots of turns, by the middle of the leg the Spanish team were four lengths ahead. Therefore, along the right lay-line, Desafío Español 2007 arrived at the top marker with a lead of forty seconds.

On the downwind leg, again down the right hand side, the Spanish team advanced, increasing their lead but without taking their eye off their opponent. After a turn of sails in the last third of the leg, Desafío Español 2007 reached the leeward gate 53 seconds ahead of their opponent. On the second upwind stretch, the Spaniards increased their lead to more than one and a half minutes and after the final leg Desafío Español 2007 earned their third victory in this Louis Vuitton Cup with two minutes and one second lead over the Chinese.

The second flight of the day was against Shosholoza, another close rival who had gained points yesterday after beating the Italian team Luna Rossa. At the start, with a stronger wind than there had been in the first flight, Desafío Español 2007 maintained a close battle with the South African team Shosholoza, positioning themselves on the left side. A minute before the start, with both teams close to the Regatta Committee boat, the Spanish team turned and crossed the line on the left whilst their opponent crossed the line beside the committee boat. In the early stages of the upwind leg the South Africans took the lead by half a length; the Spanish team turned towards the right and managed to position themselves windward of the South Africans. The boats drew level and at that point a fierce fight for the lead began, beginning in parallel, seeking the best speed to then begin a war of turns.

Before reaching the top marker they were practically side by side, with the wind and waves increasing by the minute. Shosholoza reached the marker on the inside at the last minute with less than a length separating them from the Spanish, who then threw themselves into the attack on a difficult downwind leg in which the expertise and strategy of the team were decisive. With the Spanish team starboard of Shosholoza then began one of the most spectacular legs of the last few days.

The South African forced the Spanish boat to turn their sails and move away to the side. This was followed by the Spanish boat turning their sails and was responded to by another manoeuvre by the South Africans. They drew level, both searching for the dominant position which would let them overtake their rival.
[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]
The Spanish team seemed to take a slight advantage over their opponent after a final turn of the sails. There was maximum tension as neither took a clear lead until in the last third of the leg the Spanish team managed to overtake the South Africans after a difficult and spectacular operation with which they won their position, taking the lead as they reached the downwind marker where they were 20 seconds ahead of their opponent. As they arrived at the leeward gate, one of the crew, Enrique Cameselle, fell overboard and was pulled back onto the boat by several team-mates, Diego Guigou, Mauro Maiola and Jorge Ondo.

In the second upwind leg Desafío Español 2007 tried to increase their lead by turning on the left and moving away from their rival's manoeuvres. Without relaxing the marking of their opponent the Spanish team managed to increase their lead to four lengths and arrived at the top marker with an advantage of 35 seconds. In the final leg the Spanish gave the South Africans no chance and crossed the finishing line 57 seconds ahead, thus earning their fourth victory.

Santiago Lopez-Vazquez, the strategist, commented: 'After reaching the first windward marker we made an excellent manoeuvre as we hoisted the spinnaker. There was a battle and we were a little bit faster. They wanted to pin us onto the right hand side and the key was that we won the best position to move towards the leeward gate. We were able to accelerate and turn the sails. The regatta against Shosholoza has been a result of doing everything well; if the boat is good and the crew makes the right moves it is much easier to win'.

Jorge Ondo, grinder, added: 'today we have earned four very important points because Shosholoza is a close rival and has been very strong over the last few days. We reached between 15 and 20 knots at times and I think the boat is going well and we are working very well together as a team'.

General classification:

1.BMW Oracle Racing - 15 pts
2.Emirates Team New Zealand - 14 pts
3.Luna Rossa Challenge - 13 pts
4.Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team - 12 pts
5.Desafío Español 2007 - 11 pts
6.Victory Challenge - 10 pts
7.Team Shosholoza - 8 pts
8.Areva Challenge - 5 pts
9.United Internet Team Germany - 3 pts
10.+39 Challenge - 2 pts
11.China Team - 1 pt