Spain move into top four of Louis Vuitton Cup

by Desafío media on 27 Apr 2007
Today, Thursday, Desafío Español 2007 earned another two victories. With these two wins, over United Internet Team Germany in the first flight, and Victory Challenge in the second, the Spanish team gains four points more and position themselves with 15 points on the general classification table for the Louis Vuitton Cup.

In the first match of the day, Desafío Español 2007 was dominant during the pre-start over the German team, looking for the right side of the course. With only two minutes to the start the Spanish team forced an error on the German team who would then have to make a 360º turn before finishing the regatta.

The Spanish team left on the right, next to the committee boat, more slowly than their opponent but on the side they preferred.

The Germans began with a slight lead over the Spaniards at the beginning of the course due to their rapid speed over the starting line. At the first cross they arrived together, but after another turn the Spanish team took the lead by almost a length.

In the first third of the upwind leg the Spanish team turned to the left to find their opponent who had lost some of the distance. The positions alternated after more turns and continuous marking where some clever manoeuvring led to a change in positions. In the last part of the leg the Spaniards turned in front of their rivals and arrived at the top marker with 13 seconds advantage.

During the first downwind leg, the Spanish boat was relentlessly pursued by the Germans who turned their sails towards the left in their search for more wind pressure whilst the Spaniards continued down the right side.

[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]Halfway down the leg, Desafío Español 2007 crossed the regatta course towards the left side so as to not let their opponent escape, as they had shortened the distance between them. As they passed the leeward gate, the Spanish lead had been reduced to eight seconds, but the Spanish syndicate moved away from their rival definitively on the third leg.

Marking their opponent, the Spaniards extended their lead to 22 seconds by the top marker, a distance which was insuperable for the German team who still had to carry out their penalty turn.

Finally the Spanish boat crossed the finishing line 52 seconds ahead of their rival.

The second match of the day was against Victory Challenge. In the pre-start Desafío Español 2007 initially controlled their rival from the beginning, opting for the left side which they defended until the last second of the departure, crossing the line and ignoring the pursuit of their rival who finally crossed beside the committee boat.

The Spanish boat clearly defended their side and despite the initial advantage that the Swedish team had in the early stages of the upwind leg, Desafío Español 2007 held back until mid-way down the leg when they took the lead and put two lengths between them and the Swedes.

The Swedish team soon turned towards the left to attack their rival and in the last third of the leg the Spanish team approached the lay-line to aim for the top marker which it reached with 36 seconds advantage.

The 'green' team slightly increased their lead towards the middle of the downwind leg, and it was on the third leg that the Swedish team tried to make their presence felt in the race, the Spaniards turning to the right to cover their opponent and maintaining their lead of almost four lengths.

Desafío Español 2007 moved to the right side of the regatta course with a violent movement which brought the boats closer together. With a lead of between two and three lengths the Spanish team defended themselves from the Swedish attack and reached the top marker for the second time half a minute ahead of their rival.

On the last downwind leg the Spanish team moved down the right side whilst the Swedish sailed down the left. A gust of wind led to greater pressure in the Swedish area and the Spanish team lost their lead and progressively lost speed. However, by cleverly marking their opponent, the Spaniards finally obtained their second win of the day. Desafío Español 2007 reached the finishing line 35 seconds ahead of Victory Challenge.

Tomorrow the Spanish team face the two strongest teams in the America's Cup - BMW Oracle in the first flight and Luna Rossa in the second one.

Gabriel de Llano, grinder, commented after the race:

'It was a very complicated day with a lot of changes in wind pressure. For these boats, a change in wind of 2 knots can mean that you even have to change sails. In my opinion we have had control in the race with the Swedish team and we had the advantage throughout because we were always between them and the buoys.'

Karol Jablonski, helmsman, said:

'We are happy with the results that we are getting in the Round Robin. We knew that it would be tough but we are very motivated. We have to be constant and go one win after another, step by step. Tomorrow we have two strong rivals, but all the rivals are strong. We notice the pressure on us, but we are very concentrated on each of our races. With so much equality it is very important no to make any mistakes. The boat is going well and we are manoeuvring well. We are accomplishing victories over our direct rivals and we still have the second round robin ahead of us; we have to continue in this way in order to go further. We are optimistic, we are more experienced now than we were in the beginning and we are motivated.'