Desafío Español 2007 has a win against Areva

by Desafío Español 2007 media on 3 May 2007 Desafío Español 2007 won the regatta against the French team Areva in the first flight of the day. With this victory the Spanish team gains two more points in the general classification of the Louis Vuitton Cup and remains in fourth position with a total of 21 points.

The first regatta of the day was between Desafío Español 2007 and the French team Areva, the latter having won in Round Robin 1 when the Spanish team suffered a break in their spinnaker pole. In the pre-start, both maintained their positions, marking each other, with the Spaniards finally departing on the right hand side whilst the French went down the left, a little bit ahead and leeward of the Spanish team.

In the first part of the upwind leg the two teams were together but the Spanish team gradually drew ahead and after the first tack they had a lead of half a length. There then began a tacking duel in which the Spaniards gained metres in each manoeuvre, leading their rival by over two lengths by the middle of the course. Moving towards the right lay-line in the last part of the leg in order to then turn to the left, Desafío Español 2007 continued to lead and reached the top marker with an advantage of 43 seconds over their opponent. The downwind leg held no surprises and the Spanish team continued to increase their lead, arriving at the leeward gate over a minute ahead.

On the second upwind leg, despite the advantage held by the Spaniards, both teams continued to mark each other, Desafío Español 2007 responding to the tacking of their opponent and managing to edge further ahead, turning at the top marker 1.22 seconds ahead of the French team. On the last downwind leg, the comfortable lead permitted the Spanish team to sail the last part of the race calmly. However, midway down the course the French managed to shorten the difference between them due to a greater wind pressure although not managing to cause any difficulties to the Spanish team who crossed the finishing line with an advantage of six lengths, half a minute ahead of their rival. With this victory they added another two points to their ranking.

In the second flight Desafio Español 2007 came up against the Italian team Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia. The Spanish boat appeared to control the pre-start but at half a minute from the start Desafío Español 2007 tacked towards the right in a turn to which the Italian team responded by pursuing the Spaniards and at the last moment forcing the Spanish boat to lose speed and pass the starting line behind their opponent. Mascalzone Latino led by two lengths over the first part of the upwind leg, a distance which slowly increased, despite the efforts of the Spanish team. Desafio Español 2007 then threw themselves into pursuing their opponent, trying to recover from their disadvantage by tacking, but this was not sufficient and the Italian team reached the top marker with an advantage of more than three lengths, 23 seconds ahead of the Spanish boat.

In the first downwind leg, Desafío Español 2007 did not cease in their efforts and half way down the course managed to recover some ground. In the last part, the pursuing tactics gave results and the Spaniards managed to gain on their opponents so that they were only two lengths behind. As they reached the leeward gate a last turn of the sails by the Spaniards helped them to reach the right hand buoy having won back 13 seconds.

However, despite their proximity, in the second upwind leg the Italians again drew ahead by three lengths, arriving at the top marker 15 seconds ahead. The Italian team’s advantage was insurmountable for the Spaniards who finally crossed the finishing line 35 seconds behind the Italian boat.

Tomorrow Desafío Español 2007 will meet Emirates Team New Zealand.