German Team celebrates second victory

by Oliver Laskowsky on 3 May 2007 The United Internet Team Germany has won the match race against China Team with a clear head start. This is the second win in the Louis Vuitton Cup.

Skipper Jesper Bank manifested the victory with a good start. At the finish line the gap between the two boats was 2:16 minutes. 'We have now defeated China Team twice – this is a good feeling', Jesper Bank said after the race. The German team succumbed to Luna Rossa Challenge from Italy in their first flight. Now it ranks on fifth place with five points on the overall ranking table of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The sailors of the German team were very happy about this second win in the Louis Vuitton Cup. 'It is great to see that we can win races so confidently. This is balm for the soul', says floater Jan Schoepe. At the start Jesper Bank managed to push the Chinese yacht to the left side of the starting box. Germany I then started the race with 18 seconds ahead and enlarged the gap until the first weather mark to 42 seconds. In the course of the race the German team broke away from the opponent and crossed the finish line 2:16 minutes ahead of China Team.

In the race against Luna Rossa Challenge the German team was given a penalty. However, Jesper Bank did not agree with the jury’s decision: 'We were the windward boat and had to keep clear when the opponent is luffing. This is the rule. We did that and still got a penalty', he described the situation. With this penalty the German team crossed the starting line head-to-head with Luna Rossa Challenge. The Italians, however, took the lead on the right side of the course and enlarged the gap up to the weather mark to 31 seconds. On the second cross the favourite enlarged the gap again to 23 seconds. However, Germany I again showed its strength on the downwind course and gained some seconds. Due to the penalty circle which Jesper Bank carried out right before the finish line, the gap between the two boats grew to 66 seconds.

After this long match race day with two match races due to yesterday’s postponement, flight 5 of Round Robin 2 is scheduled for tomorrow. The United Internet Team Germany will race against Victory Challenge from Sweden.