United Internet Team Germany celebrates the finish

by Oliver Laskowsky on 10 May 2007
The United Internet Team Germany has finished the Round Robin 2 of the Louis Vuitton Cup with a defeat against +39 Challenge. In its last match race in the challenger round of the 32nd America’s Cup the German team crossed the finish line 30 seconds behind the Italian team and is therefore on rank ten with five points.

The four teams approaching the semi final are: Emirates Team New Zealand, BMW Oracle Racing, Luna Rossa Challenge and Desafio Español 2007. The German team is, however, celebrating the finish of the Louis Vuitton Cup, where the first German team has written history in sailing sports.

'We were not as successful as we wanted to be and we are disappointed about this. But we are proud where we stand right now. We have a great team and the spirit is fantastic. That’s why we will celebrate tonight. We will discuss further steps in the next days. We are lucky to have a sponsor which has given us the chance to keep our vision up and continue our engagement in the next Cup', says Jesper Bank after the last race.

The German team was able to keep the race open in the starting phase. Germany I had a slight advantage at the starting line and took the left side. On the second half of the first cross the Italian yacht passed and rounded the first weather mark 16 seconds ahead. On the following legs +39 Challenge enlarged the lead to 23 seconds at the second mark and 47 seconds at the third. On the last downwind course the German team was able to minimize the lead to 30 seconds. Yet, this was not enough for a victory.

'Of course we are disappointed that we did not manage another win today and that we haven’t reached our sportive targets. At the moment, however, the joy prevails because it was a great experience and a success to be at the starting line with the first German America’s Cup campaign. I would like to thank the whole team for their great work during the last two years. We have learned a lot and we will now think about how to proceed with these experiences in a second campaign', says Head of Syndicate Michael Scheeren, who experienced the last race as the 18th man on board Germany I.

For the finish of the Louis Vuitton Cup the United Internet Team Germany is holding a press conference on Thursday (10th of May), 1 pm at the German House in Valencia. Head of Syndicate Michael Scheeren, Skipper Jesper Bank and Managing Partner Michael Mronz will draw a balance of the sportive results and will give an outlook on the future of the United Internet Team Germany.

www.united-internet-team-germany.de