International Herald Tribune
From The Associated Press
Sunday, April 29, 2007
VALENCIA, Spain: BMW Oracle Racing finished atop the Louis Vuitton Cup opening round-robin standings, beating Emirates Team New Zealand by 35 seconds in the final race of the series.
The Americans, which earlier on Saturday lost for the first time in challengers' series racing to Desafнo Espaсol by a minute, finished with 21 points, with nine victories from 10 races, two points ahead of the day's best performer, Luna Rossa of Italy.
Luna Rossa beat another Italian boat, Mascalzone Latino, and Desafнo to push the Kiwis down to third, with 18 points. Desafнo finished fourth, with 17 points, having received a huge morale boost with its victory over Oracle in front of an enthusiastic holiday weekend home crowd.
"We proved we can compete with the big teams, and it was a great performance to beat the only boat with a 100 percent record," the head of the Desafнo team, Agustin Zulueta, said on Spanish state television.
Against New Zealand, Oracle appeared to have the pre-start advantage after the skipper, Chris Dickson, locked the Kiwis out in front of the line. But the New Zealand skipper, Dean Barker, managed to steer his boat ahead of the Americans.
BMW tacked to the left-hand line after being three seconds behind at the windmarker to move three lengths ahead, when the Kiwis tacked back after jibing to starboard. The Americans rounded the top mark with a 24-second advantage and were never headed.
"It was a tough day," Dickson said. "It was a tricky day. But we came out with an important win and a relatively important loss, also."
The Kiwis earlier defeated Victory Challenge of Sweden by 1:42. The Swedes bounced back in the 11th flight with a victory over Mascalzone Latino, a triumph that left them tied with the Italians for fifth place in the standings with 14 points.
Mascalzone Latino's second loss of the day, to Victory Challenge, saw it lose ground on the top four.
The South African challenger Shosholoza was seventh with 12 points.
The final flights of the first round-robin stage on Saturday were rescheduled after erratic wind had disrupted racing on the southern "Juliet" course on Friday.
The second round-robin stage was to begin Sunday and must finish by May 9. The top four teams advance to the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals, May 14 to 24.
The victorious challenger will then sail against the America's Cup champion, Alinghi of Switzerland, in the finals beginning June 23.
Dickson said the close races reflected well on the Louis Vuitton Cup.
"There are plenty of teams with fast boats out there," he said. "Like last time in Auckland, there was a lot of depth to the challengers, like this time around. I see it as a good thing."
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