•Match 1 Orn SWE 63 wins against Mascalzone Latino ITA 72 (35")

Swedish team of Victory Challenge is still unbeaten from the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup ! This is the big surprise of the start of Round Robin 1. Last night, they defeated the second italian challenge which has gain no points like the french one.

At the end of an agressive start, both boats steered by Paolo Cian for the Italians and Peter Holmberg for the Swedes took an early start and had to come back on the line. The Latin Rascals were first to start again but a faster north european team overtook them early to take the control of the race until the end.

Source Louis Vuitton Cup

•Match 2 Alinghi SUI 64 wins against Luna Rossa ITA 74 (1’32")

European teams match between Alinghi and Prada Luna Rossa

Photo : C.Borlenghi / Sea&See.it

This was the revenge match between Russell Coutts and Francesco de Angelis ! From the last America’s Cup America's Cup #AmericasCup final, Coutts was leading by 4 to 0. He now leads by 5 to 0 !

A long three hour wait today for the teams on the Hauraki Gulf, due to the light and shifty wind that picked up only in the late afternoon. At 12:10 the Race Committee signalled a postponement on both race courses due to lack of wind.The Southerly breeze picked up along the coast reaching 10-15 knots around 15:30. The Race Committee was able to re-position the courses and fire the gun for the match between Luna Rossa ITA 74 and the Swiss Alinghi SUI 64 at 16:00. Luna Rossa, with Rod Davis at the helm for the start, crosses the line towards the pin end to leeward of Alinghi.

Luna Rossa takes an early lead, but in the second part of the first beat Alinghi overtakes the Italians and rounds mark number 1 with a 21 second advantage. At the end of the first downwind leg Alinghi rounds the leeward mark with a 30 seconds advantage over Luna Rossa. After the second beat the gap between Alinghi and Luna Rossa has widened and the Swiss boat rounds the third mark ahead by 54 seconds. At mark number 4, after the second spinnaker run, Alinghi is still well ahead and rounds with an advantage of 1 minute and 1 second over ITA 74. At the last mark rounding before the final spinnaker run to the finish, Alinghi’s lead had extended to 1 minute and 46 seconds. Luna Rossa makes up 14 seconds during the last leg but Alinghi goes ahead to win the race by 1 minute and 32 seconds.

Source Prada Luna Rossa

•Match 3 Wight Lightning GBR 70 wins against Le Defi FRA 69 (13")

After a long delay waiting for the wind, the Race Committee made a late decision to stage a race, just within the 4pm deadline. As the fresh breeze built to 14 knots, the GBR Challenge team decided to change to a heavier mainsail, but encountered problems with the bottom batten as they hoisted. After 5 minutes of rapid maintenance, the team were unable to fix the problem and instead opted to leave the batten out. The problemhas caused Wight Lightning to sail upwind of the start, so as the five minute gun went, GBR 70 started sailing back towards the line. Unfortunately for the British team, they were unable to enter the box within the requisite two minutes, leading to a penalty.

As GBR 70 sailed towards the line, FRA 69 came out to engage the British team. After a brief dial up, Wight Lightning managed to sail around the French boat and led back towards the line, crossing at full speed seconds after the gun. FRA 69 crossed to windward but slightly behind. GBR Challenge’s speed was affected by the missing batten on the long drag race on port tack, as the wind swung around to the left. Le Defi crept ahead, but the British team stayed within touch.

Three boat lengths from the leeward mark GBR 70 luffed FRA 69, and as both boats headed into the wind, the French team tacked in GBR Challenge’s water, leading to a penalty that was then added to at an incident around the mark.

From there, GBR 70 stayed close to Le Defi around the course, ensuring that the French team didn’t get far enough ahead to complete their turn.

Source GBR Challenge

•Match 4 Oracle BMW Racing USA 76 wins against Stars&Stripes USA 66 (1’58")

The San Francisco boat from the Golden Gate Yacht Club parlayed a one-second lead and faster acceleration off the starting line into an early lead over the New York Yacht Club’s challenger.

Stars & Stripes skipper Ken Read, from Newport, RI, positioned Stars & Stripes to establish a lee bow advantage over his opponent as both boats crossed the leeward end of the starting line on starboard tack. USA-76 helmsman Peter Holmberg had his charge moving faster at the gun and within minutes had rolled over the New York boat, forcing it to tack away. Clear ahead, and able to play the shifty 16-20 knot southerly breeze with impunity, USA-76 extended on most legs except the last two spinnaker runs. The margin at the finish was one minute 58 seconds.

Source Team Dennis Conner