BMW Oracle finally rules the Vuitton Cup waves
VALENCIA, Spain: Arms folded, Larry Ellison looked satisfied, at least for the moment, as he stood on the deck of USA 98 and gazed back on the Italian boat that had not found a way to catch him and his BMW Oracle Racing team.
It has not quite been an all-conquering first phase of the Vuitton Cup for Ellison, the American software mogul, and his primarily New Zealander crew. There has been the odd loss; the odd equipment breakdown and a few too many close shaves and early deficits for complete comfort.
But this was a chest-thumping afternoon, as BMW Oracle temporarily broke the tie at the top of the challengers table by coming from behind to defeat Luna Rossa Challenge by 19 seconds.
With BMW Oracle not sailing in the last round in the afternoon, Luna Rossa soon regained a share of the overall lead by convincingly defeating Frances Areva Challenge.
But the message had been sent, and BMW Oracle has now beaten Luna Rossa twice in two races here in this challenger series that will eventually produce an opponent for Americas Cup holder, Alinghi.
The real Americas Cup wont begin until June 23, and with the way the wind has been blowing and not blowing here, it has sometimes seemed that the local weather might not allow for the challengers the time to sort themselves out.
But for a change, there was no cancellation, or even a major delay, on Friday as the fans on the spectator boats got double their moneys worth. The second round of the round robin was supposed to feature just one flight of racing per afternoon, but the inability to race on Thursday altered those plans and forced two flights to be contested on Friday.
BMW Oracle now needs just one more victory in its final five races - a victory that will probably come against Areva on Saturday - to clinch its spot in the semifinals.
It seems clear that two of the other semifinal spots will go to Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand, which is just one point back of the leaders and won twice on Friday.
The suspense concerns the fourth and final spot, with two teams in strong position - Desafio Espa?ol and Victory Challenge - and a third, Mascalzone Latino, still barely in contention after winning twice on Friday.
The sentimental favorite, Team Shosholoza from South Africa, is still mathematically in contention in seventh place, but the math could eliminate it as early as Saturday, when it is scheduled to face the Spanish.
“It looks like were not making the semis, but weve got a lot to be proud about,” said Charles Nankin, Shosholozas mastman.
Areva, the French team, is on its way out, too, which will shore up the strange but true fact that the French are among the worlds finest off-shore sailors yet continue to struggle in the sports premier in-shore event.
Deep pockets and deep talent remain the key to success, and the three leaders in the standings all fulfill those requirements, even if the New Zealanders are not quite as well financed as the market leader, BMW Oracle, or Luna Rossa.
Mascalzone Latino will re-sail its fourth-flight match against Desafio Espa?ol on Saturday if the scheduled seventh flight goes ahead, The Associated Press reported.
The Naples-based team breached rules by altering its rigging configuration during the match race, resulting in the re-sail and a fine of ,000, or $13,560. It is the teams third breach of the rules.
The Italians acknowledged that they had stowed the backstays alongside the mast during two of the upwind legs of the race to avoid drag and had then set them up before the final run to support the top mast.
Americas Cup rules state that the backstays should remain permanently attached to their fixing points throughout the race.
Desafio had asked the jury to disqualify Mascalzone and award the points from the match to their team.
The Italian sailors, however, argued that the error did not influence the result of the race, which they won by 11 seconds.
Robin Knox-Johnston finished the Velux 5 Oceans solo around-the-world yacht race Friday, The Associated Press reported from Bilbao, Spain.
Knox-Johnston finished the 48,300-kilometer, or 30,000-mile, race in a total of 159 days 12 hours 42 minutes. He departed from Bilbao on Oct. 22.
The 68-year-old Englishman became the first man to circumnavigate the world alone nonstop in 1969.
“It was my last circumnavigation,” Knox-Johnston said. “I wont do it again, which is sad.”