Victory Challenge sneak past Shosholoza
A broken spinnaker pole on the Shosholoza boat allowed Victory Challenge to close on the leading four at the start of the second set of round robins in the Luis Vuitton Cup in Valencia yesterday. A lack of wind delayed the start of racing for a couple...
A broken spinnaker pole on the Shosholoza boat allowed Victory Challenge to close on the leading four at the start of the second set of round robins in the Luis Vuitton Cup in Valencia yesterday.
A lack of wind delayed the start of racing for a couple of hours but when it got underway the showdown between the Swedes and the South Africans provided the entertainment.
The two boats jockeyed for the lead in the early stages until Shosholoza edged ahead. But they broke a spinnaker pole near the leeward gate leaving them short of power for the final leg.
The Swedes, who had trailed by 16 seconds at the last turn, gradually overhauled their rivals in the home strait to win by 52 seconds.
The two points put them up to fifth in the standings on 16 and kept them in the hunt for a semi-final place.
A frustrated Shosholoza stay seventh with 12 points.
The day's other two races saw relatively straightforward wins for leaders BMW Oracle over United Internet Team Germany and second-placed Luna Rossa over China Team.
The Americans are top with 23 points, two ahead of the Italians. Third-placed Team New Zealand (18) and fourth-placed Desafio Espanol (17) did not race yesterday.