It’s heating up in Valencia

With 10 to 13 knots and under a sun which makes one forget April’s cold, the Valencian weather is starting to hold promise. The good sailing conditions come at a good time to see a day of duels at the summit. For China Team, the first race of the day pits Longtze against Team Shosholoza. At the end of a pre-start phase where Pierre Mas firmly controlled his adversary, Longtze arrived to fast and too early at the start line. Forced to retrace its steps, the Chinese boat saw itself passed and distanced by the South African crew.

The second start of the day, against El Desafio is more delicate for Longtze. The Polish skipper Karol Jablonski pushed hard, jockeying with the Chinese stern and forced CHN95 to slow, not wanting to risk being over early before the starting gun. The Spanish boat was able to then shoot off at full speed on the course side of the line. Longtze held on for one leg but could not maintain the same speed as the favorite towards the end of the race.

At the top of the scoreboard the positions are now firm. BMW Oracle has shown its superiority in dominating Luna Rossa for a second time. Team New Zealand is close to second place, with a success against El Desafio and at least one match less to run. The fourth place final qualifier for the semi-finals should be played out between the Spanish and Victory Challenge crews.

Sebastien Destremau, tactician
"In the first race of the day against Shosholoza, we were early over the line and it was impossible to recover afterwards. In the second race, the Spanish forced us to start on the left when we wanted the right; afterwards they consistently gained distance in both speed and tactics. They made better tacks and we lost time when we had a bad spinnaker drop at the leeward mark . They were better than us at all levels, that's it!"

Zhu Xinli, president of HUIYUAN juice, 18th man on board
"It is the first time I have been on board a big sailboat, it is really very exiting! When the skipper raised the spinnaker with the HUIYUAN logo, I felt very proud because it is the first time a Chinese brand is participating in the Cup. I admire very much the coordination of the sailors. In the end we lost, but I have alot of confidence for our future!"

Onboard Longtze today

flight 5 / Round Robin 2

 OFF:   Areva Challenge

flight 6 / Round Robin 2

 OFF:   BMW Oracle Racing

General classification