Tough, close racing in light conditions at the Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 2
It was a difficult day for the sailors at the Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 2 on Wednesday, as very light conditions made for a day of snakes and ladders on the race course, with teams realising big gains or losses with each puff of breeze.
Racing was delayed for nearly four hours with low cloud cover and haze inhibiting the sea breeze. But Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio's patience was rewarded and he was able to start one full flight of races on the day. The light, shifty conditions meant that some races that appeared as though they might be relative mismatches were in doubt until the finish gun sounded.
The first match had great potential for upset throughout the first lap of the course, as the K-Challenge built a nice lead on the America's Cup Defender Alinghi. Skipper Thierry Peponnet found a nice right-hand shift just after the start and converted that into a 23-second lead around the top mark. The team was able to fend off Alinghi nearly all of the way down the course, but on the final gybe for the leeward gate, K-Challenge wasn't able to sheet in the gennaker, and that allowed Alinghi helmsman Peter Holmberg to roll over the French boat, and round the leeward mark with a one-second lead. Alinghi covered the rest of the way for the win.
In the second match, LE DEFI helmsman Philippe Presti appeared to have his counterpart Iain Percy in trouble upwind of the start line just a minute before the start, but Percy was able to wriggle off the hook, and within moments of the start was flying up the right hand side of the course. But the +39 crew switched sides later up the beat, and LE DEFI was able to make the pass. The French extended the rest of the way for a well deserved win.
This third flight was the Match of the Day with Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand in a heated battle all of the way around the race course. Helmsman James Spithill earned full marks on this pre-start and was in control for the entire five-minutes. Out of the dial-up, Spithill was in a strong position to leeward of Dean Barker on NZL 81, and was able to keep Barker vulnerable as the boats eventually turned for the starting line. On the run back to the line, Spithill luffed up and shut NZL 81 out from the start, Barker with no choice but to stall head to wind until ITA 74 cleared the start line. Trailing early, NZL 81 appeared to be right back in the race after a favourable shift when Luna Rossa allowed some separation, but at the top mark, the Italians were in control, and led by 30-seconds
The Luna Rossa afterguard made some brave decisions on this day, often allowing the trailing NZL 81 to separate by hundreds of metres, potentially very dangerous in the light, patchy, and shifty conditions. Even on the final run to the finish Barker and his afterguard were able to find some room on their own on the left-hand side of the race course. But each time the boats converged, the wisdom of the decision-makers on the Italian boat was borne out, and despite some anxious moments, Luna Rossa earned a big win on a difficult day.
In the final match, BMW ORACLE was simply too powerful for Team Shosholoza, and led this race from start to finish.
The results leave the Defender, Team Alinghi, alone at the top of the leaderboard with a perfect record of three wins from three starts.
Racing will continue on Thursday with Flights 5 and 6. Flight 4 will be sailed later in the week when the schedule permits.
