Sailing: Victory's double lifts hopes
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Your support makes all the difference.Smiles were few and far between here on the Hauraki Gulf as racing finally picked up after three days of cancellations because of high winds. Two wins for Victory Challenge, of Sweden, keep them unbeaten in the second round of the Louis Vuitton Cup and in the hunt for a top-four place.
After beating Stars & Stripes by 13sec, the second win, over Mascalzone Latino, came after the Italian syndicate's owner, Vincenzo Onorato, finally gave in to temptation and took the the helm from Paolo Cian on the last leg.
However, hopes that progress would be made to catch up on a schedule already in disarray were dashed. Three of the four second-round races were called off after one of the competitors cried off claiming gear failure. One of the cancelled races involved the French team, Le Defi Areva, who were due to line up against Britain's GBR Challenge in the afternoon. At least the flapping piece of mast support was obvious at the end of their defeat earlier in the day against Prada – their 11th loss in a row.
The Italians also said they could not race against their second opponents, the all-conquering Alinghi of Switzerland, but it took Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes until minutes before a race which would have been right on the 4pm deadline to call the umpires on board to view a broken sail track.
Their opponents, Oracle BMW, immediately hoisted a protest flag as the wind strength was near the top end of the allowable limit – very much conditions which Oracle BMW enjoys, but they have not so far proved to be ideal for Stars & Stripes. They had, said Oracle's rules adviser, Henry Menin, "failed to comply with recognised principles of fair play and sportsmanship". Stars & Stripes have lost all three starts in this round-robin.
The defeat that ended a four-race winning streak for Britain's GBR Challenge came clinically at the hands of a clearly faster OneWorld, the Seattle syndicate who are pressing the overall leader, Alinghi.
LOUIS VUITTON CUP Second round-robin: Prada (It) bt Le Defi (Fr) 1min 4sec; Alinghi (Swit) bt Mascalzone Latino (It) 2:11; Victory Challenge (Swe) bt Stars & Stripes (US) 13sec; OneWorld (US) bt GBR Challenge (GB) by 1:05; Victory Challenge bt Mascalzone Latino 1:17. Overall: 1 Alinghi 10 points; 2 OneWorld 9*; 3 Prada 7; 4 Oracle 6; 5 Victory 6; 5 GBR Challenge 5; 6 Stars & Stripes 4; 7 Mascalzone Latino 1; 8 Le Defi 0.
*OneWorld deducted one point for rules breach
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