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 on Sunday.
A lack of wind delayed the start of racing for a couple of hours but when it got under way 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 semifinal place.
A frustrated Shosholoza stay seventh with 12 points.
”It’s so disappointing, you can’t imagine. It was all going so well, we were fast and good. And once again we had a material problem,” said Shosholoza skipper Mark Sadler.
”When it happened I thought ‘oh no, not again!’ We have to keep going of course, but this is really hard to digest.”
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.
Dropped Spinnaker
The Chinese gave Luna Rossa something to think about by leading off the start. Although the Italians pulled past them it was only when China Team dropped a spinnaker that one of the favourites ran clear.
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 on Sunday.
On Monday, the teams just outside the top four can take centre stage once again.
Victory Challenge take on high-flying Luna Rossa, Shosholoza race United Internet Team Germany and Mascalzone Latino, who are sixth with 14 points, face Areva.
The two races postponed from Sunday are scheduled to be raced on Monday as well — Team New Zealand against Mascalzone Latino and Areva against +39.
After this second set of round robins the leading four go into the semifinals.
The winner of the LV Cup earns the right to challenge Swiss defender Alinghi for the America’s Cup at the end of June. — Reuters