The Pack Tightens

Wight Lightning's surprise win over Oracle and Örn's competitiveness against Alinghi spell but one thing: the performances are tightening up. While the start of the round robin saw many races being simply exploitation of wind shifts and pure speed, the end is providing a lot more orthodox match racing where skill sets start to outweigh boat differences.

The rascals aboard Mascalzone played a fine match, see-sawing their leeward avantage against their slowness windward. The tactics on the final run with an engagement at 10-boat lengths from the finish line saw Mascalzone steal the victory by 4 seconds on the finish line (never mind the penalty Le Défi took in the last boat length before the finish).

Oracle did not look impressive and seems to have regressed - relative to the pack - since the race postponments. Luna Rossa does not seem to have fared that much better. They did stay close to OneWorld, but having lost the start, they never had a real chance to overtake. They then gambled on the last two runs with, obviously, no payoff.

LR lost a chance to be tied for third place; instead they are in a 4-way battle for fourth place. So OneWorld & Alinghi are off to the races, Mascalzone & Alinghi slug it out at the bottom and five teams are effectively bunched in the middle.

LR meets Mascalzone for its last chance to gain a point. A defeat for LR would be embarassing at first thought. But upon reflection, it may be preferable for LR to avoid Group A at this point and buy itself time and hardened racing experience slugging it out in Group B; finishing fifth would allow them to choose their adversary and increase the possibility of moving on in the competition.