Philippe Presti at the helm of Le Défi did well to take a close leeward position next to Victory Challenge's Orm, SWE-73, on the approach to the start line. Holding starboard tack advantage, he forced the Swedish boat to make a late double tack seconds before the gun.
The yellowFrench boat FRA-69 hit the line with speed and took a short-lived lead.
A right-hand shift seconds later, however, allowed Orm to pick up the initiative on the right-hand side of the course.
Jesper Bank, at the helm of Orm, soon guided the Swedish boat into a comfortable lead with fractionally better boatspeed to round the first mark 17 seconds ahead.
Downwind the Swedes were able to extend with the help of slightly better boatspeed and, in a similar fashion to their first quarterfinal match, built an unassailable lead by the leeward mark.
Tactician Stefan Rahm onboard Orm then did an efficient job of close covering and gave le Defi little chance to get back into the match.
