Victory Challenge hands Le Defi second defeat

After a bye on the first day Sweden's Victory Challenge got their campaign off to the best possible start beating French Challenger's Le Defi Areva by 1 minute 6s.

Victory's helmsman Jesper Bank won the battle for the pin end and hit the line one second ahead of le Défi Areva and with greater speed.

Both boats lined up for a long tack on port shortly after the start and it quickly became apparent that Örn looked able to sail slightly higher.

The French boat fought hard all the way up the first beat. On the run, both boats went for a bear away set and sadly for the French their spinnaker blew out seconds after hoisting, allowing the Swedes to extend further.

The Swedes slowly extended on each of the subsequent legs their conservative tactics never gave the French a chance to get back into the match.


Winds: S 12-15 knots

Winning margin: 01.06

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