British crew rise to challenge

THE British crew in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the challenger series for the America’s Cup, took a step up into what has been described as the ‘middle league’ the four teams likely to tussle over the valuable fourth semi finals spot when they dispatched Sweden’s Victory Challenge yesterday by a comfortable 48 seconds.

Two wins from six starts is now the GBR Challenge record, and with the expectation of one further win on Sunday against the Italians on Mascalzino Latino, hopes have risen in the British camp that they may yet land the fourth place spot after Round Robins 1 and 2.

With six wins from six starts OneWorld remains the standout performer to date after Kiwi Russell Coutts on alinghi contrived to score a significant win over Larry Ellison’s highly fancied Oracle BMW Racing yesterday.