Acid test for Team Shosholoza
Brad Morgan
16 April 2007
Three years of preparation comes to a head this week for Team Shosholoza, Africa's first entrant in the America's Cup, as they enter the final competition that will see 11 challengers whittled down to one yacht to tackle defender Alinghi for sailing's most prestigious crown.
Since 2004, the crews hoping for a crack at Team Alinghi in the America's Cup have been in action in 13 Louis Vuitton acts or fleet regattas. This week in Valencia, Spain it comes down to match racing, one-on-one, in the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Racing in the round-robin section of the event begins on Monday, with the teams carrying through bonus points they earned from their standings in the Louis Vuitton rankings.
Two bonus points
After a good showing in Act 13, in which the team moved up to seventh in the standings, Shosholoza will take two bonus points into the Louis Vuitton Cup. Each win in the event will be worth two points, so the South
African crew's bonus is worth one victory.
The team that benefited most from the bonus points on offer in Act 13 was Emirates Team New Zealand, who earned four bonus points. There were three apiece for BMW Oracle Racing, Luna Rossa and Desafio Espanol, two for Mascalazone Latino and Victory Challenge, and one each for Areva Challenge, United Internet Team Germany and China Team.
After two rounds of round-robin racing, four teams will advance to the semi-finals, where two more yachts will be eliminated. The winner of the final will earn the right to face Alinghi in the thirty-second America's Cup match.
With four wins in seven races in the Louis Vuitton Act 13, the Swiss yacht showed it won't give up its title without a fight.
'We achieved our goal'
Looking back on the Louis Vuitton Act 13, Shosholoza skipper Mark Sadler said his team had achieved what they had set out to do: "We achieved our goal to move into the two-point group
for the Louis Vuitton Cup," Sadler said on Shosholoza's website this week. "We've had some disappointing races, but we've also learned a lot."
Shosholoza's first race in the first round of match racing will be against Victory Challenge. The Swedes finished one place behind the South Africans in the Louis Vuitton rankings.
Tim Kröger, Shosholoza's boat captain, said Victory Challenge would present a tough test, but felt it was a good omen to sail against the Swedes to open the Louis Vuitton Cup because they were the first team the new RSA 83 boat defeated.
Also on Monday, United Internet Team Germany, which ranked below Shosholoza, will face the South Africans.
Big tests
Two big tests await Shosholoza on Tuesday when the team goes up against the USA's BMW Oracle Racing and Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge, both of which produced consistently good results through the 13 Louis Vuitton acts.
Shosholoza's mast man, Charles Nankin,
said that despite BMW Oracle Racing's high standing, the South African yacht wouldn't be backing down.
"I'm always going to believe that we can beat a team like that," Nankin said. "The South Africans' fighting spirit is always going to come to form, especially in tough situations."
Wednesday brings with it tests from teams at opposite ends of the rankings. First up is China Team, which finished bottom of the rankings. Shosholoza Trimmer Brett Jones sounded a warning ahead of the showdown with the Chinese.
'Never drop your guard'
"Never drop your guard," Jones said on Shosholoza's website. "If you do you will almost certainly lose. Once, some two years back in a race, we thought we'd have an easy competitor and went out completely relaxed. The result was that we lost. It's one of my biggest fears to lose against those guys."
After taking on the Chinese, the South Africans' next challenge comes from Emirates Team New Zealand. The
Kiwis top the challenger rankings and, with four bonus points, have a slight advantage over the other teams chasing a semi-final place.
Jones summed up the test facing Shosholoza, saying the New Zealanders "are the strongest boat and we have great respect for them. Because of the progress we have made, if we did manage to get ahead of them, for example after the start, then we will stay ahead of them. But, for sure, they are the most dangerous opponent out of the entire pack."
Spanish showdown
Desafío Español 2007 is next up for Shosholoza on Thursday. The Spanish yacht showed she can take on and beat the best with a strong showing in Act 13, where her results included a first, a second and a third.
Italy's Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team follows the Spaniards, and they will be a tough nut to crack. They finished only one point behind table-topping Emirates Team New Zealand in the rankings.
On Saturday, Shosholoza goes up
against +39 Challenge. The Italians had a disastrous time in the Louis Vuitton Act 13. A collision with United Internet Team Germany in race three, which the jury ruled had been caused by the Germans, resulted in a broken mast for the Italians. It kept them out of the rest of Act 13, but they were awarded two bonus points to take through to the Louis Vuitton Cup.
They'll surely be champing at the bit to turn in a good performance.
After that, on the same day, Shosholoza has a bye.
Areva Challenge awaits on Sunday. The French team finished two places below Shosholoza in the rankings and carries one point into the Louis Vuitton Cup.
| 
