BT, skippered by Nick Moloney, and Oman Sail duelled at the front for most of Race 1, with BT keeping in front to take the first win, and followed up with another win in the second race. Flying downwind on the first leg of race TEAMORIGIN dove between Oman and Alinghi on the approach to the gate mark, but buried one bow and quickly capsized. With the Mistral sending gusts of over 30 knots through the Bay of Hyères the race committee opted to send the fleet ashore, with no more races held. Day two of the iShares Cup at Hyères (France) was the day of the comeback kids, racing on the edge of control which resulted in some 'extreme' moments including Tommy Hilfiger's vertical gymnastics America's Cup teams Alinghi and TEAMORIGIN both put their earlier capsizes behind them to storm up the leaderboard. Volvo Ocean Race have also turned around their form from Lugano, when they finished in last place overall, to take two race wins and climb to third overall in the penultimate day. The race committee warned the teams to expect a big day on the water, and they certainly delivered - with nine rapid-fire races - in testing and gusty conditions. America's Cup defenders Alinghi opened the day with a win, and went on to score two more firsts, taking them to the top of the overall points. After three days of spectacular racing held in some of the biggest breezes ever seen in the iShares Cup it was all to play for going into the final double-point race. On the last day of racing in Hyères, France, it was the two America's Cup contenders, Alinghi and TEAMORIGIN, who dominated the fleet, each winning three races - at one stage just three points separated the two. The British TEAMORIGIN started the day best with two wins in gusty 20-knot conditions that saw several boats narrowly avoiding a capsize. TEAMORIGIN, skippered by reigning iShares Cup champi! on Rob Greenhalgh, demonstrated their Extreme 40 experience to control the first two races - Alinghi constantly looking for a route through to regain the lead in race two, but Ed Baird and his crew just couldn't get past. But as the wind eased over the afternoon it was America's Cup winner Ed Baird on Alinghi who came to the fore, taking three wins in a row. In the fourth race of the day TEAMORIGIN fell to seventh overall, and it looked like their chance might be over, but they recovered well to score finish second behind Alinghi in the penultimate race of the series. The 18th and last race of the event set the scene for a spectacular finale - the finish line placed just yards in front of crowds of spectators gathered on the breakwater. With just a dozen points separating the two leaders and the final scores counting for double TEAMORIGIN were still in the hunt, and flew off the line to take the lead. Alinghi were buried in the pack - if they dropped to eighth, then the Brits would triumph.
