Bob Oatley, the Australian owner of Wild Oats, celebrated his 79th birthday by beating his Kiwi rival Neville Crichton and his super maxi ‘Alfa Romeo’ in the second race of 2007 Giraglia Rolex Cup on Monday (11 June 2007) to make what is turning into a Trans-Tasman Super Maxi battle a one-all result following ‘Alfa Romeo’s opening race win in the St Tropez-based event.

Alfa Romeo had a poor start and had to sail perfectly in order to join back up with the leaders of the pack, finally finishing second today for a fourth place overall ranking. Wild Oats almost lost their comfortable advantage when they had a mishap involving a tangled spinnaker, but the quick reaction time of the crew enabled the team to limit the damages. Finishing the race was nothing more than a formality for the Australian boat, and at the end of 32.5 mile course, Wild Oats had a first in both real and corrected time.
 

Today's results pushed Wild Oats from 5th place into 3rd overall, one place ahead of Alfa Romeo in the regatta. Tuesday’s races will be the essential factor for determining the overall inshore race winners as the 1st and 5th place boats are separated by a mere four points and the participants should find themselves face to face with conditions similar to today's with light winds in the afternoon.