Another sparkling day in Kiel, with thousands of spectators lining the shores and hundreds of spectator boats taking in the action -- and another nearly flawless performance by our guys on USA 71 in the four races today, giving us the GSGP title.

Unfortunately, a Shosho crewman was flicked overboard during today's first fleet race. He managed to hold onto a rope from the cockpit but was dragged under the boat where his back struck the rudder. After surfacing he was pulled aboard the chase boat (captured live on TV) and rushed to a local hospital. The doctors said he will be okay, but will require surgery this week for several fractured vertebrae. Reportedly, there was no nerve damage, but he faces a few months of rehab after the surgery. Our best wishes for a full and rapid recovery!

Shosho nonetheless finished that race, and they gallantly finished out the day's program of races.

UITG looked good in the fleet race, finishing a close second to us. This set up what appeared to be a winner-take-all match between UITG and ourselves. Today's matches counted double -- 12 points for a win compared to the 6 for winning a match racing on Friday and Saturday. During a tacking duel half way up the first leg, UITG's forestay (the wire that holds the mast up in front, and to which the front edge of the genoa is attached) broke. This often results in the mast snapping. However, their crew were quick to rig spinnaker and jib halyards in lieu of the forestay, and they got the sails down quickly to reduce the load on the mast. Likely the mast suffered some structural damage, and UITG had no choice but to retire from the regatta.

We went on to beat Shosho in today's match, giving us another 12 points. We also bested them in the final "fleet" race (two boats only). So BMW ORACLE won the GSGP handily, and UITG finished just ahead of Shosho in total points to claim second overall. Details on our main team website.

With the regatta clinched by 71 and a bit of extra time before the prizegiving scheduled for1530 with the mayor and the state governor, Shosho and our guys agreed to a "friendly" for no points over a 0.8nm per leg windward-leeward. The yachts did a particularly aggressive match-racing start, then tacked up and jibed back down the west shore of the Kiel Fjord to the delight of the tens of thousands assembled, and crossed the finish line in a virtual dead heat. Nothing short of spectacular.

By any measure the regatta was a huge success on and off the water. No doubt this event opened a lot of eyes to what is possible, or should be possible, at similar events with ACC yachts anywhere in the world -- whether an exhibition or official AC event.

Full marks to Tom Ross and his organizing committee, the entire race management team led by Eckart Reinke and Benjamin Storm, to Mirko Groeschner and the rest of our marketing department and those of Shosholoza and UITG, Bruno Trouble who was here representing ACM/LV and serving as emcee as well as media center maven, and especially Sam Usher and his stellar TV crew from Narrowstep along with the very capable Virtual Eye graphics-display team.

From the sound of the phone call just received from the hospitality center, our team is in the midst of a well-deserved celebration. Later this evening will be a thank-you barbecue for all the teams, organizers and media.

Our hearfelt thanks to the organizing committee, to Kiel and the Schleswig-Holstein region, and to all who made us feel so welcome here. We'll try to get some pictures posted tomorrow morning, and in the meantime enjoy the photos by Gilles Martin-Raget on the team photo site. And look for more exclusive video on the Valencia Sailing website.