Why Victory survived the approach at Trafalgar

Why was HMS Victory not blown to pieces before she broke the French line at Trafalgar?

Because destroying a wooden ship at range required difficult, unusually effective hits; the most severe damage came after the fleets closed.

HMS Victory did not need to be immune to gunfire to survive the approach at Trafalgar. A wooden ship was difficult to reduce to matchwood at range because the attacker had to hit a particularly destructive point. The heaviest damage accumulated once ships closed and fought within the line. A decisive long-range hit during the approach was much less likely than severe punishment at close range.