Team New Zealand beat Alinghi by 25 seconds in a classic
America's Cup race on Tuesday, recovering from a poor spinnaker
drop which nearly ended their race, to take a 2-1 lead over the
Swiss defender in the best-of-nine series.
Alinghi got off to a faster start after Team New Zealand threw
in a tack just before crossing the line, the Kiwis losing boat
speed but chasing an advantage on the right.
Their plan paid off and Team New Zealand went ahead of Alinghi
at the first cross, both crews having to cope with a rolling sea
swell and a shifting breeze of 8-9 knots.
By the first upwind mark, Team New Zealand had left Alinghi
trailing by a massive 1 minute and 23 seconds.
Alinghi showed better speed on the first downwind leg, reducing
the gap, but a bad spinnaker drop at the half-way mark soon meant
the Kiwis' lead of one minute and 2 seconds was under pressure from
the Swiss team.
The Kiwis struggled to free their billowing red spinnaker, which
had become tangled with their jib sail and lines, as they tacked
back up the windward leg of the second round.
With the Kiwis desperate to regain their poise and speed,
Alinghi broke back in front and the lead moved back and forth as
the boats fought a fierce battle up to the final windward mark.
Alinghi rounded it first, with a lead of 15 seconds, as both
boats hoisted their spinnakers for the final leg of the race.
But the Swiss team could not hold their lead down the course,
with Team New Zealand making the most of the flukey winds to get
back into the race.
The lead passed to and fro in the final minutes of the race but
in the last few hundred metres the teams converged on the line and
the Kiwis emerged with a clear lead, crossing the line comfortably
ahead of Alinghi to win the race.
(China Daily via Agencies June 28, 2007)