Morale boosting win hands Kiwis America's Cup hope
VALENCIA, Spain: Emirates Team New Zealand's morale-boosting victory over America's Cup defender Alinghi in the second of the best-of-nine series was just the tonic for a team seeking to win back sailing's most prestigious prize.
A stunning late effort by the Kiwis, in perfect conditions off Valencia, saw them turn around a 13sec deficit on Alinghi on the second leg to go marching past the top mark 15sec ahead.
They retained the lead through to the finishing line, completing an amazing comeback 28sec in front.
"It is huge for the team to come from behind," said Team New Zealand's strategist Ray Davies. "A huge booster, especially going into a day off (on Monday).
"It's great to get a win on the board in the America's Cup... It's good to turn the tables," he said in reference to Alinghi's 5-0 whitewash of Team New Zealand in Auckland in 2003.
Davies played tribute to Alinghi's Kiwi skipper Brad Butterworth and five other members of the Swiss boat whom syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli had poached from the New Zealand team that won the America's Cup in 1995 and 2000.
Significantly, Team New Zealand's win broke Butterworth and his Kiwi team-mates' 16-match winning streak in the America's Cup.
Davies said that Monday's day off would be spent analysing television footage of the two races, and not sailing.
"We've spent more than enough time on the water recently," he joked.
Crew aboard America's Cup challenger Emirates Team New Zealand prepare to round the windward mark in Race 2 against defender Alinghi of Switzerland in the America's Cup on Sunday. Reuters |
"We'll study the footage, the set-up and then pick our game up for the next day."
Butterworth said his crew would also look at the race footage but would essentially enjoy "an easy day because the next few are going to be hard".
"We've been pretty close in performance," added Butterworth. "It's the two best boats ... and has made for a great event."
Don Cowie, the mainsail trimmer for Team New Zealand, agreed with his compatriot's prognosis.
"It's two very even boats out there," he said. "But we know we're competitive. It'll be a tight boat race."
Team principle Grant Dalton was full of praise for his crew.
"We held our nerve. We waited. We had to be patient. The boys sailed smart - and it paid off. Alinghi made one mistake and we capitalised on it," Dalton said.
"We took 28 seconds out of them on the second beat. We were 13 seconds adrift at the leeward mark and we were 15 seconds ahead at the second windward mark. That doesn't happen often in the America's Cup."
In an almost carbon copy start to the first race, Team New Zealand pulled out to an early 3sec lead, up to 16 metres, but again lost the advantage after being forced to tack off by the Swiss boat.
After just four-and-a-half minutes of the race, Alinghi had overtaken Team New Zealand and proceeded to build up a lead of up to 70 meters - or two boatlengths - and went through the first mark 19sec ahead.
The Swiss consolidated their lead, Kiwi skipper Brad Butterworth taking SUI 100 around the second mark 13sec in front on the second downwind lap.
But the third leg saw Team New Zealand surge ahead of Alinghi after a poor tack during what appeared to be a windshift and Kiwi helsman Dean Barker made Alinghi pay, forcing them wide right and neatly bringing NZL 92 around the third mark 15sec ahead.
The Kiwis held on to the lead through to the finish line to ensure that this 32nd edition of the America's Cup will not end up as a whitewash, as was the case in the last three competitions in 1995, 2000 and 2003.
AFP
(China Daily 06/26/2007 page24)
