Swiss Alinghi win the 32nd America's Cup

In a dramatic finsh, Alinghi won the final match of the America's Cup by a mere 1 second!

In stronger wind than last week, Emirates Team New Zealand fought hard for survival in the match-point race. It was a very close battle with both teams taking the lead at various points, but Alinghi prevailed and won the series by 5 races to 2.

Both teams started well and were neck-and-neck for the first few minutes of the race. NZL had the better position and eventually forced SUI to tack away allowing the Kiwis to make a small lead, but it was Alinghi that rounded the mark first as they managed to squeeze the Kiwis out. Alinghi progressed to a 50 metre lead but that dissipated completely as they made a bad gybe, allowing NZ to move out front once again.

Team New Zealand passed the second mark 14 seconds ahead of the Swiss and continued to hold the lead through to the final mark, but once again Alinghi squeezed them out and went into the final stretch with a 12 second lead. ETNZ were penalised going around the mark, so coupled with Alinghi's lead the race was looking impossibly difficult for them to recapture on the final stretch. But with less than 500 metres to go, Alinghi struck problems with the pole flying off the mast. NZ flew past the Swiss but had to complete their penalty turn before crossing the finish line. Meanwhile, Alinghi drifted past, winning the match by just 1 second. NZ will be bitterly dissapointed, but should feel pround in the fact that they came so close.

01-July-2007

Racing cancelled for the day

A lack of suitable wind has caused the postponment of today's critical race. With a scheduled day off tomorrow the two teams will have to keep their nerves up until Tuesday July 3rd.

30-June-2007

Alinghi's win makes it match-point for the 32nd America's Cup.

The pressure was on today for Team New Zealand to win themselves back into the competition. They started well, keeping pace with Alinghi up the first leg then catching a better breeze near the first mark. NZL passed the mark 14 seconds ahead of SUI and proceeded to lead the match until halfway through the third leg where a lighter breeze brought on a tacking duel. Alinghi came out of the duel 30 metres ahead and past the third mark 16 seconds in front of the Kiwis.

The Swiss showed excellent speed downwind and increased the gap to well over 100 metres. But just when things were looking impossible for the Kiwis they split and gybed, coming to within 30 metres of Alinghi. Unfortunetly it wasn't quite enough as Alinghi continued to lead, and passed the finish line almost half a minute ahead of the Kiwis.

It's match-point now. All of nothing for the Kiwis in tomorrow's race.

29-June-2007

Another win for Alinghi

It was a fairly close start with neither team gaining much of an advantage over the first leg. Team NZ passed the mark first, 12 seconds ahead of the Swiss then disaster struck - the tack blew out of the kite. The Kiwis eventually got a new kite up and cut away the old one but Switzerland had meanwhile sailed past into a formidable 180 metre lead.

Team New Zealand made a valiant attempt to get back into the race - reducing the gap to about 100 metres at the second mark. But they couldn't surmount Alinghi's lead. The Swiss team won the match by 19 seconds and lead the America's Cup competition by 3 races to 2.

27-June-2007

Alinghi square the series at 2:2

Today's race wasn't such a thriller as yesterday's, but it still made for great viewing, with the two teams never too far apart.

Alinghi made a great start on the right of ETNZ and quickly moved into a 30 metre lead, which they held for much of the first leg. Nearing the first mark, the Kiwis hoped to play into a wind shift but it didn't help as they rounded the mark 20 seconds behind the Swiss. Despite some good Kiwi maneuvering, Alinghi continued to enjoy a 2-4 boatlength lead for most of the second leg and gained a further 14 seconds at the second mark. NZ initiated a tacking duel which first appeared to show them gaining ground on the Swiss, but Alinghi continued to hold the lead, going into the final leg 25 seconds ahead. Team New Zealand were unable to make an impact on the final leg and Alinghi crossed the finish line 30 seconds ahead of them.

The teams have a chance to rest tommorrow, with the next America's Cup race scheduled for friday.

26-June-2007

In a spectacular event, ETNZ win the 3rd race.

It was hard to predict a winner in this race as both teams took their turns out front. Emirates Team New Zealand won the right hand side of the course at the start but were forced to tack, allowing Alinghi to take an early lead. But NZ found strong wind on the right, quickly pulling ahead and amassing a huge gain of up to 400 metres in front of the Swiss. The Kiwis passed the first mark 1:31 ahead and held on to most of that gain on the second leg. Just as it looked like they would control the rest of the match, they had a bad spinnaker drop when rounding the second mark, thus allowing Alinghi to close the gap.

It was neck and neck for much of the third leg but Alinghi passed the mark 15 seconds ahead of the New Zealanders. Looking strong, Alinghi extended their lead to around 100 metres and held it for most of the final leg. NZ tried hard to close the gap and they finally managed it with about 1000 metres to go, setting the match up for a very tense finish. With some good maneuvering and bit of luck, the Kiwis found some strong wind near the end and sailed in to win the race by 25 seconds.

Match 4 of the America's Cup is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

24-June-2007

The Kiwis make it 1:1

Team New Zealand scored a great comeback today to put the competition standings at one match each.

Although NZ won the start again and weather conditions looked to suit the NZ92 yacht, Alinghi soon pulled ahead and passed the first mark 19 seconds ahead of the Kiwis. It looked like today's match was going to be a repeat of yesterday's one with Alinghi sailing strongly and NZ struggling to catch up, but everything changed on the 2nd windward leg as Dean Barker capitalised on an opportunity and managed to put NZ 15 seconds ahead around the final mark. The Kiwis widened the gap further and got a strong confidence boost as they won the match, bringing the competition to a 1-all draw.

America's Cup Racing is set to continue in Valencia on tuesday.

23-June-2007

Alinghi win the first race

Team NZ were the first to cross the start line but Alinghi's SUI-100 boat showed great speed, allowing the Swiss team to lead the Kiwis past the first mark. Alinghi then extended their lead and won the important first match, perhaps giving them a psychological advantage for the remaining races in the first-to-five final series. The pressure is now on for Emirates Team New Zealand to strike back with a win in tomorrow's race.

20-June-2007

America's Cup racing is set to begin

Team New Zealand's swift triumph over Luna Rossa meant that there has been plenty of time since the end of the Louis Vuitton Cup and the commencement of the America's Cup races. But the time of reckoning has almost come, with racing set to begin on June 23.

The past couple of weeks have seen tensions build between the two teams, with some heated words flying between Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli and NZ skipper Grant Dalton, and disagreement over whether Team New Zealand should be allowed to have a Maori Waka accompany them to the starting line. Pre-match hostilities are nothing unusual when it comes to the America's Cup, and both teams need to concentrate fully on their tasks at hand - the 32nd America's Cup competition is upon us.

06-June-2007

Team NZ win the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup