4-2 for the Swiss: Alinghi needs one more point for final victory
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The Swiss close up the score this Saturday in Valencia Four points to two for the Defender which only needs one more point to hold onto the auld mug. It is a decisive match for Alinghi at the end of sumptuous match. It is also a victory which gives them the momentum to win tomorrow.
@ Lyn Hines
It is again an anthology match, a grand art, the Cup in all its states…”phenomenal” as the Spanish say here.
At first the Swiss wanted the right and took the right, but Emirates Team New Zealand benefited from a shift from the left and a little more pressure. Alinghi who could not hold their windward position more than 8 minutes is obliged tack away to the right of the course.
As such, Dean Barker obtains a slight advantage and rounds the buoy first with a 14 second advance allowing them to lead down the second leg under spinnaker. We can hear the New Zealand country anthem resounding in the village. The black boat extends out to 120 meters and passes the second buoy 12 seconds ahead with 74 meters advance. This is the moment that the match changes its configuration. The Kiwis choose the left buoy but in retrospect, the wind is coming in better from the right. Alinghi comes back full speed on this 3rd leg, 25 meters, 6 meters.
At the end of a tacking duel, Alinghi finally gets the advantage and passes the third buoy 16 seconds in the lead before flying literally 108 meters on the last leg under spinnaker before the finish. ETNZ fights back, jibing and returning within 75 meters, then losing some ground, jibing again, and finally arriving 5 meters behind the Swiss boat which won’t let them get by. The two giants have less than one boat between them. But the Swiss hold onto their advantage, taking back 135 meters and crossing the finish line 28 seconds before their adversary.
It is a big victory and one that cuts deep; a very costly loss to the New Zealanders. 4-2 is painful. For the Kiwis to bring home the Cup, they must now win 3 consecutive regattas.
“The thing that strikes me, explains Daniel Andrieux of Yaka Design Team is that the boats are extremely close in terms in performance, and the two teams have an extraordinary desire to win. When we see the two side by side, “mano a mano”, there is extraordinary tension, at only one meter separation. In the helming aspect, the synchronization is stupefying. He who doesn’t make any errors, is the winner. The Kiwis took the left buoy when the wind came in from the right. That is where the game was lost. When the two boats crossed on the second upwind, there was only a half boat length between the two. On the Swiss side, there weren’t any errors and they managed under pressure perfectly. Nothing else can be said....
Fdb-LH Valencia 2007 June 30th
At first the Swiss wanted the right and took the right, but Emirates Team New Zealand benefited from a shift from the left and a little more pressure. Alinghi who could not hold their windward position more than 8 minutes is obliged tack away to the right of the course.
As such, Dean Barker obtains a slight advantage and rounds the buoy first with a 14 second advance allowing them to lead down the second leg under spinnaker. We can hear the New Zealand country anthem resounding in the village. The black boat extends out to 120 meters and passes the second buoy 12 seconds ahead with 74 meters advance. This is the moment that the match changes its configuration. The Kiwis choose the left buoy but in retrospect, the wind is coming in better from the right. Alinghi comes back full speed on this 3rd leg, 25 meters, 6 meters.
At the end of a tacking duel, Alinghi finally gets the advantage and passes the third buoy 16 seconds in the lead before flying literally 108 meters on the last leg under spinnaker before the finish. ETNZ fights back, jibing and returning within 75 meters, then losing some ground, jibing again, and finally arriving 5 meters behind the Swiss boat which won’t let them get by. The two giants have less than one boat between them. But the Swiss hold onto their advantage, taking back 135 meters and crossing the finish line 28 seconds before their adversary.
It is a big victory and one that cuts deep; a very costly loss to the New Zealanders. 4-2 is painful. For the Kiwis to bring home the Cup, they must now win 3 consecutive regattas.
“The thing that strikes me, explains Daniel Andrieux of Yaka Design Team is that the boats are extremely close in terms in performance, and the two teams have an extraordinary desire to win. When we see the two side by side, “mano a mano”, there is extraordinary tension, at only one meter separation. In the helming aspect, the synchronization is stupefying. He who doesn’t make any errors, is the winner. The Kiwis took the left buoy when the wind came in from the right. That is where the game was lost. When the two boats crossed on the second upwind, there was only a half boat length between the two. On the Swiss side, there weren’t any errors and they managed under pressure perfectly. Nothing else can be said....
Fdb-LH Valencia 2007 June 30th
@ Lyn Hines