Alinghi on course for victory in America’s Cup
Defending champions Alinghi have won the sixth flight in the America's Cup 28 seconds ahead of Team New Zealand.
The Swiss syndicate is just one match race victory away from becoming the first European team to retain sailing’s top title clinched in Auckland in 2003.
Saturday’s victory was the third straight win for the Swiss boat this weak, putting Alinghi 4-2 up in the best-of-nine series.
The next – possibly decisive – race is scheduled for Sunday.
In a classic match race on Saturday, the boats spend most of the first leg less than ten metres apart until Alinghi tacked away and New Zealand took the advantage of a wind shift that blew them round the mark 14 seconds ahead.
But the Swiss boat, skippered by Brad Butterworth – a three-time winner of sailing’s most coveted prize – kept their heads, took the better leeward gate and forced the Kiwis into a tacking duel.
Alinghi soon squeezed past them and never gave up the lead. Kiwi helmsman Dean Barker used a series of gybes to pull within a boat length, but the SUI-100 yacht stayed ahead by taking a more direct route over the final quarter.
The Swiss crossed the line 28 seconds ahead of Team New Zealand with Alinghi owner, Ernesto Bertarelli, punching the air and shaking hands with his crew.
“We only have one to go, but it’s going to be as hard as all the others,” Bertarelli told reporters after the race.
Team New Zealand mastman Matt Mason remains optimistic that they can still win the competition, despite three consecutive defeats.
“The feeling is still good and it’s far from over,” he said.
Exciting racing
The 32nd America’s Cup has been the most exciting in recent history as one nail-biting race after another has smashed a losing-streak jinx and the usual trend that whoever leads the first time the boats cross on the course will win the race.
Experts say the SUI-100 boat and the NZL-92 yacht are both equal giving no team a real advantage.
The Kiwis chose the wrong tactics in the first race, just as the Swiss did in the second match. Flight three was marked by complex weather conditions, while Team New Zealand struggled with the spinnaker in flights four and five.
The current series is the closest in 24 years to win the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sport.
In 1983, Australia II came from behind on the final leg to take the America’s Cup from the United States for the first time in its history.
swissinfo with agencies
The inaugural race was held off the Isle of Wight in 1851. America dominated the race right up until 1983 when Australia won the trophy.
In 1995 New Zealand became only the third country to win the competition, successfully defending their title in 2000.
The Swiss syndicate Alinghi sailed to victory against Black Magic in 2003 and became the first European team to win the Auld Mug.
The 2007 America’s Cup off the coast of Spain started on June 23 and runs until July 7 at the latest.
Racing: The course is up to 18.55 nautical miles (34.35 kilometres) in length.
It consists of up to three laps of a right-handed windward-leeward course between a windward (upwind) mark at the top of the course and a leeward (downwind) gate near the bottom of the course.
The start and finish line are the same.
Speed: one (international) knot is equal to 1.852 kilometres per hour.
Yachts: a construction class is based around a formula or set of restrictions that the boat’s measurements must fit to be accepted.
The America’s Cup is the most famous competition involving construction class boats.
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