32nd Americas Cup - Race 5
by 32nd America’s Cup media 29 Jun 2007 17:25 BST
Advantage Alinghi
Alinghi, the Defender of the 32nd America's Cup, beat Emirates Team New Zealand on Friday afternoon in perfect 15 knot sea breeze conditions to take a 3-2 lead in the 32nd America's Cup Match.
But it wasn't a straightforward win. The Swiss trailed over the starting line and around the first top mark as Emirates Team New Zealand showed aggression in the pre-start, forcing the SUI 100 helmsman Ed Baird to attempt to shake them off by using the spectator fleet.
The Kiwis converted the small advantage off the starting line into a 12 second lead around the first mark. But on the run, a burst spinnaker on NZL 92 and a poor recovery by the New Zealand crew, saw Alinghi slide past and grab a lead the Swiss team would never relinquish. Alinghi crossed the finishing line in front of the large spectator fleet, 19 seconds ahead of the Emirates squad.
Race Six is scheduled to start on Saturday afternoon at 15:00.
Match 5 - Alinghi beat Emirates Team New Zealand - DELTA 0:19
In the pre-start, Emirates Team New Zealand's Dean Barker watched Ed Baird roll into a dial-up, but instead of matching, he bore away beneath Alinghi's stern, forcing SUI 100 up above the starting line. Barker then harried Baird across the top of the Race Committee boat and the Swiss were forced to seek refuge in the spectator fleet on the right side of the start box.
From there the Kiwis controlled the lead into the start, holding the Swiss high up near the Race Committee boat. Alinghi tacked just before the start gun, downspeed as they passed the committee boat on port, while New Zealand launched off the line. Barker tacked to track Alinghi over to the right, and for a while it looked like the Swiss boat would sail away underneath the Kiwis as the advantage line came back to zero.
However, Barker and his crew found another gear and matched Baird out to the right-hand layline. Once safely in the corner, the Kiwis tacked and led Alinghi back to the windward mark, leading around by 12 seconds.
Just a few minutes into the run disaster struck the Kiwi boat. A little rip developed in the spinnaker and the foredeck crew were readying a replacement when the first spinnaker blew apart. A miscommunication on the boat saw the new kite hoisted before it had been properly attached, so it blew out like a flag from the mast head. By the time the team had a third spinnaker in place, Alinghi had sailed out to leeward of the stricken Kiwi boat and gybed its way into the lead.
Eventually the Kiwis settled down again, but at the leeward gate the Swiss were leading by 26 seconds. With Alinghi taking the right mark, New Zealand took the left, looking for some separation. Amazingly the Kiwis got close to Alinghi on the second beat, pulling back to three boatlengths as a tacking duel ensued. However Terry Hutchinson opted to match Brad Butterworth's tacks and follow Alinghi into the final mark, now 24 seconds behind.
Down the final run the Kiwis chose a symmetrical spinnaker, perhaps because they had exhausted their supply of asymmetrics from the breakdown earlier, but they still looked as fast as Alinghi and closed a bit of distance. However, Ed Baird and crew held their nerve to secure the win and go one race up on the scoreboard.
32nd America's Cup Match by Louis Vuitton - Race Five
(The first team to win five points wins the America's Cup)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Total |
|---|
| Alinghi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | 3 |
| Emirates Team New Zealand | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | | | | 2 |
Update from Team Alinghi:
Alinghi takes 3-2 lead in 32nd America's Cup match
Swiss Defender Alinghi won Match 5 of the 32nd America’s Cup by 19-seconds taking a 3-2 lead in the series against Challenger Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ), with the winner the first to five victories.
After a close first leg, with both boats racing out to the starboard side of the race course, Alinghi rounded 12 seconds astern of ETNZ and was gaining on the first run when the Kiwi’s spinnaker blew out. With the ETNZ crew struggling to change sails, Alinghi sailed past and into the lead, turning a 40-metre deficit into a 140-metre lead within two minutes to lead through the leeward gate by 26 seconds.
Back upwind for the second time, Alinghi fended off constant attacks from ETNZ to round 24 seconds ahead. Heading downwind for the finish, the Kiwis flew a symmetric spinnaker, as opposed to Alinghi’s asymmetric sail, and they gained 5 seconds, but Alinghi skipper and tactician Brad Butterworth had the crew firmly placed to ward off the advances.
Today’s race featured more close boat-for-boat sailing and yet another lead change. Of the five America’s Cup matches sailed only two have not had lead changes.
Race 6 of the 32nd Match is scheduled tomorrow at 1500 hours.
Quotes from Francesco Rapetti (ITA), mastman on SUI100
How does it feel to win two consecutive races for the first time in this America’s Cup?
“Very good, it’s what we like, it’s what we want: some continuity. We missed that in the first part of the regatta and I think it was because the wind was so shifty. We also made a couple of mistakes in the second race so now we want to go on to win and tomorrow will be very important.”
Were you happy with the pre-start today?
“Our goal was to start on the right and we did, but then the wind started to go to the left so it was a bit difficult coming into the topmark.”
Did you feel threatened by Emirates Team New Zealand on the last leg?
“We did a couple of bad gybes, we were probably a little bit too excited about their mistake. We didn’t capitalise as well as we could have; that allowed them to jump closer to us but then we didn’t make any more mistakes and we won.”
A look forward to tomorrow and Race 6?
“Tomorrow is a very important race, for sure. It could be a turning point in this series.”
Update from Emirates Team New Zealand:
Spinnaker tear costs NZL 92 dearly
A torn spinnaker today cost NZL 92 any chance of winning the fifth race in the America’s Cup match.
SUI 100 crossed the line 19 seconds ahead of NZL 92, putting them 3-2 up in the best of nine regatta.
A small tear in the spinnaker, which probably occurred in the hoist, changed the course of the race. Until then, NZL 92 had it under control. It was tight, but Dean Barker and crew were cool under intense pressure and were looking good.
The tear was in an area of high load. The tear started to grow. As the foredeck crew were preparing to hoist another spinnaker inside it, the original tore apart and it was impossible to complete the hoist, costing NZL 92 its hard-fought lead.
Emirates Team New Zealand had led from the start, holding off a determined challenge from Alinghi right up the first beat and leading around the first mark.
The start was sensational. Dean Barker forced SUI 100 into the spectator fleet in a bid to shake off an aggressive NZL 92. But Barker kept the advantage and crossed the line a clear 5 seconds ahead after SUI 100 was forced to tack away.
NZL 92 worked this initial advantage to control the beat. Alinghi hung in but were unable to break the grip. NZL 92 forced the action out to the starboard layline and SUI 100 had no option but to follow into the mark, rounding 12 seconds behind.
That put SUI 100 in a good position to attack on the downwind leg. With around two boat lengths separating the boats and Alinghi close astern, the New Zealand crew spotted the small hole in the spinnaker and set up to do a peel change to a new kite.
Just seconds before the kiwis were able to make the change, the old spinnaker ripped in half, leaving the top of the sail flying out of control, while the bottom section dragged in the water.
As the crew hoisted the next sail, the remnants of the old sail tangled in the new, and SUI 100 sailed into the lead.
A 12 second lead at the top mark had turned into a 26” deficit at the bottom. But NZL 92 sailed a solid third leg upwind, chipping away at the boat in front to round the top mark 24 seconds adrift.
Grant Dalton explains what happened today:
“We have always emphasised reliability as an essential element of our campaign. Today that small tear in the spinnaker cost us the race.
“We had a little nick in the spinnaker which must have been a result of hoisting it. Just as we went to do a standard peel it blew out so that was the first problem. Then we starting hoisting but I don’t think we had the tack on so we ended up with no spinnaker. That was a mistake.
“But we pride ourselves in our crew work. It’s always been one of our strengths and we’re good at power sailing normally.
“I’m very, very happy about the fight back. I couldn’t fault it. We were about three boat lengths ahead when the spinnaker blew out. By the time we were sorted out they were about six boat lengths in front.”
“We kept at them, taking metre after metre by metre out of their lead. We threw everything we had at them on the run home. The margin at the finish was 19 seconds. It could have been a lot bigger.
“It was an important race and not a race that we should have lost by a mistake doing something we’ve practiced a thousand times. But will get over it and we come out again tomorrow. We’ll stay up and positive and move on tomorrow.”
Weather Saturday: south-east wind 9 to 12 knots, sun.