Well what a race to end the America’s Cup.
One second – one measly second.
Off the line it was a good start from Dean Barker but Alinghi, in a compromised position, hung on.
The race was a classic day of how powerful it was to be on the right hand side of your opposition. The power was really on the right on the upwinds. Sailing on the left, New Zealand on both upwind legs were bow forward but were unable to capitalise on that.
On the downwind Team New Zealand did well to roll Alinghi on the first run. At the bottom mark gate, maybe if we look back in two races, the Kiwis took the right hand gate looking down and got passed on both times. How significant that might be.
The last downwind was bizarre. At the top mark Alinghi did a dial down. The boat on starboard has the rights, which was Alinghi. The dial down was a set move. Alinghi had practised it. Alinghi dialed down when the New Zealanders dialed down and held their course. Team New Zealand were ruled not to have kept clear. It was a penalty.
Most of us thought the game was over then but on the final run the breeze collapsed near the finish and we saw Team New Zealand get rid of their penalty and miss going into the eighth race by one second.
What a race it was.
As you can imagine Team New Zealand were distraught. But they have plenty to be proud of. They have come so far since 2003. Grant Dalton’s leadership has been tremendous and Dean Barker will leave this cup as one of the best helmsman in the game.
They just have to go on…
Thanks to you all for dropping by, we certainly hope you have enjoyed the racing and its been great to be able to bring it to you. When we started this little blog we were unsure of how it would do – its had 90,000 page views since we started and has been a storming success thanks for you all.
I’ll aim to keep the blog running over the coming months, so stay tuned 
In the meantime, we all need a holiday. I will be flying with Paul tomorrow to Bodrum in Turkey to spend some time with Ergin and the Provezza guys. I will also be joing my wife Susie, and the boys, Ryan and Sean who are already there.
Thank you Peter for your insightfullness, fairness and honesty. It has always been a pleasure to listen to you. Even when we had the P class’s at CYC.
See ya when you are in Whangarei next.
as PJ said, ‘if it wasn’t for that damn penalty!’
… oh, boy – what could have been, ay?
Still, etnz have done us all proud with their achievements and they will be back!
it’d be interesting to see what happens with coutts and the alinghi ‘tight 5′ and which boat they’ll be sailing on next time. Rumor has it that Coutts could come back to race for etnz if they want him – but where does that leave deano? He did a marvellous job in only his second AC as skipper and he will only get better…
I like Coutts, but I think that Dean Barker has to remain in ETNZ ’cause he made so much for the team…I am very sad in particular for him, ’cause I know something about his sailing career, and I imagine how he feels now….
Go Dean!!!!
…maybe we can rustle up enough $$ for 2 NZ entries for the next AC – or maybe even join forces with the aussies with a anzac boat – we gotta get that cup back down here somehow…
Despite all of the broohaha about our team, our boat, our skipper, we lost.
Sadly we lost not because we didn’t have the boat. Not because we didn’t have the helmsman, not because we didn’t having the sailing skills. We lost because our tacticians let us down, again, and again, and again.
The inescapable fact is, our tacticians made so many wrong decisions, while Butterball et all made so many less.
In my opinion we had the better boat, the better crew, and the greater desire to win and, most assuredly, the better helmsman. It was our afterguard which lost the day.
A typical example being…Why the hell didn’t they do the 360 right on the line? Why do it 100M out?
You will all have noticed that when Butterball and co realised they didn’t have the rocket-ship they thought they had, they never let us go. But us? With the ship we didn’t think was a rocket, let Butterball go again and again.
We lost the AC due to simple bad tactics.
Let’s hope that next time we have a better afterguard.
David.
Guys…look at this article!!
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1214347
I can’t believe it!!!!!!
I agree with Julian and all his suspects…
Peter,
Thanks for your great coverage of the Louis Vuitton and Americas Cup matches on your blogsite and the NZ Herald website, and your fantastic commentary and analysis on Sky Sport’s coverage, through America’s Cup TV. America’s Cup Management rightly realised, despite their reported initial views, that without you (and Martin Tasker) they weren’t going to be able to provide decent coverage for Europe. I was on the edge of my seat throughout, right to the last incredible twist. Whoever said that watching yachts race was boring?!!?
Regards,
Scott Lander
(a Kiwi living in Dublin, Ireland)
Peter, thank you again!!!!
I am going to post again on Sunday, once I have come back from Valencia!!!!
Vale
Hey Peter, what a great regatter we have just seen. I was in Valencia for the first 8 days & enjoyed it emmensly. I’m bitterly disappointed that TNZ didn’t quite get there but this is sport. The aftergaurd just couldn’t quite put Alinghi away at times & they paid the price for this. This is the area that Alinghi excelled in that when in difficult situations they didn’t make irrational decisions & found ways of making it diffulult for us.
That Butterballs is the most canny dude out there. Just so painfull to watch at times. I hope that Coutts & of coarse TNZ come back stronger in 2009 & kick his arse!!! Still don’t have any time for Berterelli & his cheque book style of operation.
To Peter thanks so much for the commentary & blog over the last couple of months. It surely would’ve been extremley difficult to folow this show if it hadn’t been for your efforts. So see you next time this wonderfull game comes around again!!!!!!
What a great regatta. People will be disappointed for sure but should remember how many times NZ tried to win the cup before it finally did in 1995. We’re on road for another string attempt.
One small thing that marred the finish was the post race press-conferences which Bertarelli organised to be separate in totally unsporting fashion. This sums up the kind of attitude he brought to the cup and I hope it doesn’t become the norm in future. Good on ETNZ for refusing to attend the ‘schmucks’ press conference. They’re above that sort of thing.
Go TNZ for the next competition.
Bertarelli is certainly no sportsman, let alone a sailor – he’s destroying the spirit of the AC…