Unveiling the mystery of Alinghi

June 15, 2007

By Julie Ash and Peter Lester – NZ Herald

This was never going to be a mission for the faint-hearted. In a game where secrecy is everything, we knew it could get dirty.

Nevertheless, it was our duty to find out what Team New Zealand are up against in SUI100.

Locating the Alinghi boats through the thick haze off the Valencia coast nearly thwarted the spying mission before it began.

You’d think it impossible to lose two giant 24-metre America’s Cup yachts with mainsails the size of jumbo jets’ wings. Well, think again.

But the haze had its advantages. “We’ll use it as camouflage,” the Maxwell Smart impersonator said. The mission started like a trip down memory lane.

With a 12-metre regatta taking place in Valencia, there was dear old KZ7, the boat that got New Zealand through to the challenger series final in 1987. Not far away was Freedom, the 1980 America’s Cup winner. It was all quite moving.

Anyway, no time for reminiscing, we were on a very important mission.

Read the rest of this entry »

22 Comments | Alinghi, America's Cup Teams, Americas Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand, Newspaper Stories, Sailing, Spain, Sports, Valencia, Yachting | Permalink
Posted by peterlester

Who will drive Alinghi?

June 8, 2007

Ed Baird, likely to get the nod for Alinghi, is not a risk-taker.

They have rotated Ed Baird and Peter Holmberg since Russell Coutts left the syndicate in 2004. The feeling is that if Alinghi believe they have a speed edge, Baird will steer, if they think they are in for a battle, then Holmberg will.

While the syndicate haven’t announced who has the job, the noise around Valencia is Baird has been given the nod. With winning the start and first cross so vital, Julie Ash and Peter Lester take a look at the styles of both men.

Read the rest of this entry »

9 Comments | Alinghi, America's Cup Teams, Americas Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand, IACC, New Zealand, Newspaper Stories, Sailing, Spain, Sports, Valencia, Yachting | Permalink
Posted by peterlester

A near flawless performance

June 3, 2007

Team New Zealand crossed the start line a second ahead of Luna Rossa and were never headed in race one.

Peter Lester struggled to fault Team New Zealand’s performance in race one yesterday. But the commentator and former America’s Cup sailor said if he wanted to be “really, really picky”, perhaps their gybing and mainsail selection would be something to discuss in their debrief.

Team New Zealand’s no-nonsense, low-risk strategy proved successful in the opening race of the challenger series, claiming a nail-biting eight-second win over Luna Rossa.

Lester said the Kiwis did everything right in the opening race. Read the rest of this entry »

11 Comments | America's Cup Teams, Americas Cup, IACC, Luna Rossa, New Zealand, Newspaper Stories, Sailing, Spain, Sports, Valencia, Yachting | Permalink
Posted by peterlester

Battle of bowmen critical at start

June 2, 2007

If a team gets 2-0 up, it is going to be tough for the other one in the challenger series final.

If that happens, it then becomes a psychological battle as opposed to a physical one. If you are two-up in a best-of-nine race series you’re virtually halfway there.

Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa are pretty rock solid and have shown they can bounce back from losses. But to come back from 2-0 down would be tough. Momentum is hard to break.

It’s not impossible though. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | America's Cup Teams, Americas Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa, New Zealand, Newspaper Stories, Sailing, Spain, Sports, Valencia, Yachting | Permalink
Posted by peterlester

Barker, Spithill evenly matched

May 26, 2007

Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker will be much more of a handful for James Spithill than Chris Dickson was when the two line up in the challenger series final.

Dickson was out to lunch in his starts against the aggressive Australian helmsman and as a result his American team BMW Oracle Racing failed to lead Luna Rossa around one mark in their six-race series which the Italians won 5-1.

With Barker and Spithill you will see more typical match racing set moves.

Spithill will probably be quite aggressive, although he has become moderate in terms of his moves. But if there is a chance for a penalty he’ll go for it.

He doesn’t throw the boat around the start box, you don’t see big stern wash or huge manoeuvres. He has a smooth approach, much like Barker.

Barker is quite structured in the prestart. He also has the ability to trap his opponent. When Barker is in a dominant position in the prestart he is as aggressive as Spithill. He has had two penalties in the prestart during the regatta so will be wanting to take those out of his game. Read the rest of this entry »

12 Comments | America's Cup Teams, Americas Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa, Newspaper Stories, Oracle BMW Racing, Sailing, Spain, Sports, Valencia, Weather, Yachting | Permalink
Posted by peterlester

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