A few weeks ago, I shelled out $40 for access to a site called America's Cup Anywhere. It provides virtual access to all of the America's Cup Finals races as well as all of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger Series.

For those of you who don't know the format, all of the yachts that wish to challenge the current holder of the America's Cup sail against each other in a round robin of match races (one boat vs one boat) to determine who the challenger will be. The site was terrific for the LV cup. Every race day there were five races happening simultaneously on two different courses. You could see the races you wanted plus the others were visible in continuously updated thumbnails. At any moment you wanted you could switch to a different race - with almost no delay.

I watched a lot of races, and saw the only American entry eliminated in the semi finals. The eventual winner was New Zealand setting up an America's Cup match that was a repeat of the last race in which the Swiss syndicate Alinghi won the cup from New Zealand.

Alinghi took control of the first race of the series and never let go. NZ never got closer than the 15 second gap at the first mark rounding. The delta at the finish was 35 seconds. Though I do want to note that other than the psychological factor, the margin of victory is meaningless. The Cup is a best of nine series, and what matters is who crosses the line first. It doesn't matter if you win by three seconds, 30 seconds or 30 minutes.

This morning while making our traditional Sunday pancake breakfast I fired up America's Cup Anywhere for race two. Today's race was worth the entire $40.

In an America's Cup match race the boats enter the start area on opposite ends of the start line, five minutes before the starting gun. This morning the Swiss entered with the starboard tack advantage. (For you landlubbers, a boat is on starboard tack when sailing into the wind with the wind crossing the starboard side of the boat before hitting the sails. When two boats approach each other on opposite tacks - as in the start of a match race - the boat on starboard tack always has right of way.) The Swiss held their advantage for less than a minute before NZ sailed safely across their bow. Absolutely the last thing you want to see if you're on starboard in the pre-start of a match race. New Zealand dominated the rest of the start and hit the line at the gun with better position, speed and a slight lead.

Then Alinghi put on a tremendous display of speed and pointing. (Pointing refers to the angle of the boat to the wind) Alinghi was able to outpoint NZ at speed and eventually forced NZ to tack away. This, incidentally, is how the Swiss took control of race one. Alinghi lead around the first two marks, though at the second mark NZ has shaved six seconds off their lead.

Near the top of the second windward leg, New Zealand got a favorable wind shift and closed the gap with the Swiss. The Swiss boat tried to point up and force NZ to tack off again, but NZ was in a strong position and was able to push the Swiss beyond the starboard layline. (The line on which a boat could sail to the mark without tacking.) NZ held Alinghi above the layline until they reached down for the mark, and there was nothing for the Swiss to do at that point but follow them around. NZ had a 75 meter lead at the rounding which they held downwind to the finish.

This was a big win for the New Zealand crew. The last several America's cup finals have been five race sweeps. They have put the defender on notice that they will indeed be challenged. Tomorrow is an off day, with racing scheduled to resume on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to see what tactical and strategic changes the crews make when they return to the water, and to see if this win will translate into momentum for New Zealand or if Alinghi will come back strong.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 02:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment