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New Zealand spinnaker trouble

Posted 1 year, 2 months ago

New Zealand spinnaker trouble
New Zealand proved again the maxum, you never can tell. After having gotten off the line well and tacking to horse race Alinghi, they stayed on Alinghi's windward hip to the extremes of the right hand side of the course. A small lefthand shift gave New Zealand what they needed to sail the Swiss out pass the starboard layline.It looked like the end of the race when distaster struck for NZ. Discovering a small hole in the tack patch of their Asymetrical spinnaker, they decided to peel away to another kite. Just as the new kite was going up, the old one let go when the boat pounded on a wave. The new spinnaker tangled up with the old and the tack fitting hadn't been attached before the halyard started going up. This left them with one spinnaker flying off the mast head and recovering the old one. Up with a third kite and the second goes into the drink for the chase boat. Of course Alinghi cannot believe their luck and jibe off to get some separation and back to the leeward gate. New Zealand does their best to come back with some impressive gains, especially when Alinghi splits off by themselves two times on opposite sides of the course. In the end, after several attacking jibes, Alinghi is let off the hook and wins their 3rd race out of five. Could there be some more serious aggression tomorrow? Will we see protests or penalties? Full Story »

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