By TERRY MADDAFORD and PETER GRIFFIN
Louis Vuitton Cup holders Prada returned to defend their trophy on the Hauraki Gulf yesterday, but you had to be out on the water to see it.
The decision by officials not to televise the defending champions against Oracle BMW Racing in the feature race
of the day left syndicate supporters and overseas media irate.
Tempers worsened when the online graphics coverage of the race supplied by Virtual Spectator crashed, meaning there was no live coverage or information about Oracle's intense tussle with Prada.
The glitches marred the first day of racing watched by hundreds of spectators on the Hauraki Gulf.
Those on the water were treated to a tight race between two of the billionaire-backed syndicates, Oracle beating the cup holders by 42 seconds. With boss Larry Ellison in the afterguard, Oracle - one of the cup favourites - showed better upwind speed to keep ahead of Prada, whose boat was quicker downwind.
The talk of the Viaduct Harbour was the ease of the win of competition favourites Team Alinghi over Le Defi Areva.
Russell Coutts' new boat simply streaked away from the fluorescent French to win by almost five minutes - although at least the lime-green boat could be seen when there was no television or online coverage.
OneWorld Challenge also had an impressive win, cruising to a 5m 43s win over the Italians on Mascalzone Latino, and are now all square on the points board. The Seattle syndicate had been docked a point before racing began after admitting they had inadvertently obtained design secrets from other syndicates, including Team New Zealand.
Television New Zealand, as host broadcaster, provides the on-water pictures of the racing, but will show live coverage of only one race.
Highlights of other races will be screened in a late-night package.
The Challenger of Record Management decided through a random draw which race would be televised, and that schedule is already being criticised.
Gian Luca Pasini, an Italian reporter for La Gazzetta dello Sport, said the lack of coverage was a problem. "We accepted there would be no television coverage but losing Virtual Spectator as well made it very difficult," said Pasini.
"I feel ever sorrier for the people back home who got up at 4am to watch and saw nothing.
"We had calls from people at home who wanted to know who was steering the boats but no one could tell them."
Pasini said most media were based on shore because little could be seen of races on the water - and the media boat follows one course, while racing is split over two.
"There is no point in going out on to the water as you are too far away," said Pasini.
Today's televised match is between Le Defi and Victory Challenge of Sweden. Neither is expected to win the challenger series.
Four of the favourites will square off on another part of the Gulf. Team Dennis Conner race Prada and OneWorld Challenge take on Alinghi in two vital races which will not be shown.
Regatta director Dyer Jones said the feature race screening aimed to give all syndicates fair coverage.
"We wanted to ensure all had at least two shots of high-profile visibility on television," he said.
Thousands of subscribers were left with frozen screens and error messages when Virtual Spectator's graphic images of the racing failed - the fault of a US server.
The Auckland-based company is the only one offering live on-line 3-D tracking of the racing boats in real time. It costs subscribers $53.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
By TERRY MADDAFORD and PETER GRIFFIN
Louis Vuitton Cup holders Prada returned to defend their trophy on the Hauraki Gulf yesterday, but you had to be out on the water to see it.
The decision by officials not to televise the defending champions against Oracle BMW Racing in the feature race
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