New Zealander Dean Barker and French rival Bertrand Pace will battle out the final of the Auckland Match Racing Cup yachting regatta today.
Both skippers had 3-0 wins over their respective semifinal opponents yesterday, New Zealanders Cameron Appleton and Chris Dickson, on Waitemata Harbour.
As top qualifier, Barker had chosento race off against Appleton and their contest provided plenty of incident. Race two was stopped mid-contest with Appleton in the lead because of a mix-up over an umpiring penalty. In the rerun, Appleton won a close start and held the lead to the top mark.
But Barker and his Team New Zealand crew did a fine job on the first of two downwind legs to shadow and roll over Appleton's boat, and hit the front.
In race three, Barker came from behind on the first run and appeared to be overtaking Appleton when he copped a penalty when gybing too close. He did his penalty turn immediately and again his crew did well to get themselves back into the race on the next leg.
Heading to the top mark for the final time, Barker had starboard right of way, forcing Appleton into a manoeuvre that misfired.
"He just lined us up and got us stopped dead and pointing in the wrong direction," Appleton said. "It was game over at that point."
Appleton said he was pleased overall with how the regatta had gone. He had achieved his primary target of finishing in the top four in the 10-strong fleet but had come up against "pretty polished" opposition in the semifinals.
"To win regattas, you have to make as few mistakes as possible," he said. "You can see that Dean is sailing at the top of his game with a crew that can match him. We were beaten by guys that outsailed us."
Pace, a two-time winner of the Auckland event, beat his boss at America's Cup syndicate BMW Oracle Racing when he downed Dickson.
Pace is tactician with the syndicate while Dickson is skipper and chief executive. The Frenchman said getting off the line well was vital in the lighter conditions. "Fortunately we had a good start and got an advantage," he said. "It was easier to play the wind shifts."
Pace said the scoreline didn't reflect the competitiveness of his contest with Dickson. "We won 3-0 but it wasn't that easy," he said. "It was tough but I think my team were very, very good today."
Barker will go into the final with recent history in his favour. He won both his races against Pace in this week's round-robin phase.
