By JULIE ASH
Alinghi and OneWorld drew first blood in day one of the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton challenger series this afternoon.
In 15-20 knot winds Russell Coutts' Swiss syndicate Alinghi capitalised on two wind shifts to beat Chris Dickson's Oracle BMW Racing by 1m 11s while OneWorld and Prada battled
it out over the three-lap course before OneWorld won by 47s.
With Rod Davis at the helm Prada held OneWorld out in the prestart and powered over the line 5s ahead.
But OneWorld hooked into a righthand shift and were soon neck and neck with the Italians before rounding the first mark 10s ahead.
Prada rolled over the top of OneWorld mid way down the first run and took the lead.
However the Italians were lucky to retain a 3s lead at the second mark after a messy spinnaker drop that saw the tip of their spinnaker pole being dragged in the water. How it didn't break at that moment was anyone's guess.
It appeared throughout the match that OneWorld were faster upwind and Prada ahead on the downwind stretches. This was apparent in the second beat when OneWorld edged ahead to round the fourth mark 20s ahead.
Disaster then struck for the Italians when their spinnaker pole snapped in two near the end of the fourth leg. Further chaos then occurred when their spinnaker dropped in the water.
But the Italians recovered well and rounded the fifth mark 18s behind OneWorld.
OneWorld did not escape the race unscathed when their spinnaker ripped near the top early in the last run. But Prada were too far behind to attack and OneWorld stormed home with the win.
After plenty of aggression in the prestart, Alinghi and Oracle ventured to opposite sides of the start line for a split-tack start.
Oracle had the early advantage but a big windshift to the right favoured Alinghi and they stormed into the lead. Alinghi rounded the first mark 14s ahead and extended their lead by 1s on the first downwind leg to round the second mark 15s ahead.
On the second beat Alinghi were once again on the money to capitalise on a second windshift that came their way.
Alinghi rounded the third mark 41s ahead. Oracle pegged a few second back on the Swiss over the next two legs to round the fourth mark 36s behind and the last mark 32s behind.
Alinghi's lead was never threatened as they went one up on Oracle in the best-of-seven series.
Day two of the semifinal series is scheduled to start tomorrow at 1.15pm. Race organisers have predicted 13-19 knot north westerly winds.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
By JULIE ASH
Alinghi and OneWorld drew first blood in day one of the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton challenger series this afternoon.
In 15-20 knot winds Russell Coutts' Swiss syndicate Alinghi capitalised on two wind shifts to beat Chris Dickson's Oracle BMW Racing by 1m 11s while OneWorld and Prada battled
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