Team New Zealand in action against Luna Rossa. Photo / Photosport
Team New Zealand in action against Luna Rossa. Photo / Photosport
All the America's Cup action with AUT's Sailing Professor Mark Orams.
All you need to know ahead of day four of the America's Cup Match between Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa.
It's back to course A as defender Team New Zealand and Italian challenger Luna Rossa attempt to breakthe 3-3 deadlock in the 36th match for the America's Cup.
Luna Rossa exploited Team New Zealand's mistake in the pre-start to win the first race of the day by 18 seconds and, in a mirror image, Team New Zealand pounced on Luna Rossa's mistake to win race six by 1 minute, 41 seconds.
One team has to win both races in a day to break the deadlock but Luna Rossa co-helmsman Jimmy Spithill said the teams can only focus on the next race.
"We're not looking too far ahead," he said. "Each day we come in and try to focus on the race ahead.
"There will be quite a lot of lessons learned from both races today. We'll go back, as I'm sure will the other guys, and just come back fighting, stronger and ready to roll."
Until today, each of the four starts in the series had been won by the team that had port entry to the start box and that won the start. New Zealand skipper Peter Burling called that coincidence and was proved right when the team coming in from starboard, or right-hand side of the course, won both races today.
Team New Zealand in action against Luna Rossa. Photo / Photosport
Races five and six were sailed on course A off Takapuna Beach in Auckland in a consistent sea breeze of seven to 11 knots, slightly fuller in the first race than the second.
The conditions again seemed perfect for Luna Rossa, whose boat is modeled to sail best in the lighter wind range. Luna Rossa's larger foils make it more able to stay up in light wind, also make it more stable and able to maneuver faster in the light sea breeze.
But although today's 1-1 tie again left many questions unanswered, it seems the boats are almost perfectly matched in terms of speed in those conditions and the starts are decisive.
In the first race, on a time and distance run to the start line, Team New Zealand tried to wear off speed and fell off its foils. Burling had to push the bow down to regain enough speed to be able to tack and in the meantime Luna Rossa swept over the line and sailed away to an immediate 200m lead.
"We obviously just fell off the foil above them," Burling said. "We thought we had a little more time to kill than we actually did. We didn't quite manage to get going again and to take off and they shut down the race pretty well from then."
The lead was unchanged for most of the race. Team New Zealand made slight gains on the second and third upwind but the 200m lead remained.
Luna Rossa had wanted the left-hand side of the course and with its early advantage it was able to seize it and defend it. Throughout the race it kept bouncing Team New Zealand back to the less-favoured right side, taking advantage of the pressure in the middle of the course.
New Zealand was able to hang in throughout the race but, in a consistent breeze, it wasn't able to overcome Luna Rossa's initial advantage.
"I think we did a very good job on the start and again it proved to be a very important part of the race," Luna Rossa co-helmsman Francesco Bruni said. "But also I think we sailed a lot better than what we did in that second race yesterday.
"I think the left was the right call and during the race the right was not looking as good."
The second race of the day was the mirror image of the first. From port entry, Luna Rossa dived down into the far right corner of the start box but, as it prepared to turn back up on its run to the line, it seemed to get stuck in a light spot and wasn't powered up.
Luna Rossa slowed and Team New Zealand kept up speed on its time and distance run, crossing the line first and quickly sailing to a lead of almost 400m.
"I think it was just a matter of getting caught in no wind and we just couldn't get the boat going back to the line," Spithill said. "It's a bit of a minefield out there, especially down the start box and we just couldn't get the boat to accelerate."
The America's Cup match is a best-of-13 series, with the winner being crowned champions and awarded the Auld Mug. The racing window for each race day will be around 4pm-6pm, with the first race of each day scheduled for 4.15pm.
Mar 14: Race 7 and 8 Mar 15: Race 9 and 10 Mar 16: Race 11* and 12* Mar 17: Race 13*
The Herald will have live updates on nzherald.co.nz/sport with AUT's sailing professor Mark Orams, and you can listen to live commentary on Newstalk ZB, Gold AM and iHeartRadio.
America's Cup coverage is free-to-air on TVNZ. You can also stream the action live or on-demand at tvnz.co.nz or on the America's Cup YouTube channel.
Heading into the Cup racing?
• Give yourself plenty of time and think about catching a ferry, train or bus to watch the cup.
• Make sure your AT Hop card is in your pocket. It's the best way to ride.
