By HELEN TUNNAH
A dramatic tussle on the Hauraki Gulf has suddenly injected life into the America's Cup.
It began with the waving of protest flags, ran on to the smacking of a bow on a rival's stern and ended with a daring penalty turn that proved just one second too
long for Oracle's terrier crew.
"They had us on the ropes," Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts admitted after leading the Swiss to their third straight win in the Louis Vuitton Cup finals.
"If it wasn't for the penalty ... " read Oracle BMW's blow-by-blow website account of the match race.
The end result may have been the same as the previous two encounters - Oracle lost and Alinghi now need just two more races to qualify for the America's Cup match against Team New Zealand - but today's duel has lifted hopes the one-way processions of past weeks are over.
"It was a helluva race," said Louis Vuitton media director Bruno Trouble.
"That was the best race of the regatta. It proved Alinghi's not infallible," said Yachting New Zealand's high-performance manager Peter Lester.
The winds and swell had dropped on the Hauraki Gulf today, and for several hours the lack of wind left spectators and crews expecting racing to be called off.
But once racing started, just before the afternoon cut-off time, it seemed conditions were tailor-made for Oracle, skippered by Chris Dickson.
Out of favour before the contest, he controversially returned to skipper USA76 last October and today called a vital switch in his crew for the third race of the finals series.
He called the tactics and handed the helm back to the world's top-ranked match-racer, Virgin Islander Peter Holmberg.
The change came painfully close to causing Alinghi's downfall.
The fourth leg proved critical.
Coutts and Holmberg engaged the boats in a luffing duel, the boats barely apart, and it was Alinghi who had to keep clear.
Dickson urged a penalty be given.
He seemed twice to have Alinghi trapped and waved his red-and-yellow flag desperately, but could not get the umpires to budge.
Seconds later, the officials did wave their flag - but it was Coutts and his tactician, Brad Butterworth, who had set the trap.
Oracle, still attacking, but no longer with the right of way, surged down a wave too quickly and a driving mistake had left the boat too close to Alinghi.
Holmberg couldn't avoid a collision, and the bow of Oracle smacked hard into Alinghi's transom for a clear-cut penalty.
Even then, the drama was not over.
With a penalty turn hanging over them, Oracle slipped past Alinghi at the fourth mark and pushed out to a 29-second lead at the last mark.
With Alinghi bearing down, Holmberg called for Oracle's penalty turn manoeuvre on the line. His crew tried, but failed.
They fell a second short, and clipped the buoy as they did so to get slapped with a second penalty and a relieved Alinghi notched up their third win.
Billionaire backer and navigator Ernesto Bertarelli rated the joust as one of the most exciting races he has ever sailed.
"We were really nervous. We are happy about this win, this huge win."
Dickson said the penalty cost them the race.
"We showed that USA 76 has the speed to challenge the Swiss."
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
By HELEN TUNNAH
A dramatic tussle on the Hauraki Gulf has suddenly injected life into the America's Cup.
It began with the waving of protest flags, ran on to the smacking of a bow on a rival's stern and ended with a daring penalty turn that proved just one second too
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