That was a pretty encouraging race for Alinghi. They were superb.
Oracle started well and, on the first beat, created an opportunity to pass Alinghi by taking the left.
But the telling moment was after the second mark, which Oracle had rounded with a 27s lead.
Within 10 minutes Alinghi, through really good
tactical sailing, closed the lead down to being within a boat-length.
In the end they managed to squeeze a little bit extra out of the boat. They got in phase with the windshift. So each time they tacked, they seemed to tack faster and also seemed to be on the lifted tack.
It didn't take them very long to erode those 27s. They just simply found a little bit extra out of themselves and out of the boat.
We should sit back and applaud. On that windward beat they were just better.
I was perhaps a little surprised that Oracle didn't change the game earlier, although when you're watching it's easy to sit back and say that.
The tacking duel and the keeping-in-phase was not working for them.
When they identified that their lead was being eroded, they could perhaps have changed the game - maybe protect the left-hand side or the right-hand side.
We saw Alinghi do that on the last beat - they decided to protect the right and not get into a tacking duel.
It does look ominous for Oracle, 4-1 down.
On the run when Oracle got into the position of having to sail hot angles, with the gennaker on, when stability becomes a factor, they were outmuscled.
Alinghi put themselves in a position where they were able to use the boat's stability to move away from Oracle. USA76 does not appear to tack as well as Alinghi.
But Oracle have done a darn good job against Alinghi, and if they keep creating opportunities they're still in with a chance.
* Peter Lester is Yachting New Zealand's high-performance manager.
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