Well done, guys. 5-0 wouldn't surprise me now

By CHRIS DICKSON

Well sailed, Team New Zealand.

Absolute control of the pre-start turned a starboard-end entry into a starboard-tack advantage, then into a lead that was never challenged in race one of the America's Cup final.

Team NZ tactically controlled Prada for all but a few minutes of the race, and the few times Prada were let off the leash it was simply to see the black boat extend the lead.

From early in the pre-start, the Team NZ boat-handling stood out above Prada's, and then they went on to show that their tacks were smoother, their gybes faster and their spinnaker-handling superior.

Although the first 10 minutes of the race showed Prada may have been the quicker boat, Team NZ very quickly came back and then extended easily.

Perhaps Team NZ eventually had more wind on the right-hand side of the course, or more likely they held their own when the shift was in Prada's favour and then capitalised in leaps and bounds when the wind was even.

Whatever the reason, Team NZ made very significant gains on all the windward legs.

Downwind was a little more difficult to judge, but the fourth leg, when Prada gained more than 30s, was the only one of the three downhills where the two boats sailed in the same patch of water, so that must be a glimmer of hope for Prada and an area of concern for Team NZ.

Upwind, it appears Prada may be comfortable sailing a little closer to the wind and a little slower than Team NZ, while downwind Prada seem to prefer sailing a little lower.

This is likely to mean that the differences in the boats make them perform best at different angles, or perhaps it indicates that Team NZ are quicker upwind and convert their advantage into speed, while Prada may have the edge downwind and convert it into sailing closer to the mark.

A one-nil lead to Team NZ is not very significant in a first-to-five series.

But what was revealing was that the black boat is fast enough in the lighter conditions and that once in front, Team NZ did not make any mistakes and appeared unlikely to.

In stronger winds I can only see Team NZ getting faster, which would make them equal or faster in all conditions.

All is not lost for Prada, however, and if they had been on the right-hand side of the course after the start they could quite easily have led around the first mark and with downwind speed would have extended enough to have achieved the same result.

In summary, and in my biased opinion, Team NZ have an advantage in pre-start tactics, boat-handling, course tactics, tacking, gybing, crew work and upwind boat speed.

That would leave Prada with a possible edge downwind only.

And the final result? Five-nil would not surprise me.