By PETER LESTER*
The passive nature of the pre-start in the second race was typical of the style of Alinghi helmsman and skipper Russell Coutts.
It was not aggressive - he doesnot engage if he's confident he is faster.
Off the start-line it was Alinghi to leeward, Oracle to windward.
When Oracle tacked, it
was tactical; they couldn't survive where they were, which would indicate Alinghi had the faster boat.
Up the first windward leg, Alinghi looked to have a speed advantage in the conditions seen yesterday.
Tacking up the first beat Alinghi seemed to be making gains on every tack. Oracle just do not seem to have the horsepower in the sail area or the stability or the hull form to match Alinghi in those conditions in a tacking duel.
It's harder for them to accelerate after the tacks, and I'm sure that has not gone unnoticed by those on Alinghi.
From the beginning of the Louis Vuitton Cup there has almost been a role reversal.
In the early rounds Oracle, in stability and upwind speed, were one of the fastest boats out there in their configuration.
With a whole bunch of designer mode changes, they have now gone to being probably in a configuration that is not as fast as Alinghi upwind.
The mode changes they have done have sped the boat up downwind, but they have traded that off in upwind stability and performance.
Coutts' boat is very powerful and so it is very strong upwind.
They have optimised their boat to win the first cross and win the first beat, and it is so very hard to pass after that.
In this regatta, in most cases the boat that dominates the first beat gets the point. Lead changes are unusual.
Win the first cross, win the race.
Win the first mark, win the race.
* Peter Lester is Yachting New Zealand's high-performance manager.
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