Auckland's notorious sou'westers swept through the Team Racing world championships yesterday and turned the leading nations on their heads.
The two teams who have dominated world Team Racing for four years, New Zealand and the United States, struggled to get wins on the board as the winds gusted to 30 knotson the Waitemata Harbour.
New Zealand's top Laser dinghy sailor, Andrew Murdoch, and his sister Rebecca were given a curt reminder of how blustery it can get on their home waters. Sailing together in a two-handed 420 dinghy, they led their race against the Netherlands until they capsized in a sudden gust.
It was New Zealand's second loss of the day. The first was to United States 1.
When racing was abandoned early in the afternoon, defending champions New Zealand 1, from the Kerikeri Yacht Club, had scored three wins from five races.
The day turned out worse for their arch-rivals, United States 2, who had been unbeaten in the first two days but yesterday slumped to a two-win, three-loss record.
None of the eight teams in the gold league got through the windy morning session unscathed, but the best performers of the day were the USA 1 team, led by Patrick Hogan, one of America's top college sailors. The team, from New England, notched up four wins and one loss.
The experienced Great Britain 1 are also near the top of the leaderboard with four victories and two losses.
In the silver fleet, the young New Zealand 2 team from Kohimarama Yacht Club in Auckland were unbeaten after four races, as were India 1.
The world championship final will be raced on Friday.
