Seven races against Mascalzone Latino await the winner of today's deciding semifinal between Team New Zealand and Azzurra. Photo / Getty Images
Another compelling chapter in the rivalry between Team New Zealand and Italian syndicate Azzurra looks set to unfold today as the two sides battle it out for a place in the final of the Louis Vuitton Trophy.
The two teams will sail the deciding semifinal match today, after racing was
called off just after seven last night, with the series evenly poised at one apiece.
The winner of today's race will face Mascalzone Latino in the best-of-seven finals series after the Italians battled to a 2-1 win over Swedish team Artemis in the other semifinal match-up.
There will likely be plenty of feeling in today's decider, after Emirates Team New Zealand dodged a bullet in yesterday's second race to square the series.
The Italians, who upstaged Team New Zealand in the final at the last Louis Vuitton tour event in Nice, took the first race of the semifinals after taking advantage of a tactical error from the locals on the second beat.
With around five hours to dwell on their disappointing performance as organisers opted to get the other semifinals races out of the way, Team New Zealand returned to the race course determined not to let the Italians get the better of them again.
But they got away to the worst possible start, incurring a silly penalty in the startbox.
The Kiwis recovered to win the start and led around the course, but Azzurra did an impressive job of keeping the distance tight, without getting too close to allow Team New Zealand to engage and try to offset the penalty.
Despite stretching out their advantage to more than 130m down the final run, it was touch and go whether the local boys would have enough of a lead to execute the turn as they approached the line. But in the most thrilling finish of the regatta, Team New Zealand managed to spin the boat around the finish pin and squeeze across by just two seconds.
Team New Zealand tactician Ray Davies said his team could not have cut it any finer.
"We did it in 134m - that would be our absolute limit, we couldn't have done it with any less."
