“That was a good bit of fun,” Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling said.
“We really wanted that right and when they jumped us early we thought we’d take on the split. We hadn’t seen one yet this even so it’s good to get one under our belt and it seemed to work out all right.”
Very even over the starting line, the Kiwis showed a glimpse of how fast their package is, taking the lead from Alinghi on the first cross of the match.
Alinghi stayed close on the upwind leg, but Team NZ sailed a clean race and quickly began to pull away.
Ultimately, they left the Swiss in their wake to claim a strong win.
“We’re really happy with our performance across the range. It’s really a lot about actually understanding how to sail the boat or how to use your equipment well,” Burling said.
“We’re still learning a lot about that, but we’re really happy in those conditions. We haven’t actually seen that light air for a little while, so it was a little bit about just switching back in after that first beat and we’re really happy with the way we did.”
The day wasn’t without its issues, though. After Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy) and Orient Express Racing Team (France) were forced to retire from races over the first two days, American Magic were in that position today.
The Americans had no choice but to pull out of their match against the French during the pre-start, suffering a rudder issue while trying to make a turn. One of the form teams of the regatta, they would be assessing the damage once they got back to their base and hoped to be back on course for their match against Team NZ on the final day of the competition. It gave Orient Express their first win of the regatta.
“We don’t really know. We lost rudder control in the entry there as we started to circle. We still had a little bit of steering but didn’t have any rake management which is why the boat dropped out of the sky and made it difficult for us,” American Magic helmsman Paul Goodison said.
“It’s all part of the puzzle. The big thing is that we figure out what went wrong. The boat has been so reliable, the guys have been doing a great job of getting us out here every day so we’ve just got to dive in to find out what went wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The French weren’t the only team to get on the board, with Ineos Britannia (the United Kingdom) claiming their first win when they beat the Swiss.
It was a competitive match race between the two, as they duelled early on before the British showed their superiority downwind to edge ahead. The Swiss kept it fairly close throughout the race, but the Brits finally got the chance to show what they might be capable of in the upcoming challenger series.
They weren’t able to follow that up in their second race of the day, however, with an early arrival into the starting box essentially ending their hopes against Luna Rossa before they even had a chance.
Day four will bring the preliminary regatta to its conclusion, with each team competing in one more race each before the top two teams on the leaderboard meet in the final.
Preliminary regatta day three results
Ineos Britannia (UK) beat Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland)
Orient Express Racing Team (France) beat American Magic (United States)
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy) beat Ineos Britannia
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Alinghi Red Bull Racing
Day four races
Emirates Team New Zealand v American Magic
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli v Alinghi Red Bull Racing
Orient Express Racing Team v Ineos Britannia
The top two teams on the leaderboard will then compete in the final
Table through day three
Emirates Team New Zealand 4-0
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 3-1
American Magic 2-2
Ineos Britannia 1-3
Alinghi Red Bull Racing 1-3
Orient Express Racing Team 1-3
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
