KEY POINTS:
Alinghi may have the lead but it was Team New Zealand who received all the plaudits after race five of the 32nd America's Cup today.
Alinghi lead the series 3-2 after winning by 19 seconds on yet another drama-filled day in Valencia.
In conditions tailor-made to the Swiss,
Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker performed brilliantly in the pre-start to out-sail his opposite, Ed Baird, and round the top mark 12s ahead.
But disaster struck early in the first run when a hole in the spinnaker emerged in a high pressure point. Just as they were preparing to peel off to a new one, the kite shredded, causing the black boat to depower.
The replacement then got tangled, forcing the Kiwis to hoist another by which time Alinghi had sailed out to a six boat length lead.
Team New Zealand regrouped and were able to peg back Alinghi's lead, however, the initial damage was done and the Swiss held on for their second consecutive victory.
Despite Alinghi seizing the lead and the momentum in the best of nine series, international media were left amazed at how Team New Zealand were able to match Alinghi in the stronger conditions and are not writing off the Kiwis just yet.
"So where was the speed advantage in the weather that Alinghi's crew had supposedly been licking their chops over? Nowhere to be seen on the first beat," wrote International Herald Tribune's yachting writer Christopher Clarey.
"Friday's (Saturday NZ time) race was contested in the stiff and steady sea breeze of 14 to 16 knots for which Alinghi has been planning and designing since it won the trophy in 2003,"
"It is also now possible to feel better than ever about Team New Zealand's chances of taking the Cup back to Auckland," he said.
Yachting website Sail-World.com's Bob Fisher echoed similar statements and said the race for the Auld Mug is far from over.
"One thing is certain. Alinghi is not the 'rocket ship' we had all supposed that she would be in these conditions, the ones for which the design was optimised," he said.
"Team New Zealand's NZL-92 matched Alinghi's SUI-100 for speed upwind and down. It was crew work that defined the difference in the fifth race. The 32nd America's Cup promises to be extremely close."
Stuart Alexander of Britain's Independent newspaper also praised team New Zealand but pointed out it is now up to the challengers to make the play.
"TNZ's defeat did not come from a mistake but from that tear in the red triangular spinnaker," he said.
"That they were able to regain composure and cut the deficit spoke volumes for the Kiwis. But, though all predictions have now been discarded, the initiative is now in Swiss hands."
- NZ HERALD STAFF
