Blog: Proud day to be Kiwi

Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker celebrates with his crew after winning the Louis Vuitton Cup. Photo / Reuters

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Well it was a proud day to be a kiwi in Valencia today.

There were Kiwis celebrating everywhere.

Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa in race five to take the challenger series final 5-0.

They will now race Alinghi for the America's Cup in a best of nine race series starting on June 23.

From being down and out in 2003, the appointment of Grant Dalton has been important and the money from the New Zealand Government now looks like a pretty smart investment.

In the space of three years Dalton has turned it around. They have re-established themselves to be a strong team and are right back at the forefront of the America's Cup.

In the race today what ever Luna Rossa did to their boat, it looked like they re-moded for light air, it certainly improved it. They might be kicking themselves a bit. They also had a different mainsail on, maybe even a code one, it was huge in the head and shorter on the foot. It certainly improved the performance of their boat downwind.

The New Zealanders didn't get the right but they compressed the lateral between the two boats. At the first cross they were a bow ahead.

The spectator wash was a bit of a problem today. Some boats were too close and going too fast. When the water was flat Luna Rossa were going pretty quick. When they hit that lumpy water in light air they struggled a bit.

So that is it. The Louis Vuitton Cup is over.

Bring on Alinghi!

Visit Peter Lester's website Full coverage of the America's Cup from nzherald.co.nz/americascup and desktoptv.co.nz