Egnot into action as True grab first place

By Suzanne McFadden

New Zealand yachtswoman Leslie Egnot and her American team-mates finally got their heads around the America's Cup dress rehearsal yesterday.

The America True crew came from no points on a tumultuous day one to be the leaders at the halfway stage of the Road to the America's Cup challenger series.

Egnot, helmswoman in the 1995 Cup regatta and now a new mum, had planned to spend this week on the True chase boat helping the crew out.

But she was called into the afterguard after the Americans were involved in a nationality squabble before racing began on Tuesday morning.

"I'm just loving it. I didn't know that I was going to be on the boat - I was reading the sailing instructions on the way out to the racecourse," she said.

"Our minds were more focused on the job today after our last-minute changes threw us the day before."

With points increasing for a win with each new day, America True now have a one-point lead over Bertrand Pace's Le Defi France team, with overnight leaders Prada Italy another point back.

It was a day again fraught with delays as the black boat's boom broke loose for the second day running.

It was not all plain sailing for the Americans, who won their last race by a mere five seconds from Francesco de Angelis' Italians.

With helmsman John Cutler accurately judging the nuances of the tide, the Trues had a decent lead over the Italians for most of the race. But in the final run home they stumbled with a jibe set of their spinnaker and almost blew it.

"We called for a manoeuvre which was more complicated than we needed," Egnot said. "The spinnaker was in a bit of a tangle, so our five-boat-length lead went to none at all. It was neck-and-neck, but our crew did well to rally together and keep fighting."

Earlier in the day, America True had scored a decisive win over Le Defi. After executing a superb start, they built their lead to 1m 4s at the finish-line.

The French won the first race of the day against Prada, getting the better of the start, heading left and crossing in front at their first meeting. They were four seconds up around the first mark and extended their lead upwind the second time, winning by 1m 3s.

Pictured: The America's Cup white boat during racing on the Waitemata Harbour yesterday. HERALD PICTURE / MARTIN SYKES