By HELEN TUNNAH
The calm of the opening round-robins was gone.
Around the Viaduct Harbour yesterday there was an obvious lift in tension and out on the Hauraki Gulf there was a startling boost in aggression as the Louis Vuitton Cup quarter-finals began.
The sharper racing edge was there to see as Alinghi tactician Brad Butterworth taught his rivals a thing or two about waving a penalty flag.
His hand hovered over the red and yellow-striped flag as Prada bore down on the Swiss favourites in the America's Cup challenger series, and it was only a matter of time before it was unfurled and flying.
Prada's carelessness in clipping Alinghi's stern eventually cost the Louis Vuitton Cup holders the race.
Though Alinghi, under Russell Coutts, took first blood in the first of the best-of-seven races, Prada tactician Torben Grael and skipper Francesco de Angelis got closer to the former Team NZ duo of Butterworth and Coutts than many expected.
De Angelis shouldered the blame for the collision. "In the end it was an unnecessary error, but I knew I had to push hard in a race like this."
In the other races, Oracle BMW Racing beat OneWorld Challenge in an equally tight battle. New skipper Chris Dickson showed all his experience as he out-manoeuvred his Seattle opponents.
GBR Challenge beat Team Dennis Conner and Victory Challenge beat Le Defi Areva.
Fast and furious on the gulf
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