It was a horrible day at the office for the crew of the French entry in the Louis Vuitton Cup today.
Racing against the defending Cup holder Prada, Le Défi, skippered by Luc Pillot, made a marginally better start at the pin end of the line and held the lead for the first three minutes.
Thereafter Prada's Luna Rossa, sailed by Francesco de Angelis, slowly pulled ahead with slightly superior boat speed.
Prada soon ground down the French boat's lead, seemingly able to point fractionally higher and make a small gain in velocity made good to windward.
The Italians slowly extended their lead throughout the race, leading by eight-seconds at the first windward mark and extending to 1.05 by the second windward mark.
Le Défi lost their spinnaker overboard at the second drop and unfortunately it got dragged onto the leeward mark while still attached to the boat for which Le Défi was awarded a penalty by the umpires.
The spinnaker problem delayed the French boat further and allowed Prada to finish the race without a close challenge from.
On the finishing line, Le Défi failed to finish correctly after having carried out their penalty and ended up scored as 'Did Not Finish (DNF)'.
Winds: S 16-22k
Winning margin: Had the French boat finished correctly, the winning margin would have been in the region of four minutes.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
First win for Prada as French cop a DNF
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