KEY POINTS:
VALENCIA - Alinghi threw the gauntlet down to the 11 challengers hoping to grab the America's Cup from their clutches in June, when the Swiss crew sailed past all their rivals to win the last warm-up regatta on Saturday.
Alinghi won four of the seven fleet races over a rainy and squally week and ended 14 points clear at the top of the pile, gaining psychological advantage before they set off to train alone while the others fight for the right to challenge them.
"There were lots of people leading at various marks, but we came out on top so we're excited about that," said Ed Baird, Alinghi's helmsman for the Act 13 regatta.
Meanwhile, the challengers were worried after their first set of races against one of Alinghi's two new boats.
"One thing we've learned ... is just how good Alinghi is. Their hardware is very fast and as we've seen over the past few days they can get themselves out of trouble with apparent ease," said Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton.
There were plenty of surprises among the challengers, which start the Louis Vuitton Cup playoffs on April 16 to decide who gets to sail Alinghi for the world's oldest sporting trophy.
Before this regatta, there were three favourites seen as certain to make the semi-finals of the LV Cup -- the Kiwis, US team BMW Oracle and Italy's Luna Rossa.
But BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa were elbowed down the table in Act 13 by Italian crew Mascalzone Latino, who powered through the week with some very strong racing to take third place and prove they are major contenders for the LV Cup semis.
Not to be outdone, Desafio Espanol crossed the line seven seconds ahead of Alinghi to win the sixth race of the week to the delight of the home crowd. They came sixth overall.
"The boats go pretty similar. There's not a huge difference between the teams going for that fourth place in the semi-finals," said Mascalzone Latino helmsman Jes Gram-Hansen.
The end of the act lays down the final challenger ranking which gives teams bonus points to take into the LV Cup based on their performance in warm-up races since 2005.
Team New Zealand, who lost the America's Cup to Alinghi in 2003, stayed at the top of the table and will start the LV Cup with four points. BMW Oracle, Luna Rossa and Desafio Espanol each take in three points.
Mascalzone Latino, Sweden's Victory Challenge and South Africans Shosholoza come next with two points. Italian syndicate +39 also gets two points after being awarded a redress by the jury following a crash this week which broke their mast.
The rest start with one point.
- REUTERS
