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KEY POINTS:
The Friendly Regatta's descent into the Fiery Regatta continues today as the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series heats up on the water with the start of the knockout stages.
The visiting teams face a do-or-die scenario from here on in, with organisers hoping to get in five races today, after which the team to face Alinghi in the Challenger final will be known.
Alinghi won through to the final by virtue of finishing at the top of the gold fleet. With the exception of Saturday's forfeited match against Emirates Team New Zealand, the Swiss did not drop a race in the second round, earning themselves a day off while the remaining teams scrap it out for the right to face them in the final.
At this stage BMWOracle Racing look the favourites to meet the Swiss in the Challenger final. The American syndicate heads into the quarterfinals on the back of a comprehensive win over Team New Zealand in yesterday's final match of round robin two.
Oracle will meet the winner of a sail-off between Luna Rossa and China Team in today's quarterfinal and while both teams have struggled at times during the regatta, Oracle tactician Hamish Pepper believes there are no easy races from here on in.
"Now the actual regatta really starts, it's cut-throat from here on in and we've got to win races and if we don't, we're out," said Pepper.
"We're not at the level we'd like to be from previous America's Cups, but that's just time in the boat. Mistakes are going to be made and are still being made during this regatta and the team that makes the least mistakes will win."
The surprise package of the regatta, Damiani Italia, also sealed their place in the quarterfinals yesterday. The crafty Italians beat out Team Origin, who after a strong start to the regatta appear to have gone off the boil in recent races.
The Brits will have a chance to reverse the result against Damiani in today's quarterfinal, if they can beat K-Challenge in the earlier sail-off.
While all this is playing out, Team New Zealand will be watching.
Team NZ will not be in action again until at least Friday, when the finals of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series are scheduled to start.
But the Kiwis would probably have preferred to have spent the time in the boat, because their form in the second round of the regatta has been patchy.
Yesterday's defeat to BMWOracle was Team New Zealand's third loss in four matches, if you exclude the weekend's forfeited match against Alinghi. And with the remaining syndicates set for intense match-racing over the next few days, privately the hosts are likely to be feeling nervous about their form.
But Team NZ skipper Dean Barker was confident his team had the goods.
"We're looking forward to it. Obviously we have to come out firing on Friday. We're not sailing badly, it's just not clicking as well as it should," said Barker. "We're just making little mistakes which are in the end contributing to the losses. We know we're very close to getting it all together, but I guess it's good to get the bad races out of the way now."
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
Team New Zealand leave the regatta and advance straight to the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series final.
Alinghi, as top qualifiers in the gold fleet, advance directly to the Challenger final.
The two leading boats in the silver fleet after round robin two (China Team, K-Challenge) join the four other boats from the gold fleet (BMWOracle, Team Origin, Damiani Italia, Luna Rossa) in the quarter-finals, where they will battle it out for the right to face Alinghi in the Challenger final.
The winners of the Challenger final meet Team New Zealand in the series final.
Round robin two
Day five results
GOLD FLEET
Alinghi bt Luna Rossa (23s)
Damiani Italia bt Team Origin (24s)
BMWOracle bt Team New Zealand (27s)
9th/10th sail-off
Greek Challenge bt Shosholoza (31s)
Today's races
Sailoff - race A: Team Origin v K-Challenge
Sailoff - race B: Luna Rossa v China Team
Quarterfinal 1: Damiani Italia v Winner race A
Quarterfinal 2: BMWOracle v Winner race B
Semifinal: Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2
