Yachting: NZ win both races in Valencia

Team New Zealand won both their races in the pre-America's Cup Act 4 yachting regatta in Valencia today.

They beat French syndicate K-Challenge by 50sec in the opening race of the regatta and followed that up with a 2min 27sec victory over Italian Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team.

K-Challenge's FRA 60 led NZL 82 at the start but the New Zealanders hauled in their opponents in moderate 6-8 knot easterly.

The Emirates sponsored Team New Zealand had an easier second race.

"The conditions weren't very easy," Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said.

Racing continues for the next four days and will be followed by Act 5 -- a fleet racing regatta.

Local heroes Desafio Espanol 2007 got off to a strong start, beating the first ever German team to race in the America's Cup, United internet Team Germany. The Spaniards later fell to Luna Rossa Challenge.

The new German challengers bounced back to surprise K-Challenge with a strong performance in the second flight, winning by 1min 02sec.

Another highlight of the opening day was the tight match between BMW Oracle Racing and Sweden's Victory Challenge, who put in a credible performance against one of the strongest teams in the cup. Oracle eventually won by 51sec.

The new China Team had a difficult welcome as they faced defending cup champions Alinghi and BMW Oracle. They lost both races.

RESULTS

Flight 1

Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 82) bt K-Challenge (FRA 60) by 50sec

Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) bt Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team by 3min 24sec

Desafio Espanol 2007 (ESP 67) bt United internet Team Germany by 1min 59sec

BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 76) bt Victory Challenge (SWE 63) by 51sec

+39 Challenge (ITA 59) bt Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) by 5min 24sec

Alinghi (SUI 75) bt China Team (CHN 69) by 6min 48sec

Flight 2

Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 82) bt Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team by 2min 27sec

United internet Team Germany (GER 72) bt K-Challenge (FRA 60) by 1min 02sec

Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) bt Desafio Espanol 2007 (ESP 67) by 1min 12sec

Victory Challenge (SWE 63) bt +39 Challenge (ITA 59) ny 1min 51sec

Alinghi (SUI 75) bt Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) by 3min 34sec

BMW Oracle Racing (USA 76) bt China Team (FRA 69) by 1min 39sec

Points leaderboard

Alinghi 2, BMW ORACLE Racing 2, Emirates Team New Zealand 2, Luna Rossa Challenge 2, Victory Challenge 1, +39 Challenge 1, United internet Team Germany 1, Desafio Espanol 2007 1, K-Challenge 0, Team Shosholoza 0, Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team 0, China Team 0.

- NZPA