Yachting: Team NZ head the field at World Series regatta

Team New Zealand. Photo / Chris Cameron

Team New Zealand got a good start to the Plymouth America's Cup World Series regatta, finishing the day with two wins and a third.

The results gave skipper Dean Barker a lead on points at the end of the first day of the "preliminaries".

Emirates Team New Zealand has 28 points of a possible 30 at stake in the three fleet races, followed by Artemis Racing and Oracle 4 each on 26.

"There was plenty going on out there ... big wind across short, tight courses," said Barker.

The team started the day the way they finished at Cascais last month - with a win. They got a clean start, were first around mark 1 and led to the finish.

They were chased hard by Oracle 4 with James Spithill at the helm. With their lead swinging from 50m to 150m, the slimmest of margins in the conditions, Barker was never comfortable.

He doggedly defended the right side of the course and rounded every mark in the lead.

The second race did not start well. Barker was caught in a traffic jam at the committee end of the start line and got away slowly, well back in the fleet.

"We lined up for the start but were a little early. Oracle 4 did a good job of taking our position and got away cleanly while we got caught in the traffic."

Oracle 4 went on to do what Team New Zealand did in the previous race and led to the finish.

After rounding mark 1 in seventh place, Barker and crew picked their way through the fleet to finish third behind Oracle 4 and Artemis.

Team New Zealand stayed out of trouble at the pin end of the start line in the third race and got away at speed. Once again the team led from start to finish. Artemis and Oracle 4 chased hard.

Oracle 4 and Team New Zealand split at mark 5, Barker going left and Spithill right. Barker initially extended but Spithill worked the right hard and was looking good until he got involved with spectator craft that had strayed into the course. Artemis took over second place and Spithill finished fourth.

In speed trials Oracle 5 (Russell Coutts) was fastest with a speed of 45.35km/h over the 500m course. Team New Zealand was second with a speed of 43.72km/h.