Yachting: Team NZ pip Alinghi in final of pre-regatta

Team New Zealand strategist Ray Davies said not racing Alinghi was never an option for his team going into the final of the 12th America's Cup pre-regatta in Valencia.

In a day where protests flags flew, gear failed and Oracle and Luna Rossa collided, smashing Oracle's bowsprit and causing a deep gash in side of the Italian boat, Team New Zealand emerged unscathed.

Securing a stunning 11-second win over Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing, the New Zealand syndicate claimed a place in the final against Alinghi, where they won the first race by 17s.

The best-of-three race series was scheduled to finish overnight.

But leading up to the first race in the final there was plenty of speculation around the dock as to whether it was in Emirates Team New Zealand's best interest to race Alinghi and give them a further chance to analyse their new race boat NZL84.

Davies, though, said his team "absolutely wanted to sail against them".

"It is very important to win for ourselves to feel we can beat Alinghi. Obviously they demolished us in the last America's Cup, so it is very important for us to gain confidence that we can go head to head with these guys," he said.

"We feel we are still learning about our new boat at the moment, so it is hard for them to learn more than we are at the moment because we are onboard it."

While their match against Alinghi was close all the way around the course, it wasn't quite the epic battle they had against Oracle - a race which has been described as one of the best in modern America's Cup history.

With a win each in the best-of-three series, the match was always going to be a colossal battle between two predominantly Kiwis crews, two boats which are relatively even in speed and two teams whose work is the finest in the competition.

Although Team New Zealand led over the startline and had their nose fractionally in front at every mark, the lead changed several times throughout the race.

With the boats never separated by more than two lengths, every match-racing tactic in the book was employed to try to gain the smallest advantage.

The defining moment came at the final mark, where Team New Zealand was desperately trying to protect a one-second lead.

Team New Zealand sailed Oracle off the right-hand side of the course. Oracle managed to roll past NZL84 but could never get far enough ahead to cross the bow.

As the boats sailed further and further to the right, Oracle continuously appealed to the umpires that the Kiwis were sailing above their proper course.

But the umpires judged Team New Zealand clean.

The New Zealanders then rolled into a gybe, quickly establishing a one-boat-length lead, which they managed to hold on to until the finish.

The win over Oracle means Team New Zealand finish the year as the top challengers.

Even if they don't beat Alinghi, Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton said, his team will take a lot out of this regatta.

"We have beaten every team, which is a good measure of how far we have progressed in two years.

"We can now confidently set course for the next few months when we complete our testing and training in Valencia for 2006 then return to Auckland to launch the second new boat."

Dickson was back in the centre of the action in the petite final against Luna Rossa.

The American team copped a penalty in the prestart for gybing too close to Luna Rossa.

About halfway up the beat, the yachts re-converged and once again the Italian team tacked right in front of USA87.

In the process, the two yachts collided. USA87 snapped its bowsprit and there was damage to the hull of the Italian yacht.

The umpires ruled that the Luna Rossa had tacked too close to Oracle and penalised the Italians.

With the two penalties now cancelling each other out, it was a straight race for the finish, but shortly afterwards the Luna Rossa team withdrew, but not before a livid crew member had punched his fist in the air.

Both teams lodged protests and the America's Cup international jury dismissed Luna Rossa Challenge's protest against Oracle.

The jury found in favour of Oracle and confirmed that the US team won the opening race. With both yachts seriously damaged and unable to continue racing, the jury awarded Oracle an additional point.

That puts USA87 on 2-0, giving Oracle the best-of-three petite final. Oracle finished the regatta in third place.