Team NZ 2nd in MedCup warmup

Team New Zealand finished second to British boat Cristabella in the practice race ahead of their defence of yachting's MedCup in Portugal today.

The five-regatta series, which is raced in TP52s, begins this week with the Portugal Trophy event, in which 11 crews will line up off Cascais until Monday (NZT).

Team New Zealand led for most of today's practice race in tricky shifting breezes, which fluctuated between 11 and 14 knots.

Skipper Dean Barker said he was very happy with the performance of the crew and the boat, NZL380, modified at the end of last season to enhance its performance.

"Today was a good opportunity to check in with the conditions, the boat speed and crew work," Barker said.

"We had a pretty good start near the committee boat end, and it was a really shifty first beat where we managed to have a very good battle with TeamOrigin, Cristabella and Matador. We ended up leading around the top mark, and went through the bottom gate even with Cristabella."

In a true test of tactics, NZL380 continued to enjoy the lead around the final windward mark, and headed offshore downwind to take advantage of more breeze, but as the wind softened, Cristabella passed them on the run to the finish.

Said Barker: "The boat feels good. We're very happy with the changes, and the shore crew have done a great job getting us ready. We're just looking forward to the racing now."

Barker also took note of the quality of the 10 other TP52 boats lining up for the Portugal Trophy, predicting the standard of racing will be "certainly a lot higher" this season.

Among the lineup are three newcomers - TeamOrigin, the French-German All4One syndicate and Luna Rossa.

Racing officially gets under way in Cascais tomorrow.

- NZPA