Yachting: Dalton looks for more in Med Cup

Marseille is reputed to be a yachting venue with a steady supply of breeze and Emirates Team New Zealand are hoping that will help them to their maiden Med Cup regatta win this week.

Team NZ have just arrived in Marseille after finishing third in their inaugural crack at the competitive Alicante regatta last month.

Spain's Matador leads the way, followed closely by Sweden's Artemis (which includes crack Kiwi sailor Russell Coutts) and Team NZ, with defending champions Quantum (USA) fourth.

But the regatta was plagued by light airs in Alicante, making racing a bit of a lottery and seeing some topsy-turvy results. Marseille's more steady wind should help the Kiwis.

"The long range forecast, if you can believe them, says it will be a steady 10-15 knots through the early part of the week, which will be helpful," said Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton yesterday. "We probably should have won that last regatta so we've got a bit to do yet."

Team NZ led in Alicante before a poor last day dropped them to third. The Med Cup is sailed in individual regattas in Alicante, Marseille, Cagliari (Sardinia), Portimao (Portugal) and Cartagena (Spain), with the final regatta finishing on September 19. The Cup is won with cumulative scores over all regattas.

Team NZ are still well-placed but Dalton said they are not yet sailing their TP52 yacht as well as they might, particularly in light airs.

" It's not the boat - it is a little bit sticky in very light airs downwind but we are just not sailing well downwind yet and we have got to iron that little bit out."

Such things can improve quickly. Dalton recalled how, in the Louis Vuitton Pacific series sailed in Auckland this year, how the team had similarly been sailing below par and had lost three matches in a row before heading out in the final aaginst Alinghi.

"Then we just got it right, went out there and smacked them," said Dalton. "We'll be looking for something like that again.

"We are not going to be making any changes, we just have to be a bit more consistent."

Racing in Marseille starts on Tuesday and finishes on Sunday.