View photosKEY POINTS:
Team New Zealand now know where they are at. They know their strengths and weaknesses against Alinghi.
And now we have a benchmark to compare the two teams. Until yesterday's race one we didn't.
This morning's race and the next one are crucial.
Team New Zealand have to win at least one of them.
In race one we saw two evenly matched boats upwind. The crucial first cross was created by wind shift and positioning as opposed to speed.
Downwind was where Alinghi were dominant.
On the first run we could give Team New Zealand the benefit of the doubt and think: "Was it right-hand shift or positioning, or pressure?"
Alinghi gained seven seconds on the first run and 21 seconds on the final run. In my mind that wasn't wind shift or pressure, it was boat speed.
Alinghi's whole boat package was behind their speed downwind. Their rig sits a lot straighter in the boat compared with Team New Zealand's, which means they have less mast rake.
Less mast rake downwind can be an advantage because the spinnaker projects itself better to the wind.
In those conditions, moderate wind with big waves, the Alinghi boat with the fuller bow sections seemed to want to accelerate, or surf the waves a little bit easier than NZL92.
Even though the New Zealand boat is very narrow, because of its sections it doesn't support itself to accelerate on the waves as Alinghi's SUI100 appeared to do.
Alinghi's sails package also looked nice.
To match Alinghi it looks as if the New Zealanders have sped their boat up upwind, which you can do by changing the bulb, winglets and rudder. But you pay for that.
They may be slower downwind in certain conditions, the rationale being if you can be ahead at the first mark you can defend a lead easier downwind.
Upwind Team New Zealand didn't look as strong on the first beat as they did in the second. It wouldn't surprise me if they used a different genoa on the second upwind beat.
I suspect they will evaluate their mode changes. They do have the ability to do some modifications if they choose. They could change their wing angles on their bulb and their rudder.
They will look very carefully at the conditions, which are going to play a huge part.
If Alinghi raced Team New Zealand again in that condition - 14 to 15 knots and big waves - you might see a similar result.
