Yachting: Ripping yarns on harbour

Team New Zealand forced All4One (pictured) into an error on the startline yesterday. Photo / Getty Images

It wasn't quite their Waterloo, but a brutal clash with the British left the French Aleph team back at square one in the Louis Vuitton Trophy on the Waitemata Harbour yesterday.

On a day of carnage in blustery winds, Aleph swiped their boat's stern across the bow of TeamOrigin in the pre-start of their encounter, and were slapped with a penalty, then docked a point for failing to avoid hard contact.

The jury last night dismissed a protest lodged by the French to get their point back.

A quick patch-up job with duct tape had both damaged boats sailing again but it meant a long night in the boat shed for the Emirates Team New Zealand shore crew.

Swedish team Artemis also left them with a list of fix-it jobs - including a snapped spinnaker pole and torn gennaker - from their disastrous race with the Italian Azzura team.

Artemis were forced to abandon a decisive lead at the first mark when the crew error left them flailing.

Azzurra sailed the rest of the course alone to move into second place on the points table behind unbeaten hosts, Emirates Team New Zealand. Both winners of previous Louis Vuitton regattas, these two will meet for the first time today in forecast fresh breezes.

Although the Italians denied Team NZ the trophy in Nice, skipper Dean Barker won't call it a grudge match: "They're just one of the teams we have to beat."

TeamOrigin were desperate for a win yesterday to keep them in semifinals contention, but they weren't expecting the pre-start drama that unfolded.

Matt Cornwall, mid-bowman on TeamOrigin, said the crew saw the collision coming, and tried to dip down behind the French transom to avoid the hit.

Aleph, to their credit, recovered enough to keep the screws tight on TeamOrigin for the rest of the race. They trailed by three boat lengths at the finish, before carrying out the penalty turn they incurred in the crash.

The pained faces of the Artemis crew back at the dock told their story.

Tactician Paul Cayard and navigator Kevin Hall read the shifts astutely up the first beat to build a 100m lead over Francesco Bruni's Azzurra crew, but as they rounded the mark and prepared for a bear-away spinnaker set, the tip of the spinnaker pole nose-dived into the water and cracked in half.

Mascalzone Latino Audi survived a botched spinnaker drop, gift-wrapping the bow in white sail, to beat the hapless Russian Synergy team by 19s.

The only race without real incident was Emirates Team New Zealand's 26s win over All4One, to cement their lead halfway through the round-robin.

Barker was happy with his team's crew-work after their win in the shifty late-morning breeze.

"The guys have been fantastic - we haven't had many mistakes as yet. We just have to keep sailing well as an afterguard," he said. "Without question, teams have got much better at sailing these boats well."

It was smart crew-work from Team NZ that forced All4One to make a fatal mistake at the startline. Barker wriggled out of a tight spot enforced by All4One helmsman Sebastien Col, mastering a downspeed tack right on the pin end of the startline. All4One were squeezed out, giving Team NZ an immediate headstart.

Col pushed Barker all the way up the course, but Barker dragged the German-French boat beyond the layline, giving Team NZ the inside running to the top mark.

Their 32s lead around the buoy was nibbled at by All4One down the run, dropping the difference to 23s, but despite the swirling winds and All4One's dogged attacks, Team NZ made sure there were no passing lanes available.

All4One skipper Jochen Schumann said his crew sailed a good race, but they never had a chance after the bad start.