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Posted at 3:54 p.m., Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Sailing: Kiwis beat Swiss in America's Cup thriller

By Paul Logothetis
Associated Press

VALENCIA, Spain — On a day of shifting winds and swelling waves, the challenger from New Zealand took the lead in the America's Cup today in a classic race in which it beat defending champion Alinghi and nearly lost a crew member overboard.

Emirates Team New Zealand is ahead 2-1 after prevailing in a race that featured eight lead changes, bow-to-bow sailing and a victory margin of 25 seconds. The fourth race in the best-of-nine series for the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sports, is tomorrow.

Wind blew in all directions across the course, generating large swells and testing both teams' decision-making. By the finish, Alinghi found itself with a deficit for the first time in America's Cup racing.

The race was delayed for nearly two hours because of the tricky winds, and Alinghi owner Ernesto Bertarelli said the sailing should have postponed.

"I don't think the wind should decide the regatta," he said. "The competitors should decide the race on their ability. I think we raced really well, we were just a bit unlucky."

New Zealand conceded the early lead to guard its advantage on the right side in the blustery conditions. The move paid off as the Kiwis took a 300-meter lead up the first upwind lap. But a poor spinnaker set around the second marker almost threw bowman Richard Meacham over the side, allowing the Swiss back into the race up the third leg.

Alinghi's faster boat gained on the Kiwis to round the final marker by a boat length. But the Kiwis split to the left behind a stronger breeze, and the lead changed three times over the final run before the NZL-92 boat earned a difficult victory.

"It was a little bit like Las Vegas and that is why the race shouldn't have happened," Bertarelli said. "Now the result's here and we take it. Now we're looking forward to tomorrow."

Kiwi strategist Ray Davies also used a gambling analogy.

"When the breeze starts dropping and those big waves come in all around, it's difficult to start attacking. It's certainly like dice rolling," Davies said.

After its quick start, the Swiss team sped out on the left but came back too late to keep the Kiwis from getting away. The SUI-100 yacht crashed through the whitecaps — even dipping under them — while the Kiwis bobbed up the right, slicing through the rising swell.

The Kiwis raced around the first marker and past its opponent — who were still going the other way — with a lead of 83 seconds.

Alinghi sent Murray Jones up the rig to check the weather, just as the Kiwis had traveler Adam Beashel in his own mast for most of the two downwind laps.

Meacham clung to the ropes to keep from falling from the bow as the NZL-92 rounded the second marker. That distracted the crew and caused a sloppy jib takedown as a sudden gust came in, and the Kiwis' sail was soon tangled up.

As New Zealand struggled to bring in the sheet, Alinghi moved within three boat lengths before eventually moving higher on the left and in the lead further up. Kiwi helmsman Dean Barker steered his boat straight at Alinghi counterpart Ed Baird, but Alinghi was ahead by 15 seconds around the final marker.

Hoping to use its superior boat speed to hold the lead, Alinghi went right and tried to avoid any unnecessary turns.

"The breeze was shifting a bit for us but nothing like it was for New Zealand," Alinghi runner Rodney Ardern said. "We were looking for a place to go back but it just didn't come for us."