-
Greece challenge in LVPS -
Watch Video
-
Related
Team New Zealand made a winning start to yachting's Louis Vuitton Pacific Series off Auckland, getting rid of some opening day nerves as they beat Damiani Italia without too many alarms.
But the fledgling Greek Challenge, skippered by New Zealander Gavin Brady, had a forgettable introduction to the regatta, which is being raced in America's Cup yachts.
They went down to cup holders Alinghi by two minutes two seconds in a contest in which the crews were sailing two Team NZ boats.
Rather than getting no points, like the other race losers, the Greek Challenge were docked a point that left them at the foot of the table on minus one.
With regatta organisers wary of the disruption that would be caused by losing any of the four boats provided, the Greeks were penalised for causing "hard contact" after a collision in the pre-start manoeuvres.
Team NZ operations manager Kevin Shoebridge said there had been damage to both NZL84 and NZL92, but not enough to prevent them from being back on the water on Saturday.
There wasn't the same drama in Team NZ's race with Damiani, sailed in American syndicate Oracle's boats in winds of 12 to 18 knots and a strong current.
Strong start
Skipper Dean Barker and his crew won the start, getting the favoured right-hand side of the line.
They were never headed on the way to a 22-second victory, although the Italians got a windshift on the second beat to close to a boat length, before Team NZ opened out the margin again on the run home.
Barker was pleased to get back into racing mode again.
"It's good to get rid of a few nerves," he said.
"When you finally get into the racing, the first day is really hard. You know you're reasonably prepared but there's always things you can't control."
Damiani skipper Vasco Vascotto drew confidence from the way his largely new crew had been able to hang in after losing the start.
"What is really nice is that we stayed in the match against what I think is the best crew in the fleet," he said.
"We had a shift on the second beat but they just crossed in front. Overall, they did a good job from start to finish and it was the correct result."
Big clash
On Saturday, Team NZ face Oracle in the biggest match-up of the regatta's first round-robin, which runs through until the end of Tuesday.
That clash will pit Barker against compatriot Russell Coutts, who were the respective skippers when Team NZ lost the America's Cup to Alinghi in 2003.
In other races on Friday, Britain's Team Origin ended up easy winners over Italian rivals Luna Rossa.
Origin, skippered by three-time Olympic gold medallist and former Team NZ member Ben Ainslie, led from start to finish.
Luna Ross made a fight of it on the second windward leg, getting a windshift to close to within a couple of boat lengths.
But Origin won the ensuing tacking duel and cleared away on the run home, crossing 1min 5sec clear.
In the regatta's opening race, France's K-Challenge downed Team China, with the Chinese syndicate making a good start, but being hit by a penalty at the first rounding of the top mark.
Oracle and South Africa's Team Shosholoza had byes.
