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Alinghi have shocked organisers and fans at the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series by controversially pulling out of their much-anticipated clash with Team New Zealand on Saturday afternoon.
On the day that Alinghi's boss Ernesto Bertarelli arrived in Auckland, it was announced that Alinghi had decided not to sail for tactical reasons.
The structure of the event means that teams racing against Emirates Team New Zealand do not gain points in the round robin.
With Alinghi safe on two points it is believed they did not want to risk incurring penalty points as BMW Oracle and TeamOrigin did in their race on Friday.
The reasoning that it was not beneficial for them to race will be of little comfort to the many fans out on the water and dotted around Auckland's shore line for a good view.
The two teams haven't met since the 2007 America's Cup where Alinghi defeated Team New Zealand 5-2 in the finals series.
Team New Zealand went out and correctly completed their pre-start on their own and then were able to abandon the race once Alinghi did not cross the start line.
What do you think? Was Alinghi's decision justified and understandable or just another example of arrogance from the Swiss team?
Have your say on our message board below.
Add a Comment:
Post new commenttom scarff said on 2009-02-09 @ 17:18 NZDT: Report abusive post
Sad ! This is a Management failiure to allow ambiguous rules which allow this kind of thing. There is a place for "sportsmanship" and "good form" but not in the rule book of an event of this magnitude
gardener75 said on 2009-02-09 @ 11:17 NZDT: Report abusive post
Grant D. said he wanted "friendly games". Well Butterworth and Co gave him thier answer. The whole Alinghi outfit should be rename Alinghi WC. (They are as thick skinned as the well known brick WC.
lofty said on 2009-02-09 @ 10:46 NZDT: Report abusive post
Come on guys, this is a lot of fuss over a set of match rules completely canted in favour of Team New Zealand. Look at what happened in the real world - Team Origin sailed against Team NZ and lost half a point in the process for a dubious penalty - they then sail against them again and win... but get zero points. Why should Alinghi put themselves at risk in case the same happens to them? If you want a series where all teams are willing to sail against each other, then level the playing field.
kevinr43 said on 2009-02-08 @ 18:13 NZDT: Report abusive post
I thought the swiss Milionare could only buy the souls of the New zealanders in his camp, but i suppose to some money means everything and he ended up with the body as well, a bit like darth vader really they have been seduced by the dark side. So very very sad that some people can be bought. All countries should drop the challenge for the old Mug then what would it be worth. Live on the LV Series without Alinghi
mollymalawimalone said on 2009-02-08 @ 17:22 NZDT: Report abusive post
They probably know themselves how despised they are in their own country so are working in reverse to make sure it is fully justified. They know themselves they're about as low as they can go in the world of home loyalty and sportsmanship. What else is there?