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Louis Vuitton Trophy boats compete - Source: Bob Grie/Louis Vuitton Trophy, Nice Côte d'Azur -
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Team New Zealand extended their unbroken record on the fourth day of competition for the Louis Vuitton Trophy yachting regatta off Auckland on Saturday.
With three days remaining in the round robin, New Zealand has a perfect record after a convincing win today over the German/French boat All4One.
Azzurra, the young Italian team that won the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice, is in second place with a 3-1 score. The two teams will meet in the second race on Sunday.
New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said afterwards that All4One had pushed Team New Zealand all the way.
"Conditions were such that no lead was ever enough, and they came back at us a couple of times. Every time we got a lead, they would close on us," he said.
"You can't control everything going on out there - the wind is just so random. We never lost control but we were always on the edge of our seats..."
Barker and Team New Zealand were never really threatened by All4One after a tense, scrappy pre-start duel.
Louis Vuitton Trophy results - Round four
Sebastien Col at the wheel of All4One was pushing the New Zealand boat in the last seconds as they came to the line, but the host team pulled off a down-speed tack and split away on port as Col was forced to tack and follow.
The French helmsman pressed hard on the first leg but New Zealand exploited the dominance of the right side and maintained a comfortable lead.
"The race was lost at the start when we left the overlap a little bit too late," said Jochen Sch++mann, skipper and tactician for All4One. "They were in control at all times. It looked good for us at times but never good enough that we could sail around them."
Brisk breezes and high-pressure competition delivered a basket of surprises and some painful losses after a day lost to heavy, gusty winds yesterday.
Saturday's moderate to fresh conditions today were, however, still sufficient to test the eight international teams match racing on the Waitemata Harbour.
In the second race, a collision between Britain's TEAMORIGIN and the French team ALEPH earned the French boat a penalty, plus the loss of a point. Then in race three, Sweden's Artemis conceded a healthy lead over Italy's Azzurra when the spinnaker pole went over the side and they went trawling with the spinnaker.
Four teams are in equal third place with two wins and two losses - All4One, Artemis, Mascalzone Latino Audi from Italy and TEAMORIGIN. The tie between Artemis and ML Audi will be decided on Sunday in the fourth race.
