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Team New Zealand in action - Source: Chris Cameron/Photosport -
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Team New Zealand made use of local knowledge and played the wind shifts adroitly to grab a comfortable first-up win in the Louis Vuitton Trophy yachting regatta off Auckland on Tuesday.
Team NZ, with skipper Dean Barker at the helm and Ray Davies calling tactics, beat Sweden's Artemis by one minute 40 seconds in shifty conditions on Waitemata Harbour.
In a competition being sailed in America's Cup-class yachts, there were also victories for French/German entry All4One, Italians Azzurra and France's Aleph, who beat Synergy of Russia by the day's biggest margin.
Because of a 4-1/2-hour wait earlier in the day for the wind to pick up, the Team NZ-Artemis contest, the third on the programme, didn't get going until late afternoon.
In patchy five to seven-knot airs, the lead changed hands over the opening beat before Team NZ got some good pressure on the right-hand side of the course.
When the boats crossed for the first time halfway up the first beat, Barker and his crew were clearly in front and went on to round the top mark 55sec ahead.
Artemis, skippered by American Paul Cayard and with compatriot Terry Hutchinson at the helm, fought back with a fine first downwind leg to close to 12sec.
However, the third leg proved decisive, as Team NZ targeted the left-hand side of the course and allowed a lot of separation between the boats as Artemis went right.
The move paid off for the New Zealanders, who caught some extra breeze to open out a 1min 21sec margin before the final run home.
In Tuesday's opening race, All4One beat Italy's Mascalzone Latino by 44sec, after their game plan at the start paid dividends.
All4One chose to do two extra tacks just before the gun, but it meant they got the side of the course they wanted and they were in front when the boats crossed for the first time.
From there, they continued to build their lead over Mascalzone, skippered by New Zealander Gavin Brady.
"We invested two tacks before the start in going right," All4One skipper Jochen Schumann said.
"The strategy was right. It looked expensive at the beginning, but it paid off."
Azzurra, who had taken the title at the first Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta in France last November, came from behind in impressive fashion to down Britain's Team Origin.
After an even start and then a drag race up the first beat, the Ben Ainslie-skippered Team Origin grabbed control when they developed an inside overlap going into the top mark and rounded 6sec ahead.
However, coming out of the mark, Azzurra skipper Francesco Bruni and his crew pulled off an excellent manoeuvre to put the opposition in their wind shadow, forcing them into a downspeed gybe while picking up acceleration themselves.
They hit the front and extended their margin over rest of the journey to 53sec, celebrating the win with plenty of emotion as they crossed the line.
In the day's last race, which finished as the sun set, Aleph came home 3min 26sec ahead of Synergy.
The Russians had problems at the end of leg two, when they dropped the spinnaker in the water as they rounded the leeward gate and lost plenty of time.
