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Defender Team New Zealand unleashed their speed to make the first pass in Game 36 of the America’s Cup, then came back from afar in a bizarre eighth race to beat Italian challenger Luna Rossa twice on Monday and take a 5-3 lead. in the first- series to seven wins.
If Team New Zealand retains the Cup – they can if they win both races on Tuesday – it will be because of the unprecedented events of the second of two races on Monday where they turned what looked likely to be a crushing defeat in an almost incomprehensible defeat. victory.
Luna Rossa held an early lead in a race that started conventionally, defending that advantage to get around the first mark with a 16-second lead. The race in Auckland, New Zealand then became extraordinary – perhaps one of the most extraordinary in the Cup’s 170-year history.
The New Zealand team looked likely to put Luna Rossa around on the first downwind, but when the boats leveled up they gybed away in a failing breeze. Her racing boat, Te Rehutai, put down her foils and was left almost to a halt in the middle of the course as Luna Rossa pulled away four minutes ahead.
The race seemed over and the stalemate that existed throughout the match, with each team winning a race in the first three days, looked likely to continue.
But, incredibly, after rounding the second mark, Luna Rossa sailed into a windy hole near the top of the course, fell off the foils and was left helpless and helpless. The New Zealand team has again recovered on its foils and reduced its huge deficit.
Still on the verge of stalling, Te Rehutai managed to get around the top mark and turn a 4min 8s deficit at one mark into a 4:27 lead at the next.
The race was shortened to five stages and New Zealand managed to finish in the race time, winning by 3 minutes and 55 seconds.
“What a race,” New Zealand flight controller Blair Tuke said. “It’s one to keep.
“It was a pretty unreal fight. We obviously made a mistake jibing right behind them on the first downwind and fell off the foils (but) we pulled it up pretty quickly and had a great race from there. “
For Luna Rossa, Monday’s events were demoralizing after a close struggle over the first three days of the series.
“The conditions were pretty tough,” said Luna Rossa co-helmsman Jimmy Spithill. “We were having a really good race. Unfortunately we just got off the foils and really got stuck in first place for a while, just trying to find enough pressure to get back on the foils.
“We know we can win races. We’ve been in some tough spots before and the guys will keep their heads up.”
The New Zealand team’s supposed speed had not been seen in the first six races when the teams traded wins, dividing two races in each of the first three days of sailing when there were light winds and no chance of overtaking.
The defender showed an extra speed turn on Monday, coming from behind for the first time in the series to win the first race of the day by 58 seconds.
“It was good to get a pass at last,” said New Zealand coxswain Peter Burling. “Then spreading out like we did after the pass was also nice.”
Luna Rossa comfortably won the start of the seventh race, which, in keeping with the trend of the series, should have meant that she won the race. He crossed the first mark 8 seconds ahead and made a strong first tailwind to get 10 seconds ahead at the second gate.
But it was already evident from the data from the boats that Team New Zealand was sailing faster.
The race completely changed at the second mark when Luna Rossa circled around and headed left and Team New Zealand veered and crashed to the right. The Italians chose not to cover, gave the Kiwis some separation for the first time and Team New Zealand turned a match race into a drag race.
When he got back to port, the New Zealand team didn’t quite make it through and Luna Rossa tacked. But Team New Zealand was much faster and just kept running in the first passing maneuver of the series.
By the best mark, Team New Zealand was already 19 seconds ahead and their lead exploded as the race continued; at 27 seconds at the fourth mark and 40 seconds at the fifth. The course was skewed as the wind shifted to the left and the last leg was a straight race to the finish.
“We tried to keep them behind us, but it was obviously not a success,” said Luna Rossa coxswain Franceso Bruni. “We saw the first pass and unfortunately it was against us.”
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