Kiwis Take a Commanding Lead but Put Celebration on Hold

The camera was ready and the photographer had a request. The New Zealand sailing crew was just sitting on its boat, floating.

Come on, guys. A little emotion, maybe?

Smiles?

Thumbs ups?

Something?

“That’s not our style,” said David Barnes, the New Zealand skipper.

So they continued to sit. And the picture was taken.

Barnes was later asked about the incident after he and his 10-member crew topped Peter Isler’s American boat in both races Saturday to take a 6-1 lead entering the three-race finale of the New Zealand-American Challenge today in San Diego Harbor.

“You try to keep a low profile, because otherwise it sometimes works against you,” he said. “There are three races (today). We’ve got to still be pretty serious.”

Isler probably wouldn’t mind if the Kiwis lightened up a tad. With hard work and skill, New Zealand solved the temperamental winds so masterfully Saturday that the scheduled third race was postponed in the interests of saving some suspense for today.

New Zealand’s two victories, by margins of 40 and 15 seconds, gave them four in five races. Barnes took two of three Friday, each worth a point. Saturday’s were worth two points. If a third race had been held, Barnes could have wrapped up the series and today’s racing would have been just for fun. Because this challenge was designed to generate interest for the 1992 America’s Cup, both skippers decided it would be better to race three times today. So the first race, left over from Saturday, will be worth two points. The second and third will be worth three.

“If we did win one more race,” Barnes said, “there would be no point in sailing (today).”

Now, the point is fairly clear. Isler wins all three today or the Kiwis show the American crew up on their home surf.

Predictions?

Isler: “We’re going to win three races.”

Barnes: “If we can’t get one out of the next three I’d be very surprised. But it’s not going to be easy.”

To pull ahead Saturday, Barnes made several key tactical maneuvers on his 68-foot boat to reach a higher overall speed. In the second race, the American boat held the lead until the final turn before New Zealand cut inside and pulled even. Isler’s boat was slower coming out of its jibe and the New Zealand boat jumped ahead and stayed ahead.

All day, New Zealand proved better at adjusting to wind changes, which Barnes said were more tricky to deal with than on Friday.

“Worse day we’ve had as far as velocity changes,” said Barnes, a three-time world champion in Olympic class 470s. “Very, very shifty.”

Isler, the winning navigator in the past two America’s Cups, said he would meet with his crew Saturday evening to discuss tactical changes. A key to success today, he said, is coordinating better sail trimming and steering.

“The trimmers and myself will get together and see if we can’t find a little more boat speed,” he said. “We’re pretty pleased with our starts. Once we get into the lead we feel like we should be able to protect that lead. We haven’t been able to do that. They’ve sailed really well.”

Isler downplayed any advantage his crew has from sailing here. Only two members of his crew are originally from San Diego.

“We know how to get to Seaport Village without hitting too many one way streets,” he said. “But that’s about it.”

Sailing will start today at 12:30 p.m.