New Zealand Rides the Winds of Change

The New Zealanders solved the temperamental winds of San Diego Harbor so masterfully Saturday in the New Zealand-American Challenge that the third race was postponed in order to save some suspense for today.

New Zealand skipper David Barnes and his 10-member crew came from behind in both races to top Peter Isler’s boat by margins of 40 and 15 seconds on the second day of the three-day challenge. Since New Zealand has won four of the first five races and leads by a score of 6-1, both skippers opted to put off Saturday’s scheduled third race until today.

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

Saturday, Barnes made several key tactical maneuvers on his 68-foot boat to reach a slightly higher boat 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 slow coming out of its jibe and Barnes took the lead and went on to the victory.

All day, New Zealand proved better at adjusting to the wind changes, which Barnes said was more tricky to deal with than on Friday. “Worst day we’ve had as far as velocity changes,” said Barnes, a three-time world champion in Olympic class 470s. “Very, very shifty.”