Coutts Makes It Tough for the Kiwis
Team New Zealand has rarely been in this kind of trouble in the America’s Cup.
Then again, the Kiwis have never before sailed against a boatload of compatriots.
New Zealand-born skipper Russell Coutts got the best of former protege Dean Barker in Race 2, rallying Alinghi of Switzerland on the downwind run for a seven-second victory Saturday (Pacific time) on the Hauraki Gulf.
That means Alinghi needs three more wins to snatch the America’s Cup out of New Zealand’s once iron-fisted grip and take it back to Europe for the first time in 152 years.
At 40, Coutts continues to strengthen his standing as the world’s best sailor and one of the top skippers in America’s Cup history.
Saturday’s win extended his record to 11 consecutive America’s Cup match victories -- over a span in which he has sailed for two countries.
After sailing for 18.5 nautical miles, and trailing most of the way, Coutts denied New Zealand in Race 2 by slightly more than a length at the finish.
It was about as wrenching a loss as there could be for the two-time defending champion Kiwis, who trail, 2-0, in the best-of-nine series.
Coutts’ first nine wins came as he led Team New Zealand to five-race sweeps in 1995 and 2000.
He handed the wheel to Barker for the clinching race in 2000, then jumped ship to Alinghi two months later as Team New Zealand splintered in the face of big-money offers from foreign teams.
Coutts has never lost a race in an America’s Cup match and has dropped only a handful in the challenger trials.
At 29, Barker is 1-2, with both losses coming against his onetime mentor.
“The last run, well, we sort of made a couple of mistakes early on and that caused the race to be a lot closer than what it needed to be,” a downcast Barker said. “Alinghi just outsailed us right at the end.”
Although Alinghi represents the first landlocked country to reach the America’s Cup final, seven of the 16 crew members are Kiwis. Six helped Team New Zealand to its landmark victory over Dennis Conner in 1995 and its successful defense against Italy’s Prada Challenge in 2000.
Only three Swiss were aboard for Race 2, including Ernesto Bertarelli, the Italian-born, U.S.-educated biotech billionaire who is funding the campaign and serves as navigator.
Race 3 is scheduled for today.
Not only do the Kiwis have a wounded psyche to heal, they are working furiously to repair their backup boat, NZL-81, which was damaged while tuning up NZL-82 before Saturday’s opening race.
The Kiwis won’t disclose the nature of the damage but say NZL-81, which is locked away in a boatshed, should be repaired by Race 3.
The Kiwis know they have a competitive boat -- when it remains in one piece.
“Now it’s just up to us to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes,” Barker said. “It’s not going to be a one-sided contest.”
Alinghi crew members appreciate the advantage they have.
Having a 2-0 lead is “major,” said Jochen Schuemann, Alinghi’s German-born strategist. “We say all the time that people always make the difference. We have quite a strong team.”
After NZL-82 practically fell apart in rough conditions just minutes into Race 1, the New Zealanders had come back strong in Race 2, rolling past the black-and-red Alinghi on the downwind second leg for a 46-second gain, turning a 12-second deficit at the first mark to a 34-second lead at the next buoy. The Kiwis led by 26 seconds rounding the final mark on the six-leg course before Alinghi staged its comeback.
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America’s Cup
Alinghi of Switzerland leads Team New Zealand, 2-0, in best-of-nine series
* Schedule -- (U.S. dates, 4:15 p.m. PST) Race 3, Today; Race 4: Wednesday; Race 5, Friday; Race 6, Saturday*; Race 7, Feb. 24*; Race 8, Feb. 26*; Race 9, Feb. 28*
* TV -- ESPN2
*If necessary