SAILING/America's Cup: A muted mood more of hope than expectation from Kiwi supporters on the quayside as Team New Zealand headed for the Hauraki Gulf already 0-2 down to Louis Vuitton Cup winners Alinghi was reflected on the race-track as a last-minute Swiss call to start up the right-hand side won them the third race, to go 3-0 up in the first to five America's Cup series.
Home skipper Dean Barker admitted to "confusion" among his team at a start that was always going to be critical, whilst the crucial axis of skipper Russell Coutts and tactician Brad Butterworth made a late decision and stuck with it with all the conviction the defenders lacked in what is looking increasingly like an ill-fated Kiwi campaign.
No team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit to win an America's Cup match in the trophy's 152-year history.
In 10-12 knots of northwesterly breeze, the slick Alinghi outfit built a lead of eight lengths by the first mark, a lead that was to stand them in good stead as the race unfolded, and, whilst the black boat gnawed away at the lead, Barker's team never threatened to put their first points on the board.
The 28-second first mark advantage had been reduced to 20 seconds by the end of the second leg, the first downwind, and to 17 seconds, then 15 seconds on the third and fourth beats, but that was as close as it got as a disappointing home effort petered out.
Indeed, Alinghi increased its advantage to 21 seconds at the final turn, and by a further two seconds at the finish as winds freshened to 15-20 knots, conditions that were thought to favour Team New Zealand with its controversial "hula" hull appendage.
The margin of victory was as comfortable for Alinghi as it must have been unpalatable to the home team, but afterwards, Barker refused to consider crew changes, or, for that matter, his own position as skipper.
"We did not get the decision right at the start, whereas Alinghi did, and there was a bit of confusion on board over which side to take at the start," admitted Barker, adding, "we made up some ground, but there is a big difference between getting close and getting past."
He added, "Making crew changes is all very well, and it is difficult to adjust, but if the decision is made that I am not the man to skipper the boat, I'd be happy to stand down."
Alinghi's on-board weather man and mainsail traveller, Murray Jones, who was a team-mate of Barker's when Team New Zealand retained the cup in 2000, accepted the start was the pivotal part of the race.
"We made a late change and it paid off, but had the roles been reversed, I think Team New Zealand would have been difficult to overhaul, although once we got the lead, we sailed well within ourselves.
"It is easy to sail conservatively when you are in front."
The fourth race takes place tomorrow with pressure mounting on Barker and tactician Hamish Pepper, especially as the axis of skipper Coutts and Butterworth is proving such an effective combination.
Coutts has never been beaten in an America's Cup match race, with yesterday's win his 12th straight success after being lured by Alinghi's owner, Swiss biotechnology billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, from Team New Zealand after their 2000 Cup defence.
With the two boats evenly matched for speed, Alinghi's silken crew work and superior tactical decisions under Coutts and Butterworth have proved the difference in this series.
