Team New Zealand maintained their frontrunning role today in
the Louis Vuitton Trophy yachting regatta in the south of
France, but the day belonged to Russia's Synergy.
Skippered by Pole Karol Jablonski, Synergy beat the
French-German All4one off Nice to give a Russian team their
first win in an America's Cup-class boat.
"This is a great victory and great day for Russia," team
manager Maxim Logutenko said.
Only once in the America's Cup proper has a Russian syndicate
tried to mount a challenge. That was in 1992, but the attempt
didn't make the start line.
On Monday, Synergy had threatened a huge upset when they led
Team NZ until just out from the finish line before hitting a
hole and being passed.
Today, Synergy got the early jump off the start line when
All4one became entangled with the race committee boat and
went on to win by 1 minute 30 seconds.
Team NZ kept up their 100 percent record with a 23-second
victory over Sweden's Artemis, their fifth of the regatta.
Skipper Dean Barker and his crew led throughout after having
controlled the start, targeting and getting the left hand
side of the course.
Up the first beat, they won a tacking duel to round the top
mark 15 seconds in front and extended their advantage over
the remainder of the journey.
"All in all, we're pretty happy with the we've been sailing
and still looking for improvements wherever we can," Barker
said.
Team NZ will complete their programme in first round robin
with matches against what on paper are their two toughest
rivals -- Americans Oracle and Britain's Team Origin.
The latter, skippered by former Team NZ back-up helmsman Ben
Ainslie, are the only other unbeaten entry in the
eight-strong fleet, having sailed one race fewer.
The Nice regatta is the first in the inaugural Louis Vuitton
Trophy match-racing world series, with the next stop being in
Auckland in March.
