Yachting: First defeat for NZ in Louis Vuitton regatta

New Zealand skipper Dean Barker suffered his first defeat of the Louis Vuitton Trophy yachting regatta off Auckland today, with old sparring partner and Aleph skipper Bertrand Pace easing home for a 38 second win in the sixth round of racing.

In 2003 before the America's Cup in Auckland, Barker trained with Pace as the B-boat helmsman, and later Pace was Barker's tactician. The intrigue between competition leaders New Zealand and seventh-placed Aleph began well before the start today.

At the five-minute gun today, Barker led deep into the start box, pursued closely by Pace through a series of circles, before they broke away and lined up to start on starboard with the French boat to leeward and bow out. Barker, who wanted the right, got it, but was forced to tack away into an unfavorable shift.

The Frenchman led by two boat lengths at the first cross and continued to extend. "We wanted to play the shifts but we had to be patient," Pace said.

Team New Zealand strategist Adam Beashel afterwards described the race as "one of the worst we've sailed in a long time".

"We were on the wrong side of the first two shifts of the first beat. Aleph did a great job sticking to their game plan and staying in the left and doing well out of that and putting a bit a pressure on us. Then, unfortunately in our gybe-set hoist, we had a little tear in the chute. It was touch and go whether it would hold," he said.

"Just a minute or two later it was a bit too big and the whole thing blew out. There was a little bit of a hiccup too with the pole and that ended up in the water."

New Zealand bowman Stuart Bettany joined the pole in the water as the firedrill on deck intensified. Extra crew rushed forward to retrieve Bettany, while others restrained the pole, which was still secured to the mast, to stop it sweeping aft and becoming the fourth snapped pole of the series.

Prevented by the tangle from hoisting a second spinnaker, the New Zealand team finished the run under jib and then began to steadily close with the French boat over the remaining two legs.

"We fortunately picked up a little on the second beat on some shifts to the right of them, and we were able to put a bit of pressure back on, but they just made it pretty simple down the last run," Beashel said.

Strong and gusty south-west winds forced a cancellation to the rest of the day's competition but milder weather is expected tomorrow and racing will resume with flight seven, the last of the round robin.

With an earlier start scheduled, it is hoped the remaining matches of today's abandoned sixth flight will be squeezed into the schedule tomorrow.