Winning races gets you well up the leader board, but scoring a sixth brings you back into the pack as Emirates Team New Zealand discovered yesterday. With two firsts and a second under their belt, a sixth in the second race yesterday after a misjudged start hurt, especially with Team Alinghi winning the race. The result put the Swiss in the lead and the Kiwis in second, albeit separated by a single point.
The fight for the next two places is even closer with Luna Rossa and BMW ORACLE on equal points and separated only by the tie-break formula at present, leaving the Italians third and the Americans fourth.
Lurking just outside the top four, K-Challenge are sailing a more consistent event so far and have taken over from LE DEFI as the best of the ‘smaller’ teams, while the South Africans are proving just how much they have learned over the last few weeks and how much more comfortable they feel in the fleet racing. So far Team Shosholoza has scored a pair of fifths and sevenths to prove that they're not just here to make up the numbers.
The new +39 team trails the leaderboard after a tough day on Friday. They’ll be looking at the weekend of racing as an opportunity to end the season on a high note.
All of which makes for an interesting fight today on several levels with just three races to go. Add to this the forecast for stronger and more blustery weather and it appears there will be even more pressure on the teams, their gear and their stamina.
