Despite sailing most of the race without a headsail, Team New Zealand defeated Italy’s Luna Rossa by two minutes and 19 seconds Sunday in the America’s Cup challenger round-robin series.
The triumph all-but assures the Kiwi squad of advancing directly into the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series final.
Leading on Sunday’s first upwind leg, the third of the course, a halyard appeared to break on the New Zealand AC72.
Skipper Dean Barker’s crew tossed the jib overboard and the boat sailed the remainder of the 15.42 nautical mile course with just the 131-foot tall wing sail, completing the distance in 48 minutes, 10 seconds.
Team New Zealand would clinch the berth with a victory in a rematch on Tuesday or if Swedish challenger Artemis, which has forfeited every race so far, enters and defeats the Kiwi crew.
Sunday’s race was only the second race involving more than one boat in what has been a lackluster start to the 2 1/2-month event on San Francisco Bay due to forfeits by Artemis, still recovering from the death of a crewman in a May mishap, and a forfeit by Luna Rossa to New Zealand in a rules protest move.
Team New Zealand defeated Luna Rossa by almost five and a half minutes on July 13 in the only prior race with two boats in the field. Teams must still sail alone over the course to claim forfeit victories.
If New Zealand advance as expected, idled Artemis would face Luna Rossa in a challenger semi-final series, the Italians having the benefit of more experience on the water in that showdown.
The challenger winner will meet US defender Oracle in the America’s Cup races in September.
New Zealand wins Cup race despite setback
