Oracle Team USA levelled the America's Cup at 8-8
against Team New Zealand to take the
competition into a winner-takes-all final race on
Wednesday.
The defending champions clinched their sixth and
seventh straight wins on Tuesday to complete a
stunning comeback from 8-1 down in San Francisco.
The Americans forced two penalties on the Kiwis at the
start of race 17 and surged to a 27-second victory.
Oracle trailed after two legs of race 18 but hit back to
win by 54 seconds.
The challengers have been within one race of victory
since Wednesday, but have been thwarted by Oracle's
resurgence and a series of races postponed by
unfavourable wind conditions.
Oracle have won 10 races in all but were penalised two
points before the regatta began for illegal modifications
to their smaller 45ft catamaran in the warm-up series.
Needing just one win to clinch the America's Cup for
the third time, and first time since losing to Alinghi in
2003, Team New Zealand were in need of a better start
than in recent days.
But in fresh winds on San Francisco Bay, Oracle skipper
Jimmy Spithill forced his counterpart Dean Barker into
committing two right-of-way penalties as the boats
headed for the line, and made the most of the gap
created to stay well clear throughout the five-leg race.
Barker put his boat in a better position before the day's
second race as the Kiwis won the sprint to the first
mark and were still leading around the downwind gate.
But Oracle surged past as the boats fought a tacking
duel upwind and the holders raced clear to take the
regatta into a deciding day.
"It doesn't matter how stiff the challenge is, the boys
stuck their heads down and outground the other team.
Very impressive," said Australian Spithill.
"What gives us confidence is we've really improved the
boat. It's just going great. We're looking forward to
getting on the racetrack and having one hell of a fight.
It's the most exciting day of all of our lives and we
wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
Team New Zealand, who beat Italy's Luna Rossa in the
challenger series final, dominated the early stages of the
event and surged to a four-wins-to-one lead with a
faster boat upwind and slicker crew work.
The holders were rattled and played their one
postponement card to delay racing and give them time
to alter their 72ft catamaran. They also called up
Britain's four-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie from
the training crew to the tactician role in place of
American John Kostecki.
The two teams won two races apiece in the following
days before the Kiwis edged to match point on
Wednesday.
After several races were called off because of strong
winds, New Zealand were deprived of overall victory in
race 13 on Friday when uncharacteristic light winds
meant the 40-minute time limit for a race elapsed with
the Kiwis two minutes from glory.
Since then, Oracle have been unstoppable and the Larry
Ellison-backed outfit have won nine of the past 11 races
to set up one of the greatest comebacks in the history
of the 162-year-old competition.
The winners of the event get to decide the format and
venue of the next America's Cup.
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