American Magic dominated day one of the America's Cup World Series in Auckland.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The team representing the New York Yacht Club ended the day on the Waitematā Harbour undefeated with a clear win over a Team UK boat suffering mechanical issues, followed by a 12- second victory over Team New Zealand.
In the closest race of the day, American Magic charged into the line at speed and on time and well ahead of Team New Zealand whose crew comms suggested a technical problem.
As the pair got under way, both boats were running at 32-35knots upwind. American Magic were to the left of the course with Team New Zealand underneath as American Magic protected their position up the beat.
At the first windward gate American Magic rounded 15 seconds ahead as they screamed downwind to the righthand boundary of the course, the boats 275 metres apart.
As the gusts swept across the race course, Team New Zealand were able to sail deeper at times as they took a more direct route to the bottom gate. But to do this meant putting in a few more gybes in the process, negating any advantage they had gained.
By the bottom gate they were 17 seconds behind as they rounded the same left hand mark on the course as American Magic. Taking the decision to put in a snappy tack to port, a very difficult manoeuvre at speed, didn't go well and they failed to keep their boat on its foils. Suddenly the margin had doubled from 200m to 400m. In subsequent manoeuvres they continued to lose distance raising speculation that they had a problem on board.
By the second windward gate American Magic had stretched their advantage to 0:26. But while the distance had grown on the second upwind leg, Team New Zealand gradually hauled back a few seconds to pass through the bottom gate 20 seconds behind.
Choosing the left hand mark allowed them to take the opposite side of the course before then instigating a tacking duel. This eroded the Americans' advantage as the Kiwis were now executing better tacks between the two. By the windward gate the margin had reduced to 70m, American Magic still had the advantage but only just and they were being pushed hard.
At the left hand mark at the final upwind gate Team New Zealand got to the zone first and gained rights over American Magic to round inside and ahead. A protest was dealt to the Americans and cleared shortly afterwards.
Meanwhile, Team New Zealand gybed quickly but were in less wind and when the when the pair came back together American Magic had regained their lead and had engineered a better approach to the finish to take the win.
The opening race saw the current Cup holders Team New Zealand go head to head with the Challenger of Record Luna Rossa.
Team New Zealand led by 41 seconds at the first gate, a big gap for just one leg of racing and, from there, the distance simply grew with the Kiwis hauling out a winning margin of three minutes 13 seconds by the finish.
"We got a little left hand shift on the first race followed by a right hand one on the way down so it was an easier race for us, but we're really pleased with how everything went," said Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling.
However, Luna Rossa were also able to pick up a point when Team UK retired in their match due to a technical failure.