Near-perfect Kiwis take control of America’s Cup qualifiers

Sailing

A mad dash around the turquoise waters of Bermuda’s Great Sound by heavyweights Emirates Team New Zealand and Oracle Team USA yesterday could have a major impact on the 35th America’s Cup match that starts in two weeks.

If two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA gets its 50-foot, foiling catamaran across the finish line first, it will carry one bonus point into the firstto-seven match that starts on June 17.

If the Kiwis beat Oracle and then make it through the challenger semifinals and finals, they will take a bonus point into the match.

It figures that the new-look qualifiers would come down to a showdown between the two powerhouse rivals that will forever be linked by the epic 2013 America’s Cup. Oracle - skippered by Australian Jimmy Spithill and owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison - staged one of the greatest comebacks in sports by winning eight straight races to rally from an 8-1 deficit and retain the Auld Mug. It was a gutwrenching collapse for the Kiwis, who sacked skipper Dean Barker and rebuilt their team around 26-year-old helmsman Peter Burling, an Olympic gold and silver medalist.

And perhaps it’s only fitting that this Americas Cup is being sailed on the northern tip of the Bermuda Triangle, because it doesn’t look like any previous edition in the regatta’s 166-year history.

In one of the many radical departures from tradition, this is the first time the defender has sailed against challengers in the preliminaries. The bonus point is another new twist.

Letting the defender sail against the challengers has made it “way more compelling and let’s face it, there’s something worth fighting for,” Spithill said. “That race tomorrow between the Kiwis and us, that’s the bonus point. So I think it’s worked.”

Saturday’s matchup was made more compelling by Friday’s results in round robin two.

Emirates Team New Zealand was nearly perfect in winning two races to jump to 8 points in the qualifiers, one more than Oracle.

Emirates Team New Zealand and Groupama Team France compete during America’s Cup qualifying Photo: AP