The gulf narrows between Cup yachts

As Team New Zealand cruised to victory in the opening race of the 36th America’s Cup on Wednesday it seemed clear that all the dockside chatter and predictions were correct.

The defenders had a faster boat and were just that much better than challengers Luna Rossa. Chalk up a 7-0 victory, get that knighthood ready for Peter Burling and start planning to host the next one.

But then they got caught behind Luna Rossa at the start of race two, and suddenly it dawned that these two boats are much closer in performance than thought.

It’s akin to Formula 1. Win the start, you win the race.

The fact both teams have won a race is rare enough.

In the past 35 editions of the America’s Cup, 24 of the regattas finished in a whitewash. The 1995 campaign led by Sir Peter Blake captured the nation, as New Zealand claimed the Auld Mug for the first time. It remains one of our small nation’s greatest sporting moments.

But as a sporting contest it wasn’t that great. A one-sided 5-0 thrashing.

It was the same scoreline five years later when Russell Coutts successfully defended the Cup. And again when Coutts, racing with Alinghi, took the cup from Team New Zealand in 2003.

This time we could be in for something special. A contest.

This isn’t like previous America’s Cup regattas when teams could alter their boat on a day off. Unlike 2013 when Oracle Team USA suddenly had the quicker boat and launched a comeback from 8-1 down to win — TNZ and Luna Rossa had to hand in their boat measurements earlier in the week. Nothing can be changed outside that. What you see is what you get.

And that appears to be two very even boats.

The win-loss start for TNZ might be a win-win for Auckland. The event could still be over by Sunday, but a close match would be best for the businesses and restaurants at the Viaduct that have been big losers.

With crowds being shut out from the fan zones under alert level 2, and also denied viewers for the final racing of the Prada Cup, as much racing as possible postSaturday would be desirable.

Look back to the last home defence in 2003 and thousands were at the Viaduct to farewell Team New Zealand before the opening race. Hopefully, as expected, Auckland is back to level 1 on Sunday and the crowds return.