Team NZ, Luna Rossa tied 3-3 in America’s Cup
An uneasy stalemate in the 36th match for the America’s Cup continued Saturday when defender Team New Zealand and Italian challenger Luna Rossa each took advantage of a pre-start error by the other to leave the best-of-13 race series tied at 3-3.
Luna Rossa exploited Team New Zealand’s mistake in the pre-start to win the first race of the day by 18 seconds and, in a mirror image, Team New Zealand pounced on Luna Rossa’s mistake to win race six by 1 minute, 41 seconds.
One team has to win both races in a day to break the deadlock but Luna Rossa co-helmsman Jimmy Spithill said the teams can only focus on the next race.
“We’re not looking too far ahead,” he said. “Each day we come in and try to focus on the race ahead.
“There will be quite a lot of lessons learned from both races today. We’ll go back, as I’m sure will the other guys, and just come back fighting, stronger and ready to roll.”
Until Saturday, each of the four starts in the series had been won by the team which had port entry to the start box and the team that won the start won the race. New Zealand skipper Peter Burling called that coincidence and was proved right when the team coming in from starboard,
or right-hand side of the course, won both races Saturday.
Races five and six were sailed on course A off Takapuna Beach in Auckland in a consistent sea breeze of around seven to 11 knots, slightly fuller in the first race than the second.
The conditions again seemed perfect for Luna Rossa, whose boat is modeled to sail best in the lighter wind range. Luna Rossa’s larger foils make it more able to stay up in light wind, also make it more stable and able to maneuver faster in the light sea breeze.
But while Saturday’s 1-1 tie again left many questions unanswered, it seems the boats are almost perfectly matched in terms of boat speed in those conditions and the starts are decisive.
In the first race Saturday, on a time and distance run to the start line, Team New Zealand tried to wear off speed and fell off its foils. Burling had to push the bow down to regain enough speed to be able to tack and in the meantime Luna Rossa swept over the line and sailed away to an immediate 200-meter (yard) lead.
“We obviously just fell off the foil above them,” Burling said. “We thought we had a little more time to kill than we actually did. We didn’t quite manage to get going again and to take off and they shut down the race pretty well from then.”
The lead was unchanged for most of the race. Team New Zealand made slight gains on the second and third upwind but the 200-meter lead remained.
Luna Rossa had wanted the left-hand side of the course and with its early advantage it was able to seize it and defend it. Throughout the race it kept bouncing Team New Zealand back to the less-favored right hand side, taking advantage of the pressure in the middle of the course.
New Zealand was able to hang in throughout the race but, in a consistent breeze, it wasn’t able to overcome Luna Rossa’s initial advantage.
BIG TEN FINAL
Indianapolis — Seventh-ranked Maryland’s scoring depth and impressive skill were once again on display in a 104-84 rout of Iowa to claim a second consecutive conference tournament title.
BIG WEST FINAL
LAS VEGAS — Cierra Hall scored 23 points, Evanne Turner had 22 and top-seeded UC Davis pulled away late in the third quarter to beat No. 2 seed UC Irvine 61-42. It was the second straight title and third overall for UC Davis (13-2), which also won the tournament in 2011.
Hall, the Big West Conference Player of the Year, and Turner were a combined 18-of-28 shooting and made six of the Aggies’ seven 3-pointers. Sage Stobbart added five points and 12 rebounds.
Neither team held more than a four-point lead until the Aggies ended the third quarter on a 10-2 surge for a 40-34 advantage. Turner scored 11 points.
CAA FINAL
ELON, N.C. — Keishana Washington scored 30 points and Drexel used the third quarter to beat Delaware en route to a 63-52 win to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
CONFERENCE USA FINAL
FRISCO, Texas — Courtney Whitson tied her career highs of 22 points and six 3-pointers and Middle Tennessee held on to beat Rice 68-65.
MAAC FINAL
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Willow Duffell scored 20 points with 13 rebounds and a career-high six blocks as top seed Marist beat third-seeded Saint Peter’s 69-30.
MAC FINAL
CLEVELAND — Micaela Kelly scored 29 points, Molly Davis added 23 and second-seeded Central Michigan edged topseeded Bowling Green 77-72 for the Chippewas’ sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament.
MEAC FINAL
NORFOLK, Va. — Deja Winters hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 3 seconds to play, lifting North Carolina A&M into the NCAA Tournament with a 59-57 win over Howard.
SWAC FINAL
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Cherelle Jones made two free throws with 13.9 seconds left and top-seeded Jackson State earned its first NCAA Tournament in 13 years with a 67-66 win over second seed Alabama State.
BIG 12 SEMIFINALS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Esmery Martinez scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and West Virginia’s reigning hero Kirsten Deans hit another critical shot and the 17th-ranked Mountaineers held off Oklahoma State 59-50.
NaLyssa Smith had 21 points and 14 rebounds, Queen Egbo added 10 points and 18 rebounds, and No. 6 Baylor held off Texas 66-55.