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Auckland, NZ --Wind and waves were prominent today on New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf which made a perfect venue for thrilling yacht racing
that kept all three matches within a few boat lengths. Stars & Stripes sailed very well against the San Francisco-based America True syndicate and earned a much needed win to keep their Final Series hopes
alive.
There was 20 knots of breeze from the East at race time which built to 25+ throughout the afternoon and Stars & Stripes looked great as they entered the start box on starboard with America True on
port. Ken Read reminded America True that Stars & Stripes is still alive in this Series by hitting the gas at the gun and gaining a good advantage for USA-55 on the first weather beat that turned into a 21
second lead at the first mark.
But America True responded to Stars & Stripes and although they will not be advancing to the Final Round of the Louis Vuitton Cup, their yellow USA-51 is still fast
downwind. They cut the weather mark deltas in half on every run and kept Stars & Stripes on their toes during their first of two races against one another over the next 3 days.
"Our upwind boat
speed was awesome today," said Helmsman Ken Read. "The conditions were really rough and we made some small mistakes, but our crew work came together in the end and we are happy to have that race behind
us. The next few days will be very emotional for me and the whole team and I think we have a great shot at advancing to the Finals."
The final delta for today's race was 46 seconds. Stars &
Stripes is scheduled to race the San Francisco-based AmericaOne syndicate tomorrow at 1:15 p.m. NZ Time.
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