Defender Team New Zealand and Italian challenger Luna Rossa won one race each Wednesday on the first day of the 36th match for sailing America’s Cup at Auckland, New Zealand, adding to the perpetual Cup enigma of which has the quicker boat.
Team New Zealand won the start and led around all marks to win the first race by 31 seconds, seeming to confirm the expectation they might have a boat-speed advantage.
But Luna Rossa crossed the start line first in the second race and, in a classic contest of tacking and covering, held out New Zealand by a shrinking margin of seven seconds.
New Zealand gained on the last two legs and came home fast on the last downwind but couldn’t pass. The leading boat has been dominant in most races in the regatta so