Dubai: Emirates Team New Zealand squeaked past Sweden's Artemis 2-1 to become the first finalist at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena late on Friday.
After an extraordinary drawn-out day of light-air sailing on the Golfo di Arzachena, to the north east corner of Sardinia, Emirates Team New Zealand overcame an early deficit to win 2-1 and now await the winner of the second semi-final between All4One and Synergy.
One race down and facing elimination, the Emirates Team New Zealand crew came back strongly and defeated Artemis led by Paul Cayard and Terry Hutchinson. The Kiwis also led in a race that was abandoned when the wind died completely.
Unfavourable conditions
There was not much to cheer about for the teams in the second best-of-three semi-final between the French-German team All4One and the Synergy Russian Sailing Team, with the first race being postponed due to dead winds.
Fickle winds forced a three-and-a-half hour delay before Artemis, skippered by Cayard and with Hutchinson steering, seized the first race 25 seconds clear from Emirates Team New Zealand's Dean Barker.
The second race was abandoned when the wind died with the Kiwis in the lead. Finally, after a drawn-out wait and facing the threat of elimination from the series, Barker boldly sailed across the advancing bow of the right-of-way Artemis with scant room to finish one minute clear and level the series.
The third race started in late afternoon sunlight with Hutchinson pulling out all the stops and making a superb start forcing the Kiwis off onto port. The Kiwis sailed away to the starboard layline in a split that extended out to 1.3 kilometres. And when the two boats closed at the weather mark, the starboard tack Emirates Team New Zealand had right-of-way and led around the top mark to win by more than a minute.
Results
(Semi-final 1) Emirates Team New Zealand bt Artemis 2-1. (Semi-final 2) All4One vs Mascalzone Latino Audi Team.
Round robin placings: 1. All4One 6 points; 2. Artemis 6; 3. Emirates Team New Zealand 6; 4. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team 5; 5. Synergy Russian Sailing Team 5; 6. Azzurra 4; 7. TeamOrigin 4; 8. Luna Rossa 3; 9. BMW Oracle Racing Team 3; 10. Aleph Sailing Team -2.
