Dubai: After the end of racing on Friday at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai the top of the leaderboard remained unchanged from Thursday.
However, it stayed that way only because Emirates Team New Zealand redeemed itself in the last race of the day with a double-points victory against Sweden's Artemis Racing.
Earlier in the day, the Kiwi boat skippered by Dean Barker, had dropped to third place after losing at the hands of fellow Kiwi Cameron Appleton steering Artemis Racing. Their match, the opener of the day, was the last single-points race in Round Robin One.
In Round Robin Two competition the US' BMW Oracle Racing, Italy's Mascalzone Latino Audi and ETNZ all won their matches and posted double points. Conditions for racing off the Dubai International Marine Club were ideal with a shifty northerly breeze that built to 14 knots and flat seas.
Serene and seemingly untroubled, the American boat skippered by America's Cup winner James Spithill, now has an 11-point record, four and a half points clear of the New Zealanders. The rest of the field remains tightly bunched with only two and a half points between second and sixth boat.
"Spithill's doing a fantastic job," said Rod Dawson, tactician for the Synergy Russian Sailing Team that lost to Oracle.
"He certainly got the better of us in the pre-start today. Being behind with a deficit is one thing but carrying a penalty as well is just about impossible."
Practice makes perfect
Ian Moore, navigator for the American team, provided a glimpse from the inside. "We're a lot more prepared than the last two regattas we did, with more practice time. Practice makes perfect. There's no doubt about that."
Speaking of their second match against Emirates Team New Zealand, Artemis tactician Iain Percy said: "We had a pretty even start and backed ourselves in a big rightie. In the end it became almost too good because we overstood and gave away that gain. At the top mark it came down to a few metres and unfortunately it wasn't quite enough."