Team New Zealand extends Med Cup lead

CHRIS CAMERON

ALL ABOARD: Emirates Team New Zealand NZL380 on leg three of the Coastal race on day three of the Sardinia Trophy which is part of the Audi Med Cup series.

Emirates Team New Zealand extended its lead in the Audi Med Cup in Italy this morning.

The Dean Barker-led team finished second in race six – a 25 mile jaunt up the Sardinian coast.

And with just four or if time and conditions allow, five races in the regatta left, they lead the field by 3.5 points.

Team boss Grant Dalton said of today's racing: "That was a keeper.

"We are further ahead [in the standings] than this morning when we went out.

"The points are still very close. We had a bigger buffer than this in Marseilles. One bad race and we could be where we were again yesterday. But overall we are happy."

With American sailing legend Paul Cayard at the helm, Swedish syndicate Artimus won the race by 31 seconds and moved into second in the regatta classification.

They probably now loom as ETNZ's biggest threat.

Tactician Ray Davies said was stoked with the result because ETNZ - for the second day in a row - made a modest start.

"It was all pretty tight at the end of the first beat. We managed to pass two or three boats at the bottom mark.

"We knew we would have to be in good shape for the soldier's course. From there it was follow the leader."

ETNZ's yacht NZL380 performs best in up-range conditions of about 15 knots.

Today wind conditions ranged between 5-15.

This played into the hands of Spanish syndicate Matador.

However, they strayed off line and got caught in a big trough of pressure on the run home dashing their chances.

"They would be pretty disappointed with that," said Davies.

"After that there was more wind on the left and that's where everyone wanted to go.

"[Winner] Artimus did a really good job of covering us. They never really gave us an opportunity [to pass].

"We got right within a boat length of them at one stage, but it was easy for the leaders to stay in front or extend."

Terry Hutchison, the man Davies replaced as Team New Zealand tactician, had another bad day as skipper of Quantum.

"Matador and Quantum our main rivals for the overall standings kind of slipped back so it was a good day for Team New Zealand," said Davies.

"There still potentially a lot of points on offer so there's a long way to go."

Racing resumes as per normal off the Cagliari coast tomorrow.

* Greg Ford flew to Sardinia courtesy of Emirates.