The Russell Coutts-skippered Alinghi has earned its 2-0 advantage with an average winning time of 1 minute, 2 seconds. Alinghi has gained a total of 3 minutes, 5 seconds on the racecourse, versus Oracle BMW’s gains of 1 minute, 4 seconds.

“It’s my opinion that Alinghi has a bit of an edge upwind, maybe a second or two per mile upwind and we probably have about the same advantage downwind,” said Ian Burns, Oracle BMW Racing navigator. “So probably the time around the course, if we were racing in isolation, would be about the same.”

Alinghi’s SUI-64 has an advantage upwind of 3.891 seconds per mile, while downwind Oracle BMW’s USA-76 has been faster by 0.621 seconds per mile.

Oracle BMW Racing skipper Chris Dickson said before the round that its sail number was the only thing similar about USA-76 from its last encounter with Alinghi in the semi finals.

“We are a significantly different boat than what we were a month ago,” Dickson said. “We know we have found boatspeed in a lot of different areas and we don’t think we have compromised anywhere to get it.”

Those wholesale changes may have come at a cost. During yesterday’s second race the discussion on USA-76 at times seemed to centre on how to trim the boat as much as tactics.

“You’re loading the runner up,” was the call from an unidentified person in the cockpit near the top of the first beat.

Dickson, too, has been very vocal on how to trim the sails, at times cautioning mainsail trimmer Mike Sanderson to “Watch it,” as if the sail is being trimmed too tight.

One of the most striking differences between Alinghi and Oracle BMW Racing on keel reveal day was the keel fin/ballast bulb/winglet packages.

Alinghi’s fin was very wide and its bulb was longer and flatter compared to Oracle BMW’s, which had a shorter, fatter bulb.

“By my eye, which might be biased, Oracle looks like they’ve got a more circular bulb, possibly a bit shorter than Alinghi’s,” observed Team New Zealand designer Mike Drummond. “It’s probably a low-drag shape. Maybe they’re trading a bit of upwind stability. It can be more complex than that. The whole package of their boat might be more suited to heeling over at higher angles upwind.”

USA-76 has appeared to heel more at times than SUI-64. The relative performance of both boats was never more apparent than at the first meeting of the two yachts in each race.

In Race 1, Alinghi, on starboard, approached Oracle BMW, on port. Unable to cross, Dickson tacked on Alinghi’s lee bow. Never in Louis Vuitton Cup 2003 has a windward boat lived on the hip of a leeward boat in this situation. SUI-64 not only lived, it rolled USA-76.

“We sailed for about a minute and I was keen to tack away,” said Brad Butterworth, Alinghi tactician. “They were coming up to us and it looked like we were going to start to lose quickly. Then we got a nice piece of pressure from the right. That saved us and accelerated us forward on them.”

A nearly exact scenario played out nearly 24 hours later, but in opposite rolls. Oracle BMW, on starboard, approached Alinghi, on port. Unable to cross, Coutts tacked on Oracle BMW’s lee bow. USA-76 lived for a bit before having to tack away because Alinghi was climbing on them.

“At one stage there it looked like we might be able to stick there with them, maybe even hold them down there,” said Burns. “It was a short-lived moment I guess. Eventually they managed to wedge up into a commanding position and we had to tack away. The next time we came back they were comfortably in the lead, so it was probably the turning point of the race,”

Alinghi has won both first crosses and led at every mark rounding. The last time Alinghi trailed Oracle BMW Racing at a mark rounding was the second and last leeward mark rounding of their third semi final match on Dec. 12, 2002.

Oracle BMW Racing is out practising today, looking for ways to reduce that upwind speed disparity. But time is running out to find what’s needed.

Source: Sean McNeill