AC35 Match: Day 4, Race 8 – ETNZ crush OTUSA at the start, lead wire to wire to go up 6-1; now on ma
HAMILTON, BER – Jimmy completely botches the start. Allows Pete to hook him, luff him head to wind, which slows both boats almost to a stop. ETNZ finally bears away and rockets to the start, crossing well after the signal but amazingly some 10 seconds ahead of OTUSA. From there the two teams with similar VMGs would gain and lose a bit, but the Kiwis covered nicely and stayed comfortably ahead – at least 100m, often 400m.
At the Leg 4 gate OTUSA pooches a jibe big time, and the Kiwis add another 150m to their lead in a few seconds. Up Leg 5 ETNZ are almost 400m ahead. Delta at the Leg 5 gate is a huge 43 seconds. As Max Moosmann said just now on our SI Twitter Feed, "#Snoozefest."
Then, adding insult to their own injury, OTUSA take a stupid boundary penalty on Leg 5, not that it made any difference in the race – just cost them another two boat lengths in the go-slow penalty imposed by the umpires.
Why has the NBC Sports app coverage of the Cup failed? Or at least it has for me on all my devices: phone, tablet and computer browser. Hope it works tomorrow as the racing will not be on the NBC network, not that many in the USA will be watching.
Kiwis have a 100% Fly Time for Race 8, and win by 30 seconds.
Kiwis are now on match point, up 6-1 in the first-to-win seven races. Race 9, and 10 if necessary, are scheduled tomorrow at 1400 ADT (1300 EDT, 1000 PDT). Again, tomorrow's coverage is on the NBC Sports Network (cable/satellite) and, hopefully, also the NBC Sports app.
Why do I get the feeling, and have felt all along, that more people are cheering for ETNZ than OTUSA? Even more so after today's dismal performance.
Is Larry's pilot out at the airport spooling up the engines on his private jet? Or can OTUSA get back in this tomorrow?
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/75ec71_e8712648db514b38a6e21185863b8741~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_514,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/75ec71_e8712648db514b38a6e21185863b8741~mv2.jpg)
After today's racing, Jimmy's retort to Pete at last night's press conference is sounding rather hollow.