Alinghi squeeze by NZ, go 4-2 ahead

Alinghi fought back from behind to beat Team New Zealand and take their lead in the America's Cup to 4-2 yesterday, putting them just one win away from defending sailing's most coveted prize.

The Swiss syndicate thrashed New Zealand in 2003 to become the first European team to win the America's Cup in its 156-year history and they are desperate to add a successful defence to the record books.

As Alinghi approached the finishing line, syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli punched the air and started shaking hands with his crew while the New Zealanders hung their heads.

"There were some shakes of the head for sure but the feeling's still good and it's far from over here," said Team New Zealand mastman Matt Mason.

New Zealand came out fighting yesterday, desperate to put Friday's nasty spinnaker rip behind them and level the best-of-nine series again.

That aggression was still there as they faced off with Alinghi in the pre-start and then gybed right in front of them as all the Alinghi crew threw their hands in the air and skipper Brad Butterworth appealed. The penalty was denied.

Both boats sped towards the start line, crossed at the same time and made their way up the first beat within metres of each other.

Alinghi finally bailed out and New Zealand took advantage of a wind shift that blew them round the mark 14 seconds ahead. The two teams came back downwind in true match-racing style, gybing to cover each other and sending men up the masts to look out for fingers of wind as the breeze lightened.

Stuck behind Team New Zealand, Alinghi picked the harder mark rounding at the bottom of the course but it paid off as they forced New Zealand to tack across to join them.

By the time they came back together, they were just a boat length apart. Alinghi started a tacking duel to bounce Team New Zealand away and soon squeezed past them.

For the rest of the race, Alinghi played conservatively and, while Team New Zealand got a last little punch of air to narrow the gap, the Swiss crossed the line 28 seconds ahead.

The 32nd America's Cup has been the most exciting in recent history as one nail-biting race after another has smashed a losing-streak jinx and the usual trend that whoever leads the first time the boats cross on the course, will win the race.

The teams meet for what could be the final race today.