Team New Zealand beat Alinghi by 25 seconds in a classic America's Cup race on Tuesday, recovering from a poor spinnaker drop which nearly ended their race, to take a 2-1 lead over the Swiss defender in the best-of-nine series.

Alinghi got off to a faster start after Team New Zealand threw in a tack just before crossing the line, the Kiwis losing boat speed but chasing an advantage on the right.

Their plan paid off and Team New Zealand went ahead of Alinghi at the first cross, both crews having to cope with a rolling sea swell and a shifting breeze of 8-9 knots.

By the first upwind mark, Team New Zealand had left Alinghi trailing by a massive 1 minute and 23 seconds.

Alinghi showed better speed on the first downwind leg, reducing the gap, but a bad spinnaker drop at the half-way mark soon meant the Kiwis' lead of one minute and 2 seconds was under pressure from the Swiss team.

The Kiwis struggled to free their billowing red spinnaker, which had become tangled with their jib sail and lines, as they tacked back up the windward leg of the second round.

With the Kiwis desperate to regain their poise and speed, Alinghi broke back in front and the lead moved back and forth as the boats fought a fierce battle up to the final windward mark.

Alinghi rounded it first, with a lead of 15 seconds, as both boats hoisted their spinnakers for the final leg of the race.

But the Swiss team could not hold their lead down the course, with Team New Zealand making the most of the flukey winds to get back into the race.

The lead passed to and fro in the final minutes of the race but in the last few hundred metres the teams converged on the line and the Kiwis emerged with a clear lead, crossing the line comfortably ahead of Alinghi to win the race.

(China Daily via Agencies June 28, 2007)