Emirates Team New Zealand took to the waters off Valencia on Sunday aiming to take a stranglehold on the Louis Vuitton Cup final. After two days of perfect racing conditions the Kiwis are sitting pretty after wins in the first two legs of this best of nine match series against Luna Rossa.
If NZL 92 make it 3-0 it will leave the Italians skippered by James Spithill with an almighty mountain to climb.
Forecasters had predicted a sharp drop in the sea breeze from 14 knots on Saturday to six to eight knots - with seven knots the minimum wind speed required by the race committee. But the breeze picked up sufficiently for the race to be sent off on time at 1300GMT, with Luna Rossa crossing the start line 20m up on the Kiwis who grabbed the right port side. As a crowd of over 25,000 watched New Zealand scramble across the line a mere eight seconds up on ITA 94 in Friday's first head-to-head Dean Barker's boat completely dominated Saturday's race, strolling in by 40sec.