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12:26 PM Sat 31 Jan 2009 GMT
 | | 'Bob Fisher'
Daniel Forster
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The Waitemata provided an ideal stadium for the second day of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series - regular 16 -18 knot breezes from just west of south, with a welter of spectator craft to contain the players, and above all a determination by those players to provide intensive competition. Add to all that sunshine breaking from the clouds and a warmth in the aair that put smiles on the faces of the sailors who have spent much of their recent time in the northern hemisphere.
First up was what was billed as the match-of-the-day; Emirates Team New Zealand versus BMW Oracle Racing, or as most saw it, the return of the prodigal, Russell Coutts, who has not raced one of these boats since he imposed the crushing defeat on the home team by Alinghi in 2003, against his pupil, Dean Barker, to whom he handed out the 5-0 walloping.
Barker has come a long way since those grey days on the Hauraki Gulf; he is a more matured and experienced skipper, with a further America's Cup final under his belt and two victories against Alinghi into the bargain. And then there are the seasons of close combat in the TP-52 class in Europe and appearances on the world match racing circuit - all excellent preparation for this regatta.
Coutts meanwhile has been in the shadows, sidelined by Alinghi after a dispute with the team's principal, Ernesto Bertarelli, and subsequently held in limbo when his new team entered in a legal battle, again with Bertarelli, over the rights of challengers. He might well have been expected to be slightly off the pace, and was.
Not so much in the pre-start manoeuvres, where he showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with, making a perfectly timed approach to the line with Barker forced to tack away soon after the pair had crossed the line. The early breeze was fitful and there were soft patches up the course and stretched of breeze stronger than the rest, and it was into one of these that Barker sailed on his way towards North Head.
He was smiling when he drew clear and was able to tack out ahead of Coutts. If this reads like a personal battle, it is because that was the general feeling among the cognoscenti - the teams had paled into insignificance to them, but their crews were performing to peak perfection and as the hometown Kiwis rounded the windward mark 14 seconds ahead, a perfect spinnaker set was a culmination of joy to the supporters.
That is not to say that BMW Oracle was badly handled, and indeed the set by the crew was just as good and downwind the distance between the two boats narrowed. The closure was enhanced when Barker went for the right hand mark of the gate, and Coutts chose the slightly favoured left hand one. Just three seconds separated the two boats as they started the second beat. It was on this that Barker took control and extended his lead by 21 seconds as they round the final mark for the run to the finish. Gaining a further four seconds, it was a resounding victory - the pupil had beaten the master in front of a home crowd.
The rest of the racing might have been anticlimactic, but while the time differences were bigger, the contests were no less striking. Gavin Brady, skipper of the Greek Challenge, still reeling from the penalty from the previous day, was soon on the attack against Paolo Cian in Shosholoza, and inflicted a penalty on the Italian skipper of the South African boat. From there, Brady strode away to a 56 second win.
The double world match racing champion, Ian Williams, at the wheel of the China Team, was undone in the pre-start by Francesco Bruni steering the Damiani Italia Challenge and was never subsequently in the game. The Italians won by 1:18.
Much was expected of the second of the 'blood matches,' when Peter Holmberg for Luna Rossa went up against his former team mate Ed Baird in Alinghi. Baird executed a perfectly time run back to the line after the circling and was never troubled by his opponent, winning the race by 50 seconds.
by Bob Fisher
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