Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Images from Finals Race 1

3:38 AM Fri 13 Feb 2009 GMT

'Team New Zealand at the top mark - Louis Vuitton Pacific Series' Crosbie Lorimer Click Here to view large photo

One-Nil to Alinghi after Day 1 of the Finals. In a breeze building gradually to 25 knots Alinghi gained a small lead over Team New Zealand at the start and stretched it from there.

Compounding the problem for Team New Zealand was the rapid descent of their spinnaker on Leg 2. Not only did the jammer give way but the cleat behind it let the kite halyard slide and take the turns off the drum before 'corrective action' could be taken.

'It's a rather shiny looking cleat!' said crew member Billy Merrington with a wry smile after the race.

With the first race finishing in a growing breeze the fleet were held in the bay for a while before it became obvious that the wind was going to stay well outside the informal racing limit of more than twenty knots, despite the relatively benign sea state.

The rest of Finals will now be run as a best-of five races from tomorrow morning.

Crosbie Lorimer shot these images today.