High winds have brought an early end the first day of finals in the Louis Vuitton regatta in Auckland after the Swiss Alinghi crew won the opening encounter against Team New Zealand.
Team New Zealand says it got the start it wanted, but the early windshift it was hoping for never came and it trailed Brad Butterworth's crew for most of the race.
Team New Zealand tactician Ray Davies says even during the race there were some strong winds with gusts to about 26 knots .
Davies said heading down wind when they put rthe bow up they were gertting plenty of boat speed, reaching 15 to 16 knots at times but Alinghi still held a comfortable 22 second lead at the finish.
The series is due to wrap up tomorrow with the final now reduced to a best of five rather than seven format.
