Emirates Team New Zealand had its first loss of the Valencia pre-regatta today when it came up against Alinghi.

SUI 75 led from the start and at the finish was 36 seconds ahead of NZL 82.

Grant Dalton said after the race: “We didn’t expect to come through this regatta unscathed.

We worked hard to make up the deficit and on occasions pulled back a lot of distance but it just wasn’t our day.

“Today was a reality check. We came here to measure our progress against the opposition since the regattas in September last year. We know we have a way to go.

“We didn’t go out on the water today just to eat our lunch. Nor when we lost the start did we sit back and wait for a miracle to happen. We went out to win and we worked to make it happen.

“If there was something to learn from today it was that if, on these short courses you let a class act get in front of you, there’s little chance of getting back into the race. But we knew that already.”

On the course today the breeze was a steady 17 knots, in contrast to the maximum of 12 knots experienced on previous days.

Deltas at the marks today were all in Alinghi’s favour – 31 seconds at mark 1, 25 seconds at the second mark, 29 at the third and 36 seconds at the finish.

In the second race of the day against the South African Shosholoza, NZL 82 won by 4 minutes.

Tomorrow is another big day for the team. When they face BMW Oracle in their last match of the regatta.

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