The level of competition at the Indigo ISAF World Team Racing Championship at Dun Laoghaire shifted up several gears yesterday afternoon as round two of the event got underway for the 10-team Gold fleet.

The inevitable defeat for Josh Adams and United States 1 came in their third race at the hands of the impressive youngsters from New Zealand. Earlier in the day, Jamie Boag's Ireland 2 failed to break into the Gold fleet selection when they lost to Great Britain 2 in a crucial decider.

A string of below average results for Ireland 2 on Tuesday undoubtedly cost them their chance of reaching the finals and taking on Ireland 1 whom they beat on Wednesday. Boag told The Irish Times yesterday that they now hope to clinch the Silver fleet mini-championship when they begin a seven race round-robin this morning.

Ireland 1 moved into the Gold fleet easily enough yesterday. However, the pressure will be on Max Treacy and his team today as they have been beaten in four out of seven races so far in round two. The Gold fleet loses two more teams this lunch-time before the quarter-finals begin this afternoon, thus avoiding the knockout is paramount. Treacy is confident that they will proceed beyond this round provided there are no major upsets. He said beating GBR2 was a highlight and vital morale boost.

Zach Leonard of the USA 1 team commented on their defeat yesterday evening: "You've got to loose sometime so you may as well get it over with early - it was pretty inevitable," he said. "It was a close race with unstable combinations so both teams were in a position to do something good and produce a result."

Leonard attributed their defeat, at least in part, to a rules interpretation that they had heard of but not seen put into place before. What they thought was right turned out to be wrong and led to a penalty which was one of three that cost them the race.

"We learned a lot from it and actually cleared up some rules situations that have been festering in the closet for some time," Leonard said. "Those guys sailed a great race, it was good."

Losing the race in round two or the elimination round makes no difference to them as they are through to the quarter-finals. "We already know - we've known who we're going to race in the quarterfinals four months ago so it makes no difference at all."

The New Zealand squad ended day three of the event happy with a solid performance though were typically reserved about their performance. "We've made mistakes like every other team and we're just trying to improve," said Rebecca Murdoch, one of the Kiwi helms. "Most of the races that aren't won are lost by the team that makes the most mistakes."

One of the best matches of the day was an exciting encounter between the British teams. GBR2 ended up beating GBR1 in a constant battle along all five legs of the course. However, it was just one of two wins for them during the day and the squad from the Spinnaker SC will be looking to this morning's two races for straight wins to protect their chances of reaching the quarterfinals.

The 10 elite teams appear to be now racing at their peak but the best has yet to come according to an Irish sailor racing on GBR1. "This is the best racing I've seen yet but this will get closer," commented Roger Morris who hails from Malahide.

This morning's last three races are crunch meetings and are certain to decide whether the more marginal teams stay in the championship or drop out.