by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
The Louis Vuitton Cup fulfilled its mission of providing a competition to advance the best challenger to the 37th America’s Cup. INEOS Britannia was most certainly not the best when the series began August 29, but the British team proved to be for their final race on October 4.
While the devil is in the details, which is hard to detect with the hyper-tech AC75 yacht, the British squeezed more out of their boat than the others. The French were first to go, then the Swiss were no match, and the USA couldn’t get it together. As for the Italians, they plateaued while the Brits continued their climb.
Aside from it being 60 years since Great Britain had a yacht compete in the America’s Cup Match, INEOS Brtannia is not going to cheat the viewer when they face the Kiwi defender. While the AC75 yacht may not be everyone’s cup of tea, the Brits aren’t afraid to match race, and the America’s Cup is a match racing event.
The Italians were plenty good in the Louis Vuitton Finals, but the Brits remembered match racing mattered. While Italy was likely to play the course and wind shifts, the Brits were as likely to play their opponent. Passing is hard after the start, and British skipper Ben Ainslie made it harder. Watching punches thrown and landed is entertaining.
Ainslie was the 2010 Match Racing World Champion, and his team was the most aggressive and inventive before the gun. When they mastered what moves were possible, and improved their all-around speed, they were too much for Italy. Will they be too much for New Zealand? The 37th Match (best of 13 series) is October 12-27.
Viewing details – Race information – Results – Weather forecast
Source: https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/10/07/will-great-britain-be-too-much-for-new-zealand/
