Barcelona, Spain (October 16, 2024) – Just when you thought the 37th America’s Cup was over, and defender Team New Zealand would parlay their 4-0 lead over their British challenger to certain victory, INEOS Britannia showed naysayers what a difference a day makes.
With no racing yesterday, the Brits tweaked and twisted their AC75 in hopes of better performance, and they got it. Amid a confused sea state and southerly thermal breezes of 7-11 knots, the British took advantage of the previously impenetrable Kiwi team to win both races to now trail 4-2.
For the British, it’s the first time in ninety years – since 1934 – that the nation had won two races in an America’s Cup Match. Back then Sir T.O.M. Sopwith’s ‘Endeavour’ scored the first two wins before Harold Vanderbilt’s ‘Rainbow’ came back strongly and clinched the series 4-2. History was certainly being made in Barcelona today.
The opening race got underway on time with the wind above the 6.5 knots lower racing limit and a lumpy, bumpy, residual sea state that made it challenging to keep the AC75s flying consistently. In essence, this race was over before it started when Team New Zealand, approaching from the port end, fell off their foils while gybing after crossing the Brits.
Uncontested, INEOS Britannia shot out into a lead of over 1,700 metres before the Kiwis could get back up and flying. From that point on, for the British, the race was all about staying on the foils… and they did to take their first win in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match – by one minute and 18 seconds.
For the second race, INEOS Britannia came in from the port side and immediately there was pre-start aggression from both teams.
After crossing the Kiwis, the British went into their customary tack to take themselves above the start line and were followed closely by Emirates Team New Zealand who had set-up as the hunter. A peel away to the right by the British saw both boats close running to the boundary with Britannia pinned out to windward and trying to outrun the Kiwis to leeward.
A protest appeal from Team New Zealand was quickly denied by the umpires before the crews disengaged at the boundary and INEOS Britannia gybed first to head back to the line. Team New Zealand initially set up in a leeward position, looking to hold the British boat out, but in the final 20 seconds Britannia was able to power over the top – forcing a re-think in starting strategy for the Kiwis.
As the clock ticked down to the start, Britannia aimed for a high-speed pin end start, whilst New Zealand elected to tack off onto port and get to the right of the course. Starting with 10 knots extra boatspeed, the British sailors grabbed an early positional advantage that they were able to capitalize on to maintain their lead over the next eight legs.
The Kiwis kept the delta down to no more than 16 seconds at any gate rounding, but an uncharacteristic mistake in the final approaches to the leeward gate cost valuable time and distance, and meant passing was always going to be difficult.
For the Britannia crew, the focus was on precise execution and despite slipping up with one poor touchdown gybe and a couple of slow tacks, the British minimized their maneuvers but never allowing the Kiwis to get leverage anywhere around the course. After eight legs, the British recorded a seven-second victory.
“Big day, massive day for the team,” offered British skipper Sir Ben Ainslie. “We really needed that, and I can’t say enough about how everyone across the board responded to being four down – the designers, engineers, shore team all coming together to find those little gains, to up the performance out there on the racecourse and that’s what we got today.
“These boats are so fickle in terms of how you set them up and the techniques of how you sail them. Going up against the Kiwis and seeing some areas where we were perhaps a little bit behind, so full credit to the coaching team and the engineers trawling through the data trying to figure out how we can make some of those adjustments.”
Blair Tuke, port Trimmer and Flight Controller for Emirates Team New Zealand reflected on a day where the team felt they left much out on the racecourse: “They certainly came out well and to notch two wins against us in those conditions is a great effort by them. We will look back on today as a day where we let some opportunities slip.
“That first one was a real shocker by our standards: to get low speed on the port entry and then get into a situation where we couldn’t cross – or maybe could have – that was just one we would like to forget. The second start, we got into quite a strong position in my opinion and then probably let them off the hook there.”
With the scoreline at 4-2, racing resumes on October 18 when two more races are scheduled for this best of 13 series.
Viewing details – Race information – Results – Weather forecast
Following the publication of the AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule on November 17, 2021, the AC75 Class Rule and AC Technical Regulations were finalized on March 17, 2022. The entry period was from December 1, 2021 until July 31, 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup could be accepted until May 31, 2023. The Defender was to announce the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the reveal, finally confirming Barcelona on March 30, 2022. The 37th America’s Cup begins October 12, 2024.
Teams revealed to challenge defender Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
• INEOS Britannia (GBR)
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA)
• NYYC American Magic (USA)
• Orient Express Racing Team (FRA)
2023-24 Preliminary Regattas
September 14-17, 2023 (AC40): Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
November 30-December 2 (AC40): Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
August 22-25, 2024 (AC75): Barcelona, Spain
2024 Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series*
August 29-September 9: Double Round Robin
September 14-19: Semi Finals (Best of 9)
September 26-October 7: Finals (Best of 13)
*Team New Zealand competes in the round robin stage only, but the results of their races were not included in the challenger leaderboard.
2024 America’s Cup
October 12-27: 37th Match (Best of 13)
For competition details, click here.
Additionally, 12 teams will compete in the Youth America’s Cup and Women’s America’s Cup.
Noticeboard: https://ac37noticeboard.acofficials.org/
Event details: www.americascup.com/en/home
Source: ACE, SSN – https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/10/16/what-a-difference-a-day-makes-2/
