"I've had better days." Sir Ben Ainslie, helmsman of the British challenger Ineos Team UK, summarises the first two races with this simple sentence. He could also have said: "That was a disaster." The British team had to abandon both the match against the Italians and the Americans due to technical problems. In the first match there were probably problems with the rudder, then apparently the adjustment of the foil arms did not work properly. The results of these two matches are therefore hardly meaningful. However, as long as they sailed, the British looked like they had no chance. Nevertheless, there was one important realisation:
Shortly before the start against the Italians, their Australian helmsman Jimmy Spithill, known for his aggressive pre-start tactics, managed to turn the British downwind and force them to tack. Both boats fell off the foils and stopped. The Brits even picked up a stopping penalty because they sailed with their bow into the safety area around the Italian boat. It then took the Brits so long to get onto the foils that the Italians were off and running. The realisation: if you don't foil at the start, you immediately lose several hundred metres.
The four teams of the 36th America's Cup met for the first time in the Christmas Race off Auckland early this morning from 3.00 am. What was on show was impressive. In 15 to 19 knots of wind, the new 75-foot monohulls sailed upwind at over 30 knots, around ten knots faster than the 50-foot catamarans of the previous edition. Downwind, the speed rose to almost 50 knots, with the New Zealanders marking the top speed at 49.1 knots. There were fast manoeuvres, tacking duels and crashes. Sometimes it was close and exciting, sometimes rather boring due to large gaps. The potential of the teams is still too different, too many unknowns are still in play.
Although it is purely a show event, the Christmas Race is the first encounter under competitive conditions. It's about prestige, but above all about an initial comparison of the boats and collecting important data. The first encounters must be judged particularly in terms of the latter aspect.
Firstly, there was the match between Italy and New Zealand, which promised to be exciting due to a shared history. Both teams had the most time to design their constructions. Defender New Zealand and the first challenger, the Italian team Luna Rossa, determined the rules of the new cup. The designers of both teams were therefore able to familiarise themselves very early on with the designs possible within the rules; the other two challengers, the Americans and the British, were left out. This gave the New Zealanders and Italians a months-long design advantage.
The complete recording of all four races
In addition, the challenger and first defender were able to draw on very good computer simulations early on. Both used the programme that the New Zealanders had already developed for the previous Cup. Luna Rossa had bought a licence for the current programme and also signed up some developers. This means that both teams not only use the same software, but also have the people who developed it.
The hulls of both teams looked very similar in the first designs. Now, with the second boats built, which were used by all teams, the New Zealanders took a more radical approach, particularly in the aerodynamic area.
It can therefore be assumed that the New Zealanders used the race against the Italians to find out how these changes would affect the original design. In short: they worked. The New Zealanders won with a lead of over a kilometre.
The match against the Americans was a completely different story. Cup veteran Dean Barker was at the helm, and he managed to save a twelve-second lead over his opponent Peter Burling at the start. It was a thrilling match, the only thrilling one with a turnaround duel, and yet somehow strange.
Even at the start, the New Zealanders did not get into the pre-start box properly and had difficulties getting onto the foils; the on-board radio indicated technical problems. But then everything seemed to be in order again and the New Zealanders steadily caught up. This game was repeated. Every time the New Zealanders came close, something happened, such as an unnecessary roll tack shortly after rounding the leeward mark with a subsequent splashdown, falling off the foils, which increased the gap again. On the final cross, the New Zealanders worked their way back up to just behind the Americans, managed an inside position at the windward gate and took the lead; the Americans even had to accept a 50-metre penalty for not keeping enough distance. But shortly afterwards the New Zealanders fell off the foils again and the Americans passed them.
It would not be surprising if the New Zealanders tried out in this match how they manage to sail forwards from a deficit through the opponent's downwinds. You could say they succeeded.
After the first day, the New Zealanders can be rated as the clearly superior team, followed by the Americans and the Italians. The British are difficult to assess due to their technical problems. However, too much should not be read into these first matches. There is still plenty of time before the start of the Cup final on 6 March.
The next races are scheduled for Friday morning, 3.00 a.m. German time. The races can also be watched live and in replays via the Cup website , on Youtube and Facebook to pursue.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
