The first day of the 36th America's Cup did not disappoint. Defender Emirates Team New Zealand and challenger Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli each won a race. The main takeaway from these two races is that there is no room for error, that both boats are about equally fast in these conditions and that the start will decide which team will be ahead at the finish. The New Zealanders won the first start and then also the race, in the second encounter it was the other way round.
Race 1 and 2 in the recording
"We are very happy with the speed of the boat and it is obvious that we can still have some very good races," said Francesco Bruni, co-steersman for the Italians, after the races. The victory in the second race was "a bit of a relief for his team. What was said before the race that the Kiwis were five, even ten knots faster. That was obviously not the case."
The day showed that it doesn't really matter whether one of the boats has a slight speed advantage. In some situations, the New Zealanders seemed to be a tad faster, but the Italians were more manoeuvrable. In fact, the narrow race course with its limitations forces the crews to tack or gybe early, making it almost impossible to gain a speed advantage. Once a boat has taken the lead, it is almost impossible to overtake it, as it can slow down the boat behind with its own downwinds. However, this realisation is not new; in the entire Prada Cup there was only one race with a change of lead.
Peter Burling, helmsman of the New Zealanders, also confirmed this: "If you're behind at the start, it's very difficult to pass. But we are very happy that we were able to stay close." Bruni added: "That has a lot to do with the conditions. In these very stable wind conditions, the leading boat benefits. If the wind gets gustier with stronger gybes, we will see more lead changes."
Race 1
In ten to twelve knots of wind, both started with wind from starboard. The New Zealanders had more speed at the line and were immediately about half a boat length ahead to windward of the Italians - a hopeless situation for them. If they had sailed on like this, the New Zealanders would probably have overtaken them and had them under control. At the latest at the course limit, which would have forced both to tack, the New Zealanders would have been upwind of the Italians, an even more hopeless position, as they would not have been able to tack away immediately because of the limit.
Co-steersman Jimmy Spithill, who was steering on the starboard side with the Italians and was at the helm at that moment, decided on a desperate manoeuvre. He luffed in order to force the New Zealanders to react in the same way and thus either get them off the foils or tempt them to turn away, which would have meant giving up control. But the manoeuvre failed. The New Zealanders were too fast, slipped over the Italians, released the overlap and were able to sail on freely. In turn, the manoeuvre cost the Italians a lot of speed and they were finally caught in the New Zealanders' downwind leg. The race was decided.
Race 2
With slightly more wind around 13 knots, the pre-start duel was initially similar to the first race. The Italians approached the line with wind from starboard, the New Zealanders followed in their wake. This time, however, the New Zealanders' timing was not right. "We wanted to start upwind, but we were too far behind the line, which was a clear mistake," said Burling. Shortly before the start, the New Zealanders had to tack to sail to the line, but the Italians were already there, also tacked with the start signal and were immediately on a par with the New Zealanders upwind, which meant control over them and a lead of around 70 metres. The eagerly awaited answer to the question of whether the New Zealanders would be able to get out of such a situation with their supposedly better speed was answered: they could not. The Italians extended their lead further and further.
But the Italians made it exciting once again. After the second downwind leg, they had a lead of 430 metres. At the leeward gate, they opted for the right-hand side of the course, apparently because they thought it was the better one. The New Zealanders went to the left and won. At the windward gate, they were only twelve seconds behind, down from 24, and they continued to catch up on the final downwind leg. At the finish they were only seven seconds behind.
Thursday is the only rest day, and from Friday onwards the racing continues at 4.15 am with two races per day.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
