A penalty was at the centre of the racing action on the America's Cup course off Barcelona on Sunday. Emirates Team New Zealand won the third race after a lightning-fast and smartly provoked penalty against the British team in the pre-start phase. What happened in the starting box?
"Britannia" sailed at around 27 knots without a right of way on the left-hand side of the starting box. "Taihoro" approached "Britannia" from the right at a good 24 knots with right of way. It all came down to a classic dial down. The Kiwis quickly reached 27 knots. "Britannia" did not manage to pass "Taihoro" off the bow and was therefore obliged to take evasive action.
A very tight dial down
It came down to a very close dial down. Ben Ainslie said in the evening that there were "only centimetres between the two foils". In this case, the umpires decided that "Britannia" had not sufficiently fulfilled her duty to take evasive action. In the replay of the race, you can see that both boats moved apart again shortly after the dial down, but this was obviously too late for the umpires on the Cup course.
Ben Ainslie reflected on the penalty against his team in more detail that evening in Barcelona: "The penalty was a harsh decision. It was obviously a port/starboard right of way situation in the dial down. I had the feeling that we had kept clear. But the referees saw it differently and we were awarded the penalty."
The strong match racer Ben Ainslie continued: "I watched the scene with our match race coach Ian Williams after the race. I mean, it's 50:50, but not similar to the decision in the duel with Alinghi in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final. And that was a green flag." The 47-year-old CEO, skipper and helmsman of Ineos Britannia would have wished for the same in this case.
Kiwi studies pay off
Instead, the Kiwis looked good. The preliminary starts in the round-robin races, in which the New Zealand defenders had been allowed to take part in the Louis Vuitton Cup, had been more of a minimal weakness for Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge's crew. There was no sign of that in the Barcelona Arena on Sunday. It was now the obviously stronger Kiwis who had done their homework thoroughly and were able to show off Ben Ainslie and his co-driver Dylan Fletcher in the British showpiece discipline to date.
"We definitely studied them, looked very closely at how they prepare, how they set up. Today was all about seizing an opportunity when it presented itself and turning it into a race win," said "Taihoro" co-pilot and 49er Olympic champion Nathan Outterdige on the successful move. He continued: "We have decided that we want to take advantage of such opportunities to control the all-important starts when they present themselves. It's quite obvious that the boats are pretty evenly matched."
The question persists among observers in Barcelona as to what would have happened if the British had perhaps got off to the better start? Both the Kiwis and the Brits continue to insist in individual discussions that the speed potential of their boats is not that far apart. Things looked different on the course on Sunday too. The Kiwis dominated the race, bringing their start-finish victory to the finish line in an impressively controlled manner, with flawless manoeuvres and consistently outstanding positioning, as if it had been a walk in the park.
"Taihoro" dominates America's Cup duel
Taihoro's" lead at the finish was just under 700 metres and 52 seconds, or almost a minute. Ben Ainslie also recognised the strong performance of the New Zealanders, saying: "They defended well and put in a good performance. They were comparable to us after the start. After that it was the subtle differences, whether it was the better manoeuvres or finding more pressure to get around the course better."
I still think it's tight." Sir Ben Ainslie
What did he want to say to his team at 0:3 in the evening? "I think it's probably time for a fresh start in terms of how we've sailed, how we approach sailing, how we find more capability in the boat. We always knew that this was going to be the ultimate battle. And now it is. I believe that if we are ahead at the start, we can leave them behind and take some races off them."
The Brits will be keen to show this on the afternoon of Monday. Race 4, which was cancelled on Sunday due to light winds, will be held on 13 October from 14:10 before a rest day on Tuesday. The live broadcast starts as usual at 2 pm on Monday. The 37th America's Cup match will be won by the first team to clinch seven victories. If the Kiwis continue their smooth march, this duel for the most important silverware in sailing could come to an end as early as Friday.
THE PENALTY! Here spectacularly recorded by the "Britannia" stern camera:
The 37th America's Cup Match, Race 3:
