America's Cup: Defenders dominant, challengers with sailing errors and mishaps
For the Kiwis, the third and final pre-regatta for the 37th America's Cup has so far gone like the bread slicer at the bakery. On the third of the four days of racing, Peter Burling and Nathan Outteringe steered "Taihoro" to their fourth victory in their fourth match. On Saturday, Emirates Team New Zealand flexed its muscles against Alinghi Red Bull Racing. The Swiss team delivered a confident pre-start duel against the New Zealanders and started the race on almost equal terms. However, the New Zealanders secured the desired right-hand side, as coach Ray Davies later confirmed.
"Taihoro" also strong in light winds
When the boats met again for the first time in the middle of the course, the Kiwis set a perfect tack in terms of both timing and positioning. After that, they gave the Swiss no chance to pass them in their downwinds and extended their lead over the course of the race. At the finish, "Taihoro" had a lead of more than one kilometre over Alinghi Red Bull Racing's "BoatOne". "We are happy with our boat in all wind conditions," said Peter Burling after his team's only race on the final day of the America's Cup pre-regatta off Barcelona.
The two-time World Sailor of the Year and Emirates Team New Zealand have left no doubt as to their confidence so far in the first official Cup regatta with the new AC75 foils. On the contrary: their play seems effortlessly easy, and "Taihoro" is also very fast in the lightest winds of this America's Cup pre-regatta so far - between seven and eleven knots on Saturday.
With four wins in four races, Emirates Team New Zealand has already secured its ticket to the final of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta. The Kiwis can no longer finish worse than second. The final sprint on Sunday will show whether they can keep their clean slate in the last race before the final and snatch the fifth victory point from the US team NYYC American Magic in this round robin with the defenders and five challengers.
Rudder problems on the "Patriot"
It will also depend on whether the Americans can compete with an intact boat. On Saturday in the day's duel against the Orient Express Racing Team, "Patriot" had already signalled trouble in the pre-start phase with a loud bang. It quickly became clear that the "Patriot" crew had lost contact with the rudder. Everything pointed to a possible "exploded" lever technology of the rudder equipped with the elevator. The T-profile on the rudder helps to keep the boat in flight mode.
It's frustrating because it's a completely new problem. We've been sailing here for six months now and never had the problem." Tom Slingsby
The French started the race solo and took the opportunity for a training run, while the Americans announced their retirement. On regatta day three, Sir Ben Ainslie and Ineos Britannia were the first to receive some relief. After two disappointing defeats in a row, the Brits finally scored their first winning point against Alinghi Red Bull Racing.
Penalties for the "Britannia" downwind missile
The race was a long, exciting and hard-fought match, the closest yet. Britannia coach Rob Wilson said that the team was "still looking for some upwind speed". On downwind courses, however, it looks as if "Britannia" has nothing to hide from any boat in the current America's Cup fleet. The British "downwind rocket" reached the finish line 33 seconds ahead of the Swiss and brought visible relief to the faces of her own coaches and observers on the support boat.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing's helmsman Arnaud Psarofaghis was also not entirely dissatisfied with the race: "The start was good. Then we forced them to tack. We pushed as hard as we could. But then they controlled the race. We just have to keep learning as quickly as possible before the race starts on 29 August." The official challenger round for the 37th America's Cup begins in Barcelona at the end of the month. In the Louis Vuitton Cup, the challengers will fight for the right to challenge the New Zealanders in a duel for the "Auld Mug"."
The brief British flight of fancy was followed by another setback with hardly any waves and slightly decreasing winds. The potentially exciting match with the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team came to nothing because "Britannia" was a tiny 2.4 metres too early when she dived into the starting box. They received penalty number one for this. A little later, "Britannia" also ran over the course boundary after the start. Penalty two was given for this.
Victory with a golden tip from the coach
While the very active and flexible race management shortened the course to 1.5 nautical miles, the British fought but were unable to catch up with the impeccably performing Azzurri. At the finish, "Britannia" was a full 46 seconds off the winning time of "Luna Rossa" with co-pilots Francesco "Cecco" Bruni and Jimmy Spithill.
Bruni was delighted and also revealed a key to his success: "We weren't sure which headsail to choose before the race. The choice wasn't exactly easy. We then sailed with a slightly larger jib, as Hamish (editor: coach Hamish Willcox) had advised. We were all sure he was wrong. But he was right."
The Brits, on the other hand, were annoyed about their close pre-start blunder with drastic consequences. Co-steersman Dylan Fletcher-Scott said: "That's hard to swallow. We even have a technical assistant when we dive into the start box. We were actually confident we'd hit it spot on. It wasn't easy with the early penalty and the wrong headsail."
The intermediate standings reflect the events of the third of four race days before the final day and the final:
- Emirates Team New Zealand: 4 wins/0 defeats
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team: 3 wins/1 defeat
- NYYC American Magic: 2 wins/2 losses
- Ineos Britannia: 1 win/3 defeats
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing: 1 win/3 defeats
- Orient Express Racing Team: 1 win/3 defeats
On the final Sunday the Kiwis will face the Americans, the Italians the Swiss and the French the British from 2pm. After each of the six teams has played each other once, the final will be decided: The top two teams will contest the final from 3.50pm. LIVE TIP: The races are organised via America's Cup Homepage, America's Cup YouTube channel, via America's Cup Facebook page or with ServusTV to follow. On Saturday, the broadcast quality on Facebook was the best.
Race day 3, race 9 - Ineos Britannia vs. Alinghi Red Bull Racing:
Race day 3, race 10 - NYYC American Magic vs Orient Express Racing Team:
Race day 3, race 11 - Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs Ineos Britannia:
Race day 3, race 12 - Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Alinghi Red Bull Racing:
