When the two races of the day were long over on Friday evening, Barcelona's America's Cup Race Village along the quay wall of Port Vell was still alive with fans of New Zealand's America's Cup defenders. Kiwi flags, Kiwi T-shirts, Kiwi posters dominated the elongated Cup Mile just as Emirates Team New Zealand had previously dominated the races on the course. It was their way of making amends for last Wednesday's stumble, when the Brits had won twice and reduced the score to 2:4. On this 18th October, it was the other way round again. And how!
The America's Cup duel: Kiwis in command
Twice "Taihoro's" helmsmen Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge won the course side they wanted in the starts. Twice they had the right instinct and got the wind shift that pushed them on. Twice, after split starts, they had the bow in front at the first re-encounter. Twice they then extended their lead in extremely shifty winds of between eight and ten knots. Twice it was a one kilometre lead that they brought to the finish line.
"We were very united as sailors today in terms of the pressure differences and the turns," said New Zealand's starboard trimmer Andy Maloney, explaining his crew's gala of efficient and unerring teamwork.
Race 7 was won by Emirates Team New Zealand after a 25-minute sailing demonstration, 1 minute and 13 seconds ahead of the Brits. In Race 8, the Kiwis impressed over a total of 26:37 minutes before "Taihoro" crossed the finish line 55 seconds ahead of "Britannia" with the twice consecutively beaten co-steers Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher. So much for the bare, somewhat ruthless figures for the Brits and highly pleasing for Grant Daltone's "All Blacks of sailing".
Balm on Burling's wounds
Skipper Peter Burling could hear and see how good this double success was for him personally as a balm on the "wounds" he had suffered two days earlier. He said: "This relief after Wednesday was good. Those were two solidly contested races in all areas. The conditions were clearly different. It was simply fantastic." By "different conditions" Burling meant above all the significantly reduced swell, which had caused problems for "Taihoro" on Wednesday and had made "Britannia" look so good.
On this fifth day of racing in the 37th America's Cup match, things went the other way round. More like in the first days of the duel, when the Kiwis were also successful: as in races 7 and 8, they had less trouble keeping their "dry bulb" dry today in smoother water. A "dry bulb" is a counterweight to the "wet bulb" on the foil arm.
The "dry bulb" ensures that the foils achieve the prescribed weight overall, although the foil surface in the water is reduced to the maximum. According to the regulations, the prescribed centre of gravity must also be taken into account when arranging the "wet bulb" and "dry bulb". The rule of thumb applies here: the higher you place the "dry bulb", the larger the "wet bulb" must be.
New Zealand's "dry bulb" likes shallow water
The "dry bulb" sits lower on the New Zealanders than on the British. They, in turn, have placed their dry bulb further back. As a result, the New Zealand "wet bulb" could be made smaller and generates less resistance. Only higher waves make the Kiwis' job harder because they then have problems keeping their dry bulb really dry.
The British had also investigated this and other "dry bulb" variants, but had reservations about setting theirs as low as the Kiwis because the weather statistics tended to indicate that it would hardly stay dry. The fact that the winds in Barcelona in mid-October would be as light and the waves rarely dramatic as in this 37th America's Cup match does not quite meet British expectations in terms of frequency.
The bottom line is that the design of the New Zealand foils has been optimised for lighter winds and flatter water. This paid off in the last two races on Friday in addition to the sailing gala. The "Kiwi Rocket" likes smooth water. And Peter Burling and his crew love sailing with her: "We love it!" said the otherwise sober pilot after the successful races. "It's like a great day's sailing at home off Takapuna," explained the smart guy with a down-to-earth character, referring to the dream sailing areas in his home country.
Five match points for "Taihoro"
At 6:2 in the duel with the challengers from Team Ineos Britannia, the four-time America's Cup winners from New Zealand have now earned five match points. The coup of a third consecutive Cup victory, which no team has ever achieved in the history of the "Auld Mug", is now within reach and could well become a reality on Saturday. Burling's co-driver Nathan Outteridge said: "Good prospects don't mean it's done yet. So let's do it!"
Ben Ainslie's Brits, on the other hand, have their backs to the wall despite a good start on Friday. The 47-year-old four-time Olympic champion said: "Our starts were good today, but it was all about who could get the first spin right. In a shifty offshore breeze like today, it's all about getting those spins right and keeping the pressure on. The Kiwis simply did a better job. They got the right side of the course after the start twice today and sailed very good races. But we're still here and we won't stop fighting."
Ainslie, whose team is working hard for the first British America's Cup victory, continued: "We've come a long way to get here. We've improved massively. We just need to go out there tomorrow in different conditions and get some points on the board."
We have no more second chances." Ben Ainslie
Ben Ainslie initially denied that the collision with an object in the water had caused any significant damage to the rudder of "Britannia". Although he had not yet seen the rudder and his team had "a few issues with the rudder" in the second race, he did not want to "claim that it was the issue of the day for our team", even though the rudder certainly needed to be looked at. "The Kiwis sailed well," Ainslie was keen to point out.
Ainslie's weather dream for Saturday? "Waves would be nice..."
As a participant in the greatest Cup comeback in history in 2013, when Oracle Team USA turned an 8-1 deficit into a 9-8 victory, does he believe in such a miracle comeback again? "Yes, it will take something like that. We're 2:6 down. We're trailing. That's the nature of the game. We have a great team that has made it this far. We're going to fight to the end."
The duel for the America's Cup between Emirates Team New Zealand and Ineos Britannia will continue on Saturday with Race 9 - and if necessary and possible in view of the light wind forecast - with Race 10. The oldest and most important trophy in sailing will be won by the team that scores seven points first.
The match for the 37th America's Cup, Race 7:
The match for the 37th America's Cup, Race 8:
