America's Cup: Two Kiwi victories at the start - battery problem on "Britannia"

This was not how Ben Ainslie and his team Ineos Britannia had imagined day one in the America's Cup duel. Just minutes before the start of Race 1, the temperature display for one of the on-board batteries showed too high a temperature. Ainslie explained: "Unfortunately, one of our batteries literally decided to melt just before the start. That doesn't happen very often. In general, these lithium batteries are pretty reliable."

Battery problem has cost time

It wasn't this one. Ainslie said: "We had to get it off the boat in a hurry. But it wasn't on fire and there was no smoke. You would have seen that. But you can't take any chances." Ainslie did not want to explain in detail how exactly the betterie was taken off the boat. But: "That cost us time and was the reason why we were late dipping," was the first thing he explained the evening after the America's Cup opener.

The team reacted well and "didn't panic". "We then managed a halfway decent start," said the CEO, skipper and helmsman of his team. According to Ainslie, it took no more than three to five minutes to replace the battery, but it was "unfortunately necessary at the wrong time". "We noticed it just as we were about to take off from the support boat," says the 47-year-old.

The first day of the 37th America's Cup match got off to an unpromising start in drizzling rain under cloudy skies. Light winds plagued the course and forced race director Ian Murray to postpone the start. The first starting shot in the Cup duel between the New Zealand "Taihoro" and "Britannia" was not fired until 2.50 pm on 12 October. And it was only when the cloud cover partially cleared that the wind picked up to between 11 and 13 knots, although it remained patchy and shifty.

America's Cup defenders control the starts

Thanks to successful positioning and textbook manoeuvres, the determined Kiwis went on to achieve a flawless start-to-finish victory. "Taihoro" crossed the finish line a full 41 seconds ahead of "Britannia". At the start of the second race, Ben Ainslie and his co-driver Dylan Fletcher were correspondingly livelier in the pre-start phase, but were unable to score as successfully as in the Louis Vuitton Cup duel against "Luna Rossa".

Instead, the New Zealanders once again dictated the action - this time in the battle for the right-hand side. At the starting signal, they were the ones who turned right and sailed towards the right-hand side of the course. A series of lead changes made the following race phase very exciting and gave the British fans new hope.

But then the preliminary decision was made on the third upwind leg of the course, which was eight sections long this time. Taihoro's helmsmen Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge held "Britannia" on the right-hand side of the course while the fresh wind came in from the left. When they had finally built up a lead of 28 seconds, they pulled away.

If you get off to a good start and are ahead, it makes life a little easier." Peter Burling

The irresistible Kiwis sailed superiorly towards the 2:0 with picture-book tacks and immaculate gybes with perfect flight control. The obviously faster upwind speed in these conditions also helped the America's Cup defenders. The fact that the British were repeatedly able to make small gains downwind was not enough on this day.

"Hellish battle" for the America's Cup?

Taihoro" crossed the finish line with a 27-second lead and satisfied Kiwis. Peter Burling played down the speed advantages of the New Zealand foiler a little, saying: "The winds were so shifty today. The chasing boat had to do a lot and sometimes suffered major losses as a result. We experienced that a few times. But I'm sure we're in for a hell of a fight from here on in."

When asked by YACHT online what role the speed potential of "Taihoro" actually played on this day, Peter Burling said: "Speed always plays a huge role in the America's Cup. Today was probably the hardest day to really measure the speed. Because the swell, the wind force and the turning made for a constantly changing picture. But I'm really happy with our performance." The way he said that sounded pretty happy.

Does he anticipate tough pre-start attacks from Ainslie and Co. as the wind picks up, which is not expected in Barcelona for races 3 and 4 on Sunday? A smile and then one word: "Yes."

Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to stay on board

Ben Ainslie, who was beaten twice at the start, was hoping for better results and chances in the evening. The British media, now reporting in great numbers from Barcelona, had initially reacted somewhat disillusioned to the two defeats. On the other hand, the Daily Telegraph has reported that Ineos Britannia's financial backer Sir Jim Ratcliffe has committed to another joint campaign, regardless of the result of the historic clash with New Zealand, although the team may seek additional outside support.

I believe that we can take races from them." Ben Ainslie

Ben Ainslie was by no means downbeat on Saturday evening, but rather open and eager to attack. "I still think it's going to be a close race. It was closer today than it looked at times. I think we've already shown as a team that we're pretty resilient. It was good for us that we had the chance to read the Kiwis out there today. I'm sure we'll learn from it."

Ainslie said he was as confident as the day before that his team could still win. Ainslie said: "We knew it would be tough. But nothing has changed: We have to win seven races before they do. I still believe we can do it." Did he notice any weaknesses in the New Zealanders? "Not really today. They had two great races. Their performance was good, their speed was good. They mostly found the pressure well and executed the manoeuvres well."

Ainslie then added a but: "We were close a few times in the second race today. Not much was missing, then it would have gone the other way round. It's easy to look at the two victories and hold on to the gap, but I think it's closer than that."

Click here for the results of the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup match.

Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup Match, Race 1:

Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup Match, Race 2: