Women's America's Cup: Sweden dominant, Team Germany takes stock

Thursday was a tough day for the German sailors in the 1st Women's America's Cup. On the America's Cup course off Barcelona, the women of AC Team Germany had to put up with severe setbacks. They got off to a brilliant start on the second and final day of qualifying. They held the lead for a long time on the first section of the course. The helmswomen Maru Scheel and Victoria Jurczok reached the first windward gate with their trimmers Jill Paland and Luise Wanser in second place.

Women's America's Cup: Handling errors are expensive

What happened next was not initially visible to the spectators on the screens because the TV cameras were not following the German boat at the time. "We fell off the foils," explained skipper Maru Scheel later in an interview. "Maybe it was the wrong boat setting, maybe it was a bit of bad luck that the wind dropped so suddenly."

After that, says Maru Scheel from Kiel, "we didn't manage to get back on the foils quickly." The annoying crash from a good position had consequences: Because the German AC40 foiler had already come very close to the course limit in this fifth qualifying race, the women had to tack agonisingly slowly in displacement mode to avoid risking a penalty.

Only then could a new attempt be made. "Then you only have one knot of boat speed for the time being. It takes a relatively long time to get to six, because we can only really drop off with a windward heel. It takes a while to get really fast. You just have to be patient with an inexperienced team like ours."

German pitchpole costs two races

In race six, AC Team Germany was hit hard in the pre-start phase. "We had a pitch pole. I suspect it was a strong gust, too strong a wind shift or an angle that was too hot," said Maru Scheel. The German foiler ploughed bow-first into the Barcelona tides in around 18 knots of wind at a boat speed of just under 40 knots.

All you see is a huge valley in front of you. A blue wall. It turns white and smacks you in the face." Maru Scheel

Maru Scheel gave an impressive description of what it felt like: "First the nose flies up. Then you know... Sometimes you just land on the nose, but this time the angle was too strong. You still have a millisecond to think about whether to duck or not. But you don't really have time to react."

Maru Scheel did not feel cold on impact. "You have so much adrenaline. I can't remember if it was cold. But it was super hard. The water is really powerful. My microphone was gone. My glasses were gone. Vicky's helmet was ripped off her head. She came upwind at some point and only saw the cables on me. The communication system was also torn off."

Without wind sensors and "comms": racing impossible

Without the torn off helmet and without the wind instrument transmitter, which had also broken off at the bow, and the broken communication unit, the women from AC Team Germany were also unable to take part in Race 7. "With such shifting winds, it's hardly feasible, rather difficult," said Maru Scheel. The wind sensor could be replaced during the forced break. "It sits at the very front of the bow and takes the full force. It's only five or six millimetres thick and then simply breaks off."

There was a lack of handling and time on the boat," summarised Maru Scheel

The German sailors were back on the starting line for the eighth and final race. They were able to show more than one good performance in their last race. Although they were in the top three at times, in the end it was mainly their lack of experience in handling the boat that set the fast-learning team back time and again. "Whenever we were really able to race, we did well. Our decisions were good," summarised Maru Scheel.

The not entirely unexpected exit after the preliminary round came for the crew in the Women's America's Cup with the least experience on the AC40 mini-cuppers and other fast foilers after eight qualifying races. "I would have wished that we could have sailed more races. In some we were simply unlucky, in others we lacked the handling. Perhaps we should have made one or two decisions differently. It all adds up and doesn't look or feel so good in the end," said Maru Scheel frankly.

Women's America's Cup: Being there was important

On the other hand, she also saw the positive aspects of a summit performance in which the typical Barcelona conditions of ten to twelve knots hardly ever prevailed for the B group. Maru Scheel said: "We gave it our all here. And we learnt a lot. We experienced a historic event and also showed in some moments that we deserved to be here on the start line."

The 24-year-old from the Kieler Yacht-Club, who has had to surpass herself so often this week, added thoughtfully: "Perhaps in slightly lighter wind conditions, where it doesn't turn 60 degrees and jump from seven to 18 knots, we would have had a slightly better chance of being more consistent and further ahead."

The experienced and ambitious helmswoman Victoria Jurczok, 2016 World Championship bronze medallist and Olympic bronze medallist in the 49erFX, agrees: "With just a little more training opportunities, so much more would have been possible. Maru Scheel did really well. She also comes from the FX. The skiffs are simply much closer to these boats here. We had handling problems, but I'm very happy with our teamwork."

German wishes for the future

What Maru Scheel, the youngest and skipper of AC Team Germany, hopes for the future in addition to her goal of qualifying for the 2028 Olympics in the 49erFX: "These boats are so much fun to sail that I wish I could have this opportunity again. Then with more training and perhaps my own boat or a boat in cooperation with other nations. That you can sail and learn and then be better prepared for the next cup."

Maru Scheel takes home another reinforced realisation from the Kiel Fjord: "The more you train on fast boats, on foiling boats, in pairs or in threes, the better your chances are. We were thrown into new situations here every day that we hadn't experienced before. You have to learn to deal with that. If you can prepare better in the future, it helps enormously. You can see it in the Swedes: they have their own boat and got round the course much better."

This was especially true for the second of the two qualifying days of Group B of the invited women's teams in the Women's America's Cup. The top favourites, the Swedes, who had not been quite so compelling in lighter winds the day before, raced to victory after victory. They made full use of their three weeks of training on the team's own AC40 foiler in the stronger winds. They also coped best with the extreme pressure differences between 19 knots and doldrums on Thursday.

Rodeo in the Women's America's Cup

The mountain Montjuïc and its eponymous "Castell", which towers over the city of Barcelona, had interfered mightily with the third day of racing in the Puig Women's America's Cup. After stormy winds had passed through Barcelona during the night, a westerly Atlantic air current had taken command. This spun around Barcelona's landmark and created the choppy, gusty and difficult to interpret race course, where nosedives, spin-outs, penalty situations and a capsize took place as if on an action stage.

After the "battle", the Swedish co-pilots Vilma Bobeck and Julia Gross - an Olympic silver medallist and a European Championship bronze medallist in the 49erFX - and their trimmers Ida Svensson (Nacra 17) and Rebecca Netzler (Olympic silver medallist with Vilma Bobeck) advanced to the semi-finals as qualifying winners.

With 61 points, the Swedes had a ten-point lead over the Dutch (51 points), who had made such a brilliant start to the Women's America's Cup, and 17 points ahead of the third-placed Spanish (44 points). Fourth-placed Andoo Team Australia narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals with 39 points. They were followed by the Canadian Concord Pacific Racing Women's Team (13 points) and the Women's AC Team Germany (10 points).

Decision for the A teams on Thursday

Races 5 and 6 of the America's Cup women's crews in Group A, originally scheduled for the afternoon, were postponed to 10 October. Because the foil mechanics of the Canadian women's AC40 had been damaged in a nosedive and subsequent capsize and could not be repaired quickly, Hannah Mill's British team Athena Pathway would otherwise have missed the boat. Reason given by the race committee: "In the interests of fairness to all participants, the races in the afternoon have been cancelled."

On Tuesday, the New Zealanders' reserve Mini Cupper was prepared for Thursday's race. After the first four of the eight qualifying races, the women from the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (33 points) lead Group A ahead of the British Athena Pathway Team (29 points). They are followed at some distance by the sailors from Emirates Team New Zealand (18 points), Alinghi Red Bull Racing (15 points), Orient Express - L'Oréal Racing Team (11 points) and NYY American Magic (6 points).

Coach Annie Lush also took stock of the AC Team Germany women at their farewell to Barcelona. She had been brought into the team as a strong asset. The 44-year-old British Olympic and round-the-world sailor, who last sailed with Team Guyot in the Ocean Race, said: "The six women here were a great team. I really enjoyed working with them."

A dream start that showed the potential

Commenting on the crew changes during the races, Annie Lush said: "We rotated during the races. That may not have been the best thing for their performance, but they deserved it. They have given so much to this project. They don't get paid for being here. They've taken time off from their jobs to be here."

Commenting on the sporting result, Annie Lush said: "Both days were a bit disappointing. Today was a tough day. But they finally got off to a strong start." What was meant was the German start gala in race five. "We won the start and crossed in front of everyone else, showing that we have what it takes," said Vicky Jurczok in her summary. Like her team-mates, the helmswoman from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club knew that handling weaknesses were the main reason for the setbacks on the second and final day of racing.

At the end of the historic first Women's America's Cup, Vicky Jurczok, for example, completed a total of two and a half hours of AC40 sailing, including training in the Cup area. That is around 2.5 per cent of the training that the Swedish sailors were able to complete this summer on their team's own AC40 foiler.

Praise and an important realisation

"In the last race, our women got round the course well with a downwind speed of 40 knots and had a lot of fun together. I could see from the onboard communication how much they supported each other. That was really good," said Annie Lush, praising the steep learning and performance curve.

But what Annie Lush also saw was another difference between the German and the other teams. She includes the AC Team Germany youth crew in this observation: "Yes, we didn't have an AC40 in preparation. That was a factor. But the fact that 100 per cent of the sailors in the other teams sail full-time is also a factor. I'm not sure whether it's still possible to sail successfully at a professional level today if you don't spend 100 per cent of your time sailing professionally."

Lush openly questioned whether this was a structural or a mental problem. The highly experienced professional sailor hopes that AC Team Germany will "form such a structure in the future, that the support for it will come and that the women will then also seize this opportunity". And: "That more will then be possible on this course."

The sport has become very professional. It's tough, but it's the reality." Annie Lush

Lush described studying alongside competitive sailing as a "good idea, probably even a very sensible one, but probably also a very German thing to do". You then have a "good backup", but you can't "give everything to sailing". Lush knows: "There is a lot to do with the structure and funding. But the other half lies with the women: I really hope that some of them decide to push this further."

The demands of professional sport

Annie Lush had also gained an insight into the German youth team that had previously competed. In the totality of her impressions, she also noted that she was surprised that the sailors "don't race much more than they do". She shares this observation with the few professional sailors that German sailing has. According to Lush, you have to think outside the box and can also be active in other classes.

Lush has also had to battle time and again in her international career. She knows that being 100 per cent committed without a safety net can be "a bit scary". However, the four-time match race world champion sees no alternative to this when striving for success at world sailing level.

"The sport has become very professional. It's tough, but it's the reality," says Lush, who has a five-year-old daughter and now lives in Mallorca, where she also works as a geography teacher at the international school. It's funny when the children there loudly claim that they're all men when talking about pirates, for example. Then Annie Lush reaches into her video archive and shows them the most exciting videos of the furious women in the Ocean Race. And the adventurous version of professional sport becomes a lively lesson.

Click here for the results of the Women's America's Cup.

Women's America's Cup, Qualification Group B, Race 5:

Women's America's Cup, Qualification Group B, Race 6:

Women's America's Cup, Qualification Group B, Race 7:

Women's America's Cup, Qualification Group B, Race 8: