It was close, and it was good, but in the end penalties were the deciding factor. The match race final of the America's Cup World Series in San Francisco saw both Oracle Team USA boats at the start because Russell Coutts' boat was fitted with a new carbon fibre bow after the spectacular Friday crash. In the pre-start carnage, Jimmy Spithill misjudged the approach and had to let Coutts go, who then cleverly defended his lead for a long time. But Spithill held on and sailed to the outer limit of the course on the last downwind leg, probably to secure a small advantage in terms of current and course angle. In doing so, he went a few centimetres too far and was handed a penalty, which is administered electronically on these boats. He had to slow his boat down until the blue flashing light on board went out. This happens as soon as the guilty party has lost two boat lengths compared to their opponent according to the GPS.
Nevertheless, Spithill still had a chance because he had the more acute angle to the last mark, which had to be rounded shortly before the finish. The Australian thundered towards the mark at full speed, squeezing in on the inside of Coutts, whose jibe was not necessarily crisp. But Spithill was a touch too late and therefore had no right. He was penalised again, allowing Coutts to cross the finish line with a one-second lead and secure the match race classification. Hats off to the 50-year-old New Zealander, who only sails when his management duties allow it, and who can be seen panting and snorting in the close-ups on board.
Match race final start Coutts against Spithill
It is impossible to say whether Spithill's gaffe happened in the heat of the moment or whether it was stall management. But given the technical aids (a flashing yellow light on deck) that show the sailors their position in relation to the course limits and the almost unbelievable athleticism and boat control displayed by the top crews, an error is only conceivable when it comes to utilising the very last centimetre of the "playing field".
In the final fleet race, it was all about the sausage and the real action, because the winner was allowed to collect 40 points, which gave four teams the chance to win the overall title. The risk that was taken was correspondingly high. Coutts was penalised right at the start, while Spithill once again went off the track on the second leg and was given a blue light, which meant he disappeared from the stage for the time being. Artemis White led at the start with Terry Hutchinson, but this team has problems sailing an AC45 permanently at the limit in windy conditions, which was ruthlessly exposed by the TV footage. The two young guns, Chris Draper from Luna Rossa Piranha and Nathan Outteridge from Team Korea, who both come from the 49er and feel more comfortable at such speeds than keelboat artist Hutchinson, took advantage of this.
Spithill, however, knew no mercy. Faultless boat handling, clear tactics and nerves of steel brought him up to third place seconds before the last mark, within touching distance of Team Korea, who were dithering and not keeping clear enough. The blue light sealed their fate and allowed Spithill to storm past the Koreans to the cheers of the grandstand to finish the race a blink of an eye behind Luna Rossa Piranha in 2nd place, which was enough for the overall win. The lead over the Italians was a small but decisive point and 21 points over Team Korea. Behind them was Energy Team, who had previously thought they were in with a chance of overall victory, but faltered badly with a 10th place finish. Surprisingly, Team New Zealand fell to 7th place in the final standings, while Ben Ainslie and JP Morgan BAR did not fare as well, only finishing 10th in the final standings, although they did catch up with the midfield in terms of points. To the Results
A word about the TV production, which was shown live in the USA on Sunday on the network channel NBC: for this show, it was worth getting the bike out of the garage a little later or leaving the weeds in the garden undisturbed for a good hour longer. This was sailing at its best, perfectly presented with incredible effort. A year of fine-tuning the boats, the regatta format and the courses of the America's Cup World Series have made themselves felt. From the comfort of your living room couch, you could watch with bated breath in high definition as the top sailors fought to the death on the AC45 cats in a strong breeze, increasing ebb current and boat speeds of up to 25 knots against a fantastic backdrop. Spectacular images from on board, from the air and from the accompanying boats, accompanied by digital graphics such as course limits, distance markers and boat identifications, set the bar very high for imitations. Also superb: the quick cuts that are made between the live image and the recording. For example, the former sprinter Michael Johnson, who still holds the world record over 400 metres, was seen going overboard as a guest on Coutts' boat during a turn. Or perhaps jumped.
Unfortunately, at the end of each regatta day, the organisers only provided incomplete excerpts on YouTube instead of a summary of all the events.
To the Event page and to the YouTube channel
