The second day of racing in the second round of qualifying for the America's Cup was characterised by a British drama in two acts. Firstly, Sir Ben Ainslie and his men from Emirates Team New Zealand were paraded around like schoolboys and dismantled. Then, in a sailing thriller against underdogs France, they claimed the victory that was so important to them, which at the same time brought the French to the brink of elimination. In both cases, it became clear once again that Team Land Rover BAR has major problems with its boat and its handling. "Rita" is difficult to tame, doesn't seem nearly as light-footed as the New Zealand "Aotearoa" in the hands of 49er Olympic champion Peter Burling and even surprised her sailors on Thursday with a nasty failure, as a result of which the boat fell off the foils like a picture off the wall when the nail doesn't hold.
Why, in stark contrast, did the New Zealanders outperform the competition in their only race that evening? Experts attribute the superiority, even in the very light winds of around seven knots, at least in part to the special foils of the Kiwis. In the press conference after the races, Burling answered the question about the kinks in the light wind foils and their rumoured "aggressiveness" only evasively - they had been working with them for quite some time. And yes, they have proved their worth. Eberhard Magg, co-founder of the first German America's Cup campaign, yacht designer and Match Race Germany organiser, explains more specifically the advantage that the "kinked foils" actually give the New Zealanders: "Thanks to the kinks in the foils, the current is in the foil earlier and generates the necessary lift earlier in today's conditions. As a result, the New Zealanders were able to stay on the foils much better in the light winds on Thursday and dominate their opponents." The whole thing was apparently also more stable than the competition, as Peter Burling was able to pull his boat around in manoeuvres without any great loss of speed.
The dominance of the current top favourites in the battle for the position of official challenger was even acknowledged by the former co-favourite for the role of official challenger for Oracle Team USA. Sir Ben Ainslie said: "In all fairness to Team New Zealand, they sailed really well against us in these conditions. It's very likely they would have overtaken us at some point anyway. But of course we would have liked to have made life a bit more difficult for them."
What the players said about their performances and failures on day 5 of qualifying for the 35th America's Cup
Instead, Ainslie's "Rita" suddenly lay like a huge drift anchor in the Great Sound after the accidental gybe as a result of the system error and with her foils noticeably short compared to the competition on course section two, evoking more pity than anything else. The beaten hero Sir Ainslie later described what he saw as the depressing seconds of the decisive race situation, in which he first shouted his frustration from his soul and then shouted "What happened?" over and over again in quick succession: "We had a system error. We could no longer control our foil. Our new foil, which had to be lowered to starboard bow... Well, we then dived deep with both bow tips and lost all our speed. When that happens to you in light winds, it's just incredibly painful."
By the time the Brits had got their Kat back on track, the race was long over. With a deficit of more than six minutes, they finally gave up one lap before reaching the finish line. This had never happened before in the prelude to the Cup match. By then, the Kiwis had long since reached the finish line. For Ainslie, it was the first time in his illustrious career that he had retired from a race, according to his recollection. However, the abandonment was not - as some reporters suggested - out of frustration with an unfair flavour, but rather in an effort not to prolong a lost race any longer than necessary. Instead, the Brits wanted to give their technical team as much time as possible to prepare for the second remaining duel against the French. According to the motto: Save "Rita" and give us a few more horsepower.
But "Rita" didn't seem much faster in the duel against the French either. As against the New Zealanders, the British won the start - their strongest discipline to date. But that was not enough. Groupama Team France sailed past the Brits from behind on the second section of the course with a run-up and better speed, as if it were easy. Franck Cammas and his team led by 50 metres on the way to the third turning mark. However, the Brits did not let up, created separation between the boats with a "split", found better wind and closed the gap again. Ainslie attacked and was even able to get ahead of Groupama Team France for a short time, but lost the lead again. "We were faster downwind and probably slower upwind," said his opponent Franck Cammas, summarising the duel, which turned into a real thriller towards the end. "It was a race that we could have won," said Cammas with a smile, "but that's life." In the end, it was the British who positioned themselves so ideally on the course in the last few minutes of sailing on the difficult day that they were actually able to catch the French, who had been leading until shortly before the finish." The sailing and tactical skills of the Gold boys on board "Rita" shone through once again.
The fact remains, however, that without their two bonus points from the World Series, they would not have qualified for the semi-final round of the playoffs. Just like Emirates Team New Zealand. It is Sweden's Team Artemis, Japan's Team SoftBank, who managed a commanding victory over France on Thursday, and the French, who are currently still under threat of elimination. Only four of the five challengers will reach the next round.
The fact that the defending champions also fought a duel on this fifth day of racing in the 35th America's Cup was almost lost in the excitement of the other encounters. SoftBank Team Japan with helmsman Dean Barker made a strong showing in the match against the American technology partners, particularly in the pre-start phase. Oracle helmsman Jimmy Spithill actively contributed to this by failing to enter the starting box in time and having to clear a penalty before his team could open the chase on the Japanese team. Barker summarised: "We had a good race against Franck and his boys and a good first half against Oracle. Obviously we're disappointed that the race slipped out of our hands. I think we got out of rhythm. But that's part of racing. These boats are very difficult to manage in these light winds. It's frustrating, but this competition will go on for a very long time..." It was Barker's way of saying that he doesn't see his team being eliminated, but going through to the semi-final round of the Challenger Playoffs.
The light winds of around seven knots caused a whole series of frustrating moments on Thursday, and not just for the sailors. The spectators watching on TV and computer screens on ServusTV or Sky Sport also had to get used to the fact that the previously so dynamic and mostly "flying" Cup projectiles suddenly looked like bulky and immobile rafts. With both hulls in the water, they are more cumbersome than expected in winds close to the lower limit of six knots. It takes a long time to get the two-tonne catamarans back on their foils after manoeuvres.
The conclusion of the race day: From the current perspective, the defending champions and Emirates Team New Zealand are the teams that have so far recommended themselves more convincingly than anyone else for the 35th America's Cup match. Which certainly corresponds to the bookmakers' odds.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
