Two months of more or less irrelevant preliminaries came to an end yesterday with another victory for the superior New Zealanders over Luna Rossa in the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The New Zealanders stormed to a superior victory in the challenger series and can now take on Cup defenders Oracle. After the many disappointments so far, this pairing is certainly the best thing that could have happened to the event.
The Kiwis' exorbitant lead of 3:20 minutes in a foggy race that lasted just 33 minutes says pretty much everything about the balance of power. "We came to win the America's Cup," said the victorious skipper Dean Barker. "Winning the Louis Vuitton Cup is part of the preparation." So they have their sights set higher and want to take revenge for the disgrace of 2003, when they lost the Cup at home 5-0 to Alinghi, and for 2007, when they were again narrowly beaten by the Swiss in Valencia.
Team New Zealand wins the Louis Vuitton Cup
The Italians did their best with inferior equipment, but had already lost the battle before the first battle because they were competing with a first-generation boat. Although they were able to improve it, they were clearly behind the Kiwis, who were simply faster and, above all, won a lot with well-rehearsed manoeuvres. "The New Zealanders had everything under control. They're a really strong team and I'm looking forward to seeing them in the match," said Max Sirena, the skipper of the losing team. "We'll be stronger next time," he added in conclusion. Whatever that next time will be. After all, the AC72s will be museum pieces or expensive hazardous waste once the Cup races are over.
Oracle versus Team New Zealand is a dream final under the given circumstances, but also the only logical one, however unequal the protagonists may be: the company of a tycoon versus the team representing a sailing-mad country. New Zealander Russell Coutts, a deserter in the service of Oracle, against his ex-colleagues. These are the two strongest sailing teams, who are likely to have similar performance potential, but whose philosophies are as different as night and day.
Oracle's rollover
Oracle has a virtually "unlimited" budget, which comes almost exclusively from the petty cash of team owner Larry Ellison, who heads the Oracle software group and is one of the richest men in the world. The Americans have hired the best sailors money can buy. "They have literally bought the market dry," commented a long-time observer of the scene. For example, the English superstar and four-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie is only the helmsman of the B team. Oracle is also the only team that can have two fully operational AC72s on the water at the same time and makes extensive use of this opportunity to simulate competitive sailing and thus further develop the potential of the boats. In terms of design, the defending champion focused on optimised aerodynamics in hull and wing design. This should be an advantage in light and medium winds, but also comes at the expense of the rigidity of the platform. The effect this can have was clearly visible in the capsize last October, when the cat started to twist heavily during acceleration before one hull dipped, resulting in a spectacular rollover.
In contrast to Oracle, Team New Zealand is supported by several major sponsors who contribute around two thirds of the total budget of approximately 100 million dollars. The remainder comes from small companies and the public sector, which accordingly stylises this cup as a national affair because winning would have positive consequences for the country in the South Pacific. Not only in terms of national pride, but also economically, especially in terms of tourism and the boating industry. The New Zealanders were the first to master foiling with these AC72 cats, which were not actually designed for this purpose, and they were also able to secure a head start in terms of experience, although this dwindled over time. Like Oracle, the Kiwis have built two boats, but they cannot sail them at the same time because they lack the necessary resources and people. The first boat, which is the same as the one Luna Rossa raced in San Francisco, served as a development platform from which a second boat was built, which they are now also sailing.
Capital plug from the Kiwis
Early on in the design process, they decided in favour of rigidity with exposed diagonal struts and greater hull volume in the bow in order to be equipped for the upper regions of the wind limit. Whilst they consciously accepted aerodynamic disadvantages, it is almost certainly thanks to this decision that they survived a major plug in the Louis Vuitton Cup. The exquisite boat control of Dean Barker and his colleagues is also evident, especially in the gybes, which are sailed entirely on the foils. The sequences are precisely coordinated and choreographed and have been perfected over the course of the elimination races. Perhaps a small advantage over Oracle.
To put it in a nutshell: The defender should have the advantage in lighter winds, while the New Zealanders will be hoping that San Francisco's fresh westerly wind doesn't run out of breath. The wind limits for the America's Cup are known to be higher than those for the Louis Vuitton Cup, which could also play into the Kiwis' hands. If the difference between the boats is small, as rumoured by the organisers, the starts will be of the utmost importance. Because on San Francisco Bay there are hardly any overtaking opportunities against equally or marginally slower competitors who are practised in match racing. But if the race is close, it could well be that even top sailors will fail a gybe or a buoy manoeuvre, which could lead to changes in the lead.
It doesn't matter how or why, but after the poor showing, the Cup desperately needs some electrifying racing to justify at least a fraction of the grand promises made by the organisers before the event began.
PS: In addition to the never-ending embarrassment of this Cup, the season rankings of the America's Cup World Series regattas, which were sailed with the smaller AC45 cats, had to be significantly corrected. Due to illegal tampering with the boats of Oracle/Spithill, Ben Ainslie Racing and Hagara/Steinacher Racing, the aforementioned teams were stripped of all points for the regattas that took place after Newport 2012. Oracle/Spithill also lost both overall victories in the America's Cup World Series 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, and the trophies for these will now be sent to the new winners, Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Piranha. It is not yet clear whether Oracle will also face points deductions for the Cup final as a result of this affair or even the suspension of some of the sailors who were allegedly involved in the affair.
The programmeAmerica's Cup Match (Best-of-17)
Saturday, 7 September: Race 1 (13:10 local time/22:10 CEST), Race 2 (14:10 local time/23:10 CEST)
Sunday, 8 September: Race 3 (13.10 local time/22.10 CEST), Race 4 (14.10 local time/23.10 CEST)
Tuesday, 10 September: Race 5 (13.10 local time/22.10 CEST), Race 6 (14.10 local time/23.10 CEST)
Thursday, 12 September: Race 7 (13.10 local time/22.10 CEST), Race 8 (14.10 local time/23.10 CEST)
Saturday, 14 September: Race 9 (13.10 local time/22.10 CEST), Race 10* (14.10 local time/23.10 CEST) (*if necessary)
