The semi-finals of the Challenger Playoffs didn't get off to a boring start on Monday evening. However, one of the two matches was somewhat one-sided. This was due to the fact that Sir Ben Ainslie of British team Land Rover BAR was once again slowed down by a technical problem on board his catamaran "Rita" in the match against the top favourites New Zealanders. As the skipper and helmsman later reported, a loud bursting noise could be heard after rounding the second turning mark on the third leg, accompanied by Ainslie's annoyed cry. The catamaran quickly fell onto its hulls. The team took the drive out of the boat and announced their abandonment shortly after the first inspection. "Thank goodness we did that," Ainslie reported later, "otherwise we'd probably still be out there fishing up lots of little bits of carbon fibre."
Initially, the team still had hopes of possibly being able to provide the replacement wing quickly enough for the second race of the day. However, the theoretically rapid replacement came to nothing because the Brits were unable to get their boat into the harbour quickly enough. "Our support boat had to tow us because we couldn't sail ourselves," said Sir Ainslie, "that took 20 or 30 minutes." This meant that time was almost up before the second meeting with Emirates Team New Zealand, and the New Zealanders turned up at the start line alone. For the Kiwis, it was two easily deserved points on the day - which young helmsman Peter Burling was naturally delighted about. Although not overly so. His team completed the second race without any opponents, taking the opportunity to drive the "Aotearoa" through the starting box like a proud racehorse, dash around the course, put on a little muscle show and complete a few tests. Burling later told us candidly that the New Zealanders had also broken an important part in the wing during training. But, according to Burling, that was a long time ago.
For the Brits, it was the second costly break in a race against Emirates Team New Zealand, after a system error had already led to a decisive technical failure on Friday and the resulting defeat against the Kiwis in qualifying. This time, the equipment failure cost them two points. Burling's men now only need three wins to reach the final of the Challenger Playoffs. When asked whether he - Ainslie - still had confidence in his technique, the four-time Olympic champion inevitably put on a good face. Yes, he absolutely trusts his equipment. His team may have had a really tough day, but they had already proved that they could fight back. However, Land Rover BAR didn't have 24 hours to do so late in the evening, as the next two duels with the laid-back Kiwis are already scheduled for Tuesday evening. The interesting forecast: it's set to get a little windier on Tuesday. And on Wednesday it will be so windy that it may not be possible to sail again. Originally, the British were said to be faster in stronger winds. They will now have to prove whether this can really be the case if they don't want to sail to the edge of the Cup abyss on Tuesday.
You wouldn't want to be in Sir Ben Ainslie's shoes: first he was supposed to explain in the press conference the break on board that led to the abandonment of the British. Which, of course, he did not do in detail. Then, after several technical problems, he had to reassure the press that he had absolute confidence in his equipment. What else could he have said?
The second semi-final match between Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan was more evenly matched, although it didn't look like it in the first encounter on Monday evening. Under the Japanese flag, Dean Barker and his team surprised everyone with a remarkable performance and an almost 100 per cent "flying time" on the foils. They quickly made up for the only slip-up of the race. Because Barker wanted to dip his foils deeper shortly before rounding the first mark (to avoid drift), but risked too much and was caught by a wave that pulled the cat down, the hulls dipped and allowed Artemis Racing to overtake for a short time. However, the Japanese team did not let this sit for long and soon overtook them again at a good speed, finishing the race with a commanding 23-second lead. A surprise even for the experts - most of them had classed Artemis Racing as favourites. This was also due to the fact that the Swedes were the only team to beat the defending champions twice in qualifying, while SoftBank Team Japan sailed fast but not consistently and suffered a string of defeats.
But before the day could turn into a European opening fiasco, the Swedes recovered and remembered their role as favourites. Although they fell off the foils once after a successful start in the second race and were promptly overtaken by the Japanese, they regained the lead and ultimately prevailed with good positioning. The SoftBank team played an active part in this, messing up a gybe, as a result of which skipper Dean Barker slipped and fell over the trampolines during a hectic side change in the sprint. "It wasn't planned like that and probably seemed a bit uncoordinated," said the 44-year-old later, laughing at himself. Both races between Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan were great to watch. It is obviously a duel on an equal footing that promises further excitement. "There is hardly any difference in the speed potential of the two boats," said Nathan Outteridge. Barker was also satisfied in the evening: "Our boat is nice and fast. This is especially true for the upwind sections."
The semi-final matches will continue on Tuesday from 7pm and will be broadcast on Servus TV and Sky Sport (for a fee). Meanwhile, Oracle's former rules consultant Tom Ehmann, who has recently been filling the blog "Sailing Illustrated" with Cup news on a daily basis, caused the excitement of the day. On Monday, he drew attention to the fact that there is apparently an addition to the current America's Cup protocol that nobody has noticed so far. While the original protocol states: "(...) if the winner of the America's Cup qualifier is a participant in the match, he shall start the match with a score of one (1) point." (Editor: The match refers to the final Cup duel between the defender and challenger). Ehmann points out in passing that there were a record-breaking number of additions to the protocol. One dated 29 June 2015 states: "(...) if the winner of the America's Cup qualifier is a participant in the match, then the participant who did not win the America's Cup qualifier shall start the match with a score of minus one (- 1) point." This means that it is no longer correct that a team needs seven wins to win the 35th Cup match. Since the defenders had won the qualification, each of their potential challengers will start with a minus one point.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
