Just one win and four defeats: no team was as weak in the first round of qualifying for the 35th America's Cup as the once highly rated British team. The fact that they are still in third place after the first of two round robin rounds behind top favourites and leaders Oracle Team USA (5 points from 4 wins, 1 loss, 1 bonus point from the World Series) and the New Zealanders (4 points from 4 wins with 1 loss) is still thanks to the two bonus points that Sir Ben Ainslie's crew earned by winning the preceding America's Cup World Series in 2015 and 2016.
What the helmsmen had to say after the three races on Monday and how close luck and misfortune were on this third and final day of the first round of qualifying
Not even the Brits themselves would have thought that these two bonus points could one day be vital to the survival of Team Land Rover BAR. A second round with so many defeats, however, would not have been enough to keep the cushion intact. Assuming that the results in this second round were similar to those in the first, the most successful Olympic sailor in sporting history and his crew would already be sailing towards the abyss of the Cup in qualifying. This is how Jochen Schümann put it in his commentary on Sky Sport. When the French victory over the British, who had started strongly but then again showed sailing and technical weaknesses, was already looming, Schümann said: "If they lose to the French, they will be on the brink of disaster." It's not quite that far yet, but from where Ainslie's team currently stands, you can probably already see it. On the other hand, Sir Ben Ainslie is known to be at his best when the pressure is on. It now remains to be seen whether he can do the same in the big team and with the catamaran "Rita". Ainslie has now also publicly acknowledged the boat's weaknesses: "We're not fast enough upwind in certain conditions. We have to work incredibly hard to stay in the competition." The king of Olympic sailors also did not give his crew and himself a good report card at the halfway point of the qualification: "We didn't sail the best race today."
Artemis Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand served up the most exciting match of the day on Monday evening. The sailing thriller with two evenly matched teams began with a one-second early start by the brash Swedes. Helmsman Nathan Outteridge, who had been accused of being a little too passive in some of his starts in the days before, just missed the ideal zero start and had to slow his boat down artificially to get rid of the penalty. The Kiwis overtook them on the second section of the course. From then on, the lead in the match changed hands countless times. At the third turning mark, Artemis was again three seconds ahead of the New Zealanders with helmsman Peter Burling. The decisive scene in the thrilling duel took place when rounding the fourth mark and turned out to be the upset of the day.
The Kiwis save themselves in the three-length circle. Artemis comes from the outside at high speed and manages to get round both the Kiwis and the marker to take the lead. The Swedes are convinced that they have given the New Zealanders enough space. For the umpires on the water, it was a different story: For them, Emirates Team New Zealand lies the buoy with right of way. As Artemis rounds the mark relatively wide without right of way, but the Kiwis tack to avoid a collision between Artemis and the buoy, the umpires decide against Artemis according to the classic port-starboard right of way rules. Rounding the mark plays only a secondary role in this decision. Peter Burling reports later in the press conference: "We initiated this. It was our only chance." The referees give Artemis a penalty - the second in this race. Naturally, the Swedes are unable to recover from this on the short home straight. According to the regulations, they have to wait until their opponent has overtaken them - even if they have a large lead - which is eventually the case at the finish line. On board the "Magic Blue", tactician and recognised fair player Iain Percy can be heard shouting in horror during these final scenes: "No way!", "No way!", "No way!". But the point goes to the Kiwis, while the Swedes still can't believe what has happened at the finish line. Nathan Outteridge later explained in the press conference that his team had given the New Zealanders enough space. There is also a heated debate about this on social media. But the referees were of a different opinion. New Zealand's helmsman and Olympic champion Peter Burling coolly stated: "It's like in any sport: you have to dance to the whistle."
Update, Monday (11.32pm): In a statement issued late Monday night by America's Cup Race Management (ACRM), it is acknowledged that the umpires, after their extensive debriefing of the Artemis v Emirates Team New Zealand case, had in hindsight ruled differently. This very rare and quick admission of a wrong decision came as a positive surprise. In an interview with head referee Richard Slater, he said: "When they came to that final gate, the information we had at the time told us that Artemis was sailing on starboard bow with no right of way and Emirates Team New Zealand was sailing on port bow. Our job is to make sure that Artemis stays clear. We weren't sure at the time that they were doing it. We've since had a discussion about it and looked at other evidence, information and data. I think that if we could go back in time and had to make the decision again, we would have pulled the green flag and not penalised Artemis." However, the factual decision stands and cannot be changed in retrospect.
In the third and final duel of the short sailing day, the French were no longer able to deliver what they had promised in their furious victory against the British. "We simply didn't have the energy," admitted skipper Franck Cammas honestly. In other words, his grinders were no longer able to deliver maximum power for every manoeuvre and were exhausted. Groupama Team France had obviously put all their energy into their first victory and looked like a marathon runner with cramps and no chance in the duel against Dean Barker's SoftBank Team Japan. Sir Ben Ainslie must have wished Land had only met the French in this match and not in the first. But he was the big loser of the day. Alongside Artemis, who, unlike the Brits, were able to finish the first round of qualifying with the good feeling of having completed some very strong races.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
