Cup Spy: America's Cup Match - Kiwis go two up - Day 1
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 12 Oct 2024 21:06 BST
13 October 2024
INEOS Britannia and Emirates Team NZ - America's Cup Match - Race 1 - Final - October 12, 2024 © Ian Roman / America's Cup
Emirates Team NZ won both races sailed on Day 1 by margins of 41 seconds and 27 seconds - despite sailing with a jib that was maybe too small for a breeze that faded towards the end of both races.
In the Women's America's Cup, the Italian crew dominated - leading from start to finish. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli will leave Barcelona without the America's Cup but with the next best thing for a team rebuilding- the trophies for the Youth America's Cup and Womens America's Cup.
Most were pleased to see the Women's Final - a one-race, sudden-death affair - get underway on time and go to a normal start and conclusion without anyone coming off their foils - in marked contrast to yesterday's enduro event, which ran for almost nine hours.
For all the talk about whether the Defender, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, should have started a team in the Round Robin phase of the Louis Vuitton Cup or Challenger Selections Series, the pundits went into the first day of the America's Cup none the wiser as to who would prevail.
The outcome of today's racing was very similar to the only encounter between the two teams in the Louis Vuitton Cup.
There in Match 21, on Day 6 in winds that were only a touch lighter than today, Emirates Team New Zealand beat INEOS Britannia by 3min 2 sec - a flattering margin - where the two had been less than 33seconds apart for the first four legs, but the blow-out came after the Brits had trouble staying on their foils for the final two legs.
Today, it was tighter initially, on a day that double Olympic Gold medalist Giles Scott observed "it was tricky being behind today", noting that the lead yacht could always go the right way for the wind shift and pressure and that the trailing yacht had little option but to split tacks and take their chances the other side of the course, in preference to living in the lead boat's exhaust.
Scott made the interesting comment that the Kiwis were sailing well upwind today. It was very accurate but intriguing, as it appeared that the New Zealanders were sailing with a smaller jib—something that the Kiwis often do. The apparent logic is that it is faster upwind, and that gives the best chance of being first to the first mark. From there, it is a matter of holding on downwind and doing a rinse repeat for each lap of the three—or four-lap course.
The ploy seems to work even in the second race, where the breeze eased and should have worked the way of the Brits. By that stage, the Kiwis had worked out to a 30-second lead and had the luxury of being able to play the shifts and pressure cells.
Later the Brits confirmed that they had changed down to a smaller jib between races - going to a J2, while the Kiwis incredibly went to a J3. However that is within their own jib code set - and there is no correlation between jib sizes as in one designs.
The Brits also pulled an unintentional move at the start of Race 1, entering the starboard at the end of the startline 30 seconds late. The reason for the delay by INEOS Britannia was over a battery issue.
It did catch the Kiwis on the hop, as they flew into the port end of the start box the regulation 10secs ahead of the starboard entry boat - only to find the Brits hovering on the edge of the starboard (right hand) boundary - which offered the opportunity for some creative moves.
The Kiwis responded with the standard match racing tactic to try and block your opponent from entering and getting them penalised.
But in AC75s, that is easier said than done, and in the end, the Brits' late entry made little difference.
For sure the Brits were a little rattled, but got away to a good start - although the Kiwis did even better and had a nice little advantage going across to the port boundary
Strangely the starboard side of the course seemed to pay in the first race, while in the second the opposite side was definitely more profitable - upwind and down.
Nothing has changed since the later stages of the Louis Vuitton Cup - where the boat that has been first around Mark 1 has gone on to win the race.
Despite all the frothy commentator hype about the racing being "tight", the last time there was a genuine lead change was on Day 1 of the Semi-Finals, where Luna Rossa passed American Magic on Leg 3. There have been two others - in the same series once with a boat coming off its foils, and Luna Rossa breaking their traveller.
There will be a lot of analysis overnight by the Boffins of Brackley as to how the Brits can bounce back, in the same way the Italians did four times in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final.
Their best chance is to adopt a basic rowing strategy - get in the front at the start - and stay there.
It is not possible in the AC75s to live successfully in the rig exhaust of a competitor.
The British skipper was able to outsmart his counterpart on most occasions in the starting box of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, and Ben Ainslie must get back into this form on Sunday.
It's a long way back from 4-0 in a first to seven wins series.
Race Summaries - 37th America's Cup - Day 1
Race 1: Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) (Port Startbox Entry) vs INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Starboard Startbox entry) Start: 1450hrs CET/1250hrs UTC
Start: Racing has started with Emirates Team NZ first across the start line. Wind increasing slowly.
Mark 1: 03m 47sec NZL lead GBR margin 24secs. NZL leading by 200metres GBR sailing faster. NZL on J2 jib , GBR on J1
Mark 2: 07m 36sec NZL lead GBR margin 15secs. NZL leading by 170 metres on Leg 3
Mark 3: 12m 34sec NZL lead GBR margin 36secs
Mark 4: 16m 37sec NZL lead GBR margin 40secs. Live wind is showing 9kts. NZL say they were expecting the breeze to be stronger at the race start which is why they went for a smaller jib. The wind is now with 0.5kts of their predicted strength. Brits closing down the NZL lead upwind to 300metres.
Mark 5: 22m 34secs NZL lead GBR margin 56secs. One the water lead out to 600 metres. br/>
Finish: 27m 01secs NZL lead GBR margin 41secs. On the water the margin was 420 metres.
Key Statistics Finals Match 1:
- Race Winner: Emirates Team NZ; Time: 27m 01sec; Margin: 41; Distance: 420metres;
- Top Speed: 40.3kts (NZL) 41.3kts (GBR); Average: 32.2kts (NZL) 32.3kts (GBR);
- Upwind Speed: 30.7kt (NZL) 29.06kts(GBR); Downwind speed: 34.0kts (NZL) 35.8kts (GBR)
- Average VMG: 22.5kts (NZL) 21.8kts (GBR)
- Distance sailed: 26,881mtrs (NZL) 27,450mtrs (GBR)
- Tacks: 14 (NZL) 15 (GBR); Gybes 13 (NZL) 12 (GBR); Total Tacks/Gybes 27 (NZL) 27 (GBR)
Final - Match 2 : INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Port Startbox entry) vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA) (Starboard Startbox Entry) Start: TBAhrs UTC
Start:
Mark 1: 03m 50sec NZL led GBR margin 11sec
Mark 2: 07m 19sec NZL led GBR margin 09sec
Mark 3: 11m 55sec NZL led GBR margin 14sec
Mark 4: 15m 22sec NZL led GBR margin 10sec
Mark 5: 19m 30sec NZL led GBR margin 28sec
Mark 6: 22m 19sec NZL led GBR margin 32sec
Mark 7: 25m 56sec NZL led GBR margin 33sec
Finish: 28m 23sec NZL led GBR margin 27sec
Live race coverage - Louis Vuitton America's Cup - Day 1 of the 37th Match - October 12, 2024.
Virtual Eye
After the racing you can replay the key points, or the whole race using Virtual Eye from ARL by clicking here and click on "Watch Previous" then select the race you wish to view. This s 3D viewer so you can zoom in, out, around and up and down just like you could in a helicopter.
For the Pre Match information - weather, crew lists etc www.sail-world.com/news/280452/Cup-Spy-Day-27-Preview-and-weather