In the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match, Emirates Team New Zealand imposed a penalty on Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia in the pre-start of the only race sailed today in Barcelona.
Early in the afternoon conditions were promising, but forecasters were expecting a slow easing of the easterly wind, which unfortunately happened faster than expected.
Under the gaze of His Majesty King Felipe VI on board the Spanish aircraft carrier “Juan Carlos I”, the third race of the seven-point series started on time, with patches of pressure spread across the course of up to 11 knots and an average intensity of between 8 and 9 knots.
With a two points to nil lead on the first day’s scoreboard, the Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand were not about to squander any opportunity and as both boats circled in the early stages of the pre-start, Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge, the New Zealand helmsmen, gained an early penalty advantage.
INEOS Britannia had entered the box on port tack before executing a trademark maneuver: heading up after crossing the bow of the approaching Kiwi boat and tacking over the start line to try to catch the stern of their rival. However, as the Brits descended below the line to port, they ran into Emirates Team New Zealand, which was coming directly towards them on starboard and with right of way.
As the distance between the boats narrowed, INEOS Britannia was supposed to keep clear, but she was slow to do so and the boats got so close that their foils overlapped. Both boats protested and, moments later, the chief umpire, Richard Slater, penalized the British team 75 meters.
Despite quickly serving the penalty by giving up the necessary distance after the start, INEOS Britannia helmsmen Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher knew, even at that early stage, that it would be a tough race to come back from.
Try as they might, the Brits came up against the unwavering determination of the Emirates Team New Zealand crew, who allowed their rivals no escape route as they doggedly covered themselves throughout the three laps of the 27-minute race.
The Kiwis gained ground on every leg, making perfect use of the wind pressure on a tricky east-facing course where gusts of wind came and went indefinitely. As the race progressed and the wind dropped to seven knots, Emirates Team New Zealand’s delicate flight control and superior speed on tacks and gybes allowed them to extend their lead to 52 seconds. INEOS Britannia can be pleased with the similar straight line speeds between the two boats, but the Kiwis have good pace on maneuvers and impeccable style throughout.
Emirates Team New Zealand has made it 3-0 in this series with all the confidence of a champion team at the top of the sport of sailing. As Defenders of the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, they have been virtually unassailable so far in the Louis Vuitton Cup. For INEOS Britannia, the magnitude of the mission ahead of them is evident, so they will have to rebuild quickly and perhaps wait for conditions to change over the course of the week.
Unfortunately for the thousands of spectators in Barcelona who packed the Race Village and the nearby free access Fanzones at Plaça del Mar and Bogatell beach, as well as race fans from around the world following the worldwide broadcast, the fourth race of the series has had to be postponed to tomorrow, Monday 14 October, after the wind disappeared as forecast.
Nathan Outteridge, Emirates Team New Zealand’s port helmsman, was pleased with how the series went: “Obviously we are very happy with the boat’s performance. We looked at yesterday’s performance and saw that we were gaining meters on the tacks, so we thought we’d play that again today. We have worked a lot on the boat’s performance and also on how we sail in the maneuvers. Very happy to get the win and it always helps when you are ahead at the start.”
Asked if the team feared a comeback from the INEOS Britannia team, Outteridge added: “There is certainly a lot of respect for INEOS. We have seen that they are a very good challenger: the team of sailors is very good and the boat performs very well. So we’re not going to give them a chance to get fresh air up front.”
“Obviously, they have a good group behind them analyzing both their own performance and that of their competitors, but don’t worry, we have a lot of people at our base monitoring their performance and ours. Not a day goes by that we don’t try to get our boat to go faster.”
INEOS Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie maintained an air of determination and summed up the day: “I think the relative performance is a lot tighter, but throughout the races they’ve done a superb job of fighting back and finding the right time to extend the lead a little bit. Obviously, it’s been tough for us, but we’ve stayed relatively close. It may seem like there’s a big difference in performance, but I don’t think it’s that big and we know we can still make progress.”
When asked where he thinks they could improve, Ainslie explained, “There’s clearly a lot of technique involved in sailing these boats well: sail configuration, depth and how the sails are trimmed, and I think it’s a lot of little things.”
“We shouldn’t get discouraged, the performance is close, they are clearly going well upwind and tacking in particular, but we will keep analyzing it and keep pushing. Tomorrow will be a different day and we’re not going to give up in any way.”
INEOS Britannia is fighting to turn the tide of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match in its favour, while Emirates Team New Zealand is determined to put maximum pressure on the scoreboard to keep adding race wins. The first crew to score seven points will lift the America’s Cup trophy, but this 173-year-old competition has seen many surprises and amazing comebacks in seemingly impossible situations throughout its history.
Will we see more of the same in this edition? Tomorrow, both teams know they will have to perform at their best for what is scheduled to be a one-race day starting at 14.10 CET.
