America’s Cup: British believe New Zealand team can be beaten

There is some talk of fights coming from the UK INEOS team and the British believe the America’s Cup defenders, the New Zealand team, are beatable.

They admit that the Kiwis are still ahead of the fleet in boat speed, but feel that the rapid improvements coming everywhere give hope of a surprise.

The British will face Luna Rossa in the Prada Cup Challenger final starting on February 13 and the winner will compete with Emirates Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup match in March.

Matt Cornwell, who was a goalkeeper in Sir Ben Ainslie’s 2017 Cup challenge in Bermuda and is now the team’s rules advisor for Auckland 2021, feels some hope for the team that will emerge to battle the Kiwis.

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In an extensive interview with Sailing worldCornwell was asked: Do you think the New Zealand team can be beaten by someone in the Cup?

“Yes, I do, but I think they are still ahead. It will be a daunting task to get to where they are at ship speed for whoever is going to face them. They are beatable because, as we’ve seen, things change so fast, ”Cornwell said, pointing to the dramatic turnaround that instantly changed the fortunes of American Magic.

“Look what happened to the Americans. Will it come down to things like that? Probably not, but you never know: you can still find a lot of boat speed with these boats. Even the way we navigate them, there are a lot of gains to be made, so yeah, they definitely get beaten. “

There is a lot of pressure on the New Zealand team, who have been a huge favorite from the start and proved their point when they lined up against rivals to win the World Series Prep Regatta in December.

“We have seen it before. It’s not about being the fastest at the beginning, it’s about being the fastest at the end. And often boats that are fast in the first few days will stop and maximize their potential, ”Cornwell said. Sailing world, with the New Zealand team’s 2013 Cup final heartache as a case in point, as they gave up an 8-1 lead to lose 9-8 to Oracle Team USA, who found ways to turn a profit against a Kiwi ship fighting for further development at the key moment.

“But yeah, I think we would still consider them faster than everyone else at the moment and more of a complete package, in any condition, everyone would have a hard time beating them right now.

The New Zealand team has been testing a new foil that is believed to have improved the speed of the already fast Te Rehutai.

Kiwis have to test and develop themselves.

INEOS Team UK is currently in the middle of a three week block doing that with Britannia, which showed incredible improvements between December and January. They have also benefited from some tough races, going undefeated in the free-for-all stage of the Prada Cup to earn direct entry to the challengers final.

The best of 13 racing series will certainly see the main challenger emerge running, given the gripping fights INEOS Team UK and Luna Rossa have already had, none more than the British victory a fortnight ago in a race that featured nine leadership changes.

“I think it’s going to be a fantastic Prada Cup final,” Cornwell said. Sailing world.

“The last race we had against them was crazy. I think it’s going to be a lot of that.

“We have faced them when it was a good wind; when it is a little lighter, it will be very difficult to overcome them. So yeah, it could be multiple wins for both teams before it’s finally decided.

“We will not feel comfortable having it in the bag, it will be a really tough series. You already know Jimmy (Spithill) and (Francesco) Bruni, they are very, very tenacious and start off really well before they start. We do statistics on everyone’s pre-starts and they win much more than they lose and every pre-start we have with them, it could be any way. “