America’s Cup: British break 50 knots but warn higher speeds, greater consequences

Sir Ben Ainslie has issued a warning about increasing speed and the ever-increasing consequences, as he became the first team to break the 50 knot barrier in America’s Cup races.

INEOS Team UK reached 50.29 knots in their thrilling victory over Luna Rossa which booked them a place in the Prada Cup final, starting on February 13.

The speed translates to just over 93 km / h. Teams have been topping that in practice, but this was the first time it was accomplished in an arc-to-arc battle with all the pressures that arise in match racing situations.

That was never better demonstrated than in Britain’s last brave taunt when they held off a Jimmy Spithill charging on a cross so close that the sailors could almost have boarded the other ship in front of the finish line.

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Ainslie survived a protest call to claim the crucial victory that has given him three weeks to work on increasing Britannia’s speed and fine-tuning the work of the increasingly skilled looking crew.

Ainslie says all teams are getting more and more comfortable with these radical foiling monohulls and performance levels are increasing.

So are the risks, especially as the stakes rise and that will undoubtedly be the case in the Prada Cup semi-final starting Friday, a first-to-four win affair that will see the underdog eliminated in this multi-million dollar extravaganza.

“These boats are getting closer and closer as we learn to compete better with them and handle them better,” Ainslie said.

“Pre-starts are interesting too… you try to push as hard as you can.

“We have talked about this before, but especially (now) we have seen these boats with aluminum arms hanging down the sides … I guarantee you that all the sailors are doing absolutely everything possible to prevent these boats from coming together because you know consequences are serious. “

Speaking of the dramatic cross, which seemed to touch and disappear, to dismiss the Italians, Ainslie felt that she would always be close, but safe.

“Francesco’s team put a lot of pressure on him and he jumped on us, we put a lot of pressure on him and also went down. It’s a centimeter battle, but I don’t think there was any danger of the ships coming together at that time.

“It was a great final moment to finish the neck and neck race. It was as close as possible. “

The highest speed achieved by the 50-foot foiling catamarans used in Bermuda 2017 was 47.2 knots by Artemis Racing of Sweden. Emirates Team New Zealand had the top speed on the 72-foot catamarans used in San Francisco 2013 at 47.57 knots.

These 75 foot monohulls have taken foiling speeds to a new level.

Ainslie felt this week’s semi-final was going to be an exciting matchup, as Luna Rossa finds a new speed with stronger winds, an area American Magic was excelling in before her turnaround.

“It will be great to see these two great teams fight to see who makes it to the Prada Cup final, and we know that we are going to be prepared for a massive fight here,” he said.

Looking enviously at last Saturday’s race, American Magic skipper Terry Hutchinson felt the two teams had improved their performance beyond simple improvements on the boat.

He was impressed by the communication on the English ship that has been a feature of his return.

Hutchinson felt that the Italians were also improving in this area, which is so important when maneuvering these boats. It was an area that American Magic needed to work on for its own comeback.

Hutchinson has stepped back to the floor of his helmsman Dean Barker and says these boats feel safer when at higher speeds.

Patriot was traveling at 83 km / h when it took off, with Barker attempting the difficult double tack motion that was complicated by an unexpected gust of wind.

Fortunately, rivals Luna Rossa weren’t very close when the US ship lost control.