America’s Cup World Series: Day 1

America’s Cup World Series: Day 1 – Live Updates from Waitemata

By Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZ Dec 17 6:08 EST

Races will begin at the America’s Cup World Series at 3:00 p.m. New Zealand time.

This story is our continuous updates for the day.

Four regattas will be sailed on opening day with regattas set up for Course C – the Stadium field – between Rangitoto Island and Orakei Pier.

Conditions are ideal for sailing AC75 with a 16-18 knot SSW breeze which is expected to remain stable for the race.

Overhead there is a blue sky and a bright sun, as the fleet of spectators takes position, the competitors have yet to leave Viaduct Harbor.

The first race is scheduled for 3:00 pm between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa.

Race 1 – Emirates Team New Zealand vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

For more than three years, the boating world has been salivating for images and footage of the AC75 class. Perhaps never before has there been so much exchange of rumors and rumors about what to expect from the America’s Cup. Today’s regattas were unlikely to give us much insight into who would win the event, but it sparked a lot of interest from both sailing experts and for the hobbyists because it would be the first time that the public would get hard figures on what these boats are capable of and we were not disappointed: against the wind, both Luna Rossa and ETNZ had to sail against the wind in the high range of 30 knots at 15 knots of wind it would appear pedestrian. Downwind, we saw VMG numbers well north of 40 knots.

As for the result, ETNZ entered the starting box first, starting the event with some standard match-running tactics, working to gain a lee-tight position as the boats approached the line. Luna Rossa rescued and veered to the right side of the course before the line and when the boats came back together ETNZ passed a few stages ahead, and that was the last time Jimmy Spithill and company saw the Kiwi boat. Burling and the New Zealand inning came out a 700 meter lead through the first top mark. Luna Rosa seemed to be sailing in a very slow mode compared to the Kiwis. At the first lower mark they were 1:15 behind.

In the second lap, Luna Rossa held up much better, without gaining or losing ground, but in the third lap, ETNZ came out again and thanks to a failed tack near Luna Rossa’s last mark, won by about three minutes.

Race 2 – American Magic vs Ineos Team UK

Ineos struggled with hydraulic issues just before the start, but got away cleanly. Dean Barker and the crew, aboard the American Magic, looked quite well at home in the Hauraki Gulf, moving away from Ineos and 50 seconds clear at the first top mark.

The second race seemed to be a bit less breezy than the previous one, with even the American Magic not hitting the same numbers as the boats in the previous race, sailing around three knots slower than ETNZ and Luna Rossa on the first windward beat. .

Ineos’s problems reappeared in the first downwind, giving the spectators, and the sailors, their first scare of the event. Communications on board the British ship suggested that they had some rudder control problem that caused a slight spin during their first gybe. By removing the foils, American Magic sailed with a 1,800 meter lead by the time they turned at the first lower mark.

At the next higher mark, the breeze averaged 17 knots, gusts of 21. These conditions caused a bear to drift away quite dramatic and lots of white water as they accelerated to a 2,400m lead and headed toward the lower mark at 37 knots.

Both crews seek to sail with the boat much higher than those of the previous race, with the tip of the leeward foil often scraping the surface of the water and with much more daylight under its hull than those of ETNZ.

Ineos seemed to have struggled with control issues throughout the race, yet they looked strong and weren’t shy when they had him in the groove. Ben Anslie and the crew would finish their first outing over 3,500m behind Dean Barker’s American Magic, earning a DNF.

Race Three – Ineos vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Jimmy Spithill lived up to his old tricks in the pre-outing against Ineos, closing in and scoring a double hit on Ben Ainslie, forcing them out of the foils and earning a penalty. The result was that Spithill and co-pilot Francesco Bruni piloted the Luna Rossa around the upper mark 1:09 ahead.

The breeze picked up a bit higher on this run, now averaging 16 knots but with gusts of up to 24 knots at the Bean Rock weather beacon, which is 2/3 of the upwind at this Racecourse C.

Ineos went on to copy his second DNF of the day, this time thanks to the fact that his dashboard’s control system was shut down. There was some consternation aboard the British ship, which was unable to lower the windward sail to stabilize the ship or get away from the approaching fleet of spectators.

Meanwhile, Luna Rossa sailed downwind clean and the race committee awarded her victory. They chose to stay out and sail one more of the three allocated laps, making the most of the luxury of having some clear water and leaving marks to practice.

Race four: Emirates Team New Zealand vs American Magic

Emirates Team New Zealand showed some cracks in their seemingly armored armor at the pre-start of their second race, entering the starting box late because they failed to thwart and then failing on the tack, giving Barker an easy win.

There was a lot of talk on board about their systems apparently not working properly; including the traveler and the jib, which left Burling struggling to get the ship in the furrow.

Some of Barker’s more traditional competition tactics were developed on the first beat, apparently content to sit with his bounce between Burling’s and the top mark as the younger skipper slowly recovered some of the deficit they conceded at the start. Barker held the wheel with his whole life as he drove Patriot through the bear about 15 seconds ahead of his old team.

Speeds in the race were fairly even, ranging between 38 and 42 knots with Emirates Team New Zealand sailing a click lower. Burling is well known for performing a few extra maneuvers to keep up with a better breeze, which he did in the first race, but to no avail. Failing to stay on the foils at the bottom mark, while attempting a full 180 turn in a tack rodeo, he gave Barker another 200 meters to increase his lead. This was not the deadly clinical performance of earlier in the day, while American Magic seemed to be sailing.

The second beat saw ETNZ settle down and finally bend its jib correctly, dragging the deficit at the mark over 26 seconds and breaking the curve at 43 knots. ETNZ opted for a simpler strategy, sailing low and fast, delaying the New York Yacht Club crew five seconds and splitting courses and having the opportunity to sail in a different breeze as the two boats took off into the wind.

The first duel of this regatta yielded good profits for the Kiwis, moving 30-40 meters away from their rivals each time they crossed their path. If anyone thought that there would be no match races at this event, they were proven wrong. A down tack saw Burling jumping right off the top mark, dodging the mark inside American Magic and scoring a penalty to start.

As if we hadn’t seen enough momentum in this race, a blunt joke returned the lead to the Americans in the final race, as Emirates Team New Zealand dove into the seemingly favored lower right corner of the race track.

It wasn’t going to be for the Kiwis when American Magic crossed the line 12 seconds ahead.

Take-home points for the day:

– Errors on these boats are costly.

– The AC75s are everything you have imagined.

– We have a very exciting few months ahead of sailing, and we can even look forward to a bit of competition.

The points for the day and the regatta are as follows:

American Magic: 2

Emirates Team New Zealand: 1

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: 1

Team Ineos UK: 0