Far left, top: Ineos Britannia employed a more ‘conventional’ single mainsheet trimming hydraulic system with balancing in the linkage to split out the loads and deflections between the two skins in the correct proportions – which itself can be fine-tuned for the conditions on each leg. Bottom far left: Ineos mast step – the winch is added temporarily for hoisting sails and is removed before dock-out. Left: Team NZ race foils… 1.2sqm of area supporting a static weight of 7 tonnes – plus (or minus) dynamic sailing loads. Below: TNZ masthead – the Defender led the way in automating the integration of mast rotation with other trim functions
the 37th America’s Cup will emerge but, as per modern tradition, the hip pocket exchange between the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron took place as soon as Emirates Team New Zealand crossed the finish line to secure the 36th edition. This restores the British club as the Challenger of Record and the New Zealand club – which now celebrates its fifth cycle as custodian of the trophy – as defender. A good relationship prevailed between
British hopes that choppy conditions
would continue were dashed on the next racing day. In flat water and a shifty north- westerly the afternoon’s proceedings started right in ETNZ’s 8-14kt sweet spot in the first race, followed by 12-15, occasionally 17kt, in the second. The defender scored two utterly convincing wins to bring the score to Match Point at 6-2. Needing five straight wins against just
one for New Zealand, the odds were now heavily stacked against Ainslie’s comeback dream, but he remained bullish. ‘We need perfection from here on in,’ he admitted. ‘We don’t have any second chances. In some ways that’s easier, because you know what you have got to do.’ Not so easy to achieve, however. When
the players assembled for Race 9 the 2-4kt wind forecast did not bode well. However, Race Director Iain Murray’s optimism paid off as an unusual offshore wind started to build, requiring a course axis that would have the boats racing upwind toward the Barcelona city-front. ‘It is a sailor’s day of opportunities
today,’ Murray declared as the breeze slowly filled in and reached the 6.5kt minimum threshold for racing. The scene was set for a flatwater course with dynamic wind pressure and direction shifts demanding accurate tactical responses – Team New Zealand weather. With both yachts going for maximum
power under their biggest jibs and main- sails, Ineos Britannia came off the startline slightly ahead and to leeward of Taihoro. Burling in the starboard helm position tacked onto port, handing steering duties to Nathan Outteridge, who offered imme- diate consolation: ‘It’s OK, boys, the wind is trending right.’ Here were all ETNZ’s design advantages on display. Although the British team led off the startline in several matches New Zealand’s
50 SEAHORSE
ability to tack away to capitalise on windshifts and use its upwind speed usually facilitated their escape. As they watched the New Zealand boat
stretch out to a substantial lead the British crew fought valiantly. At the top of the second beat – after ETNZ inexplicably surrendered the right-hand advantage and with it a lead of more than 200m – the two yachts were dead even. Maybe Ainslie’s crew would get a second bite after all. But, after what Dalton described as
their ‘little sleep’ on that beat (‘we were having kittens on the chase boat’), the Kiwi crew put on a clinical display, main- taining a tight cover and making sure no more chances were on offer. On shore the huge crowd of Kiwi supporters, who for weeks swarmed Barcelona’s streets in their black supporters’ outfits, erupted into loud celebration while the armada of spectator boats lining the course sounded their horns as the scoreboard ticked over to 7-2. Game over. Job done. No second chances. In good moments or bad, ETNZ
skipper Peter Burling’s demeanour seldom changes. He confronts wins and losses with the same imperturbable calm. As the post-Match bedlam went off, he surveyed it all with a kind of quizzical detachment. And, to questions about his feelings, he grinned and replied, ‘It felt like sailing in a southwesterly off Takapuna Beach’ – just a typical summer sailing day off one of Auckland’s popular beaches. ‘They were a click faster, a click better
at manoeuvring, a little better at figuring out the first wind shift off the startline… and they sailed immaculately.’ If you wanted a short, sharp assessment of the result, you could hardly do better than Ainslie’s rueful analysis.
Whither the Cup? In the next weeks and months the shape of
the two camps over the current cycle, but now a new process of negotiation and hard bargaining begins to thrash out agreement on the way forward. ETNZ boss Grant Dalton has indicated he would like to see more continuity of racing and a shorter gap between Cup cycles. He spoke of setting up AC75-class regattas as early as late January next year and having a programme of more racing at different venues in the lead-up to a next America’s Cup regatta as early as 2026. As to a venue, Chief Operating Officer
Kevin Shoebridge said some discussions had taken place, but no decisions had been made. A timetable would be announced in the next few weeks about reaching that decision. New Zealand is considered an unlikely option. Dalton has made it clear that any New Zealand bid has to stack up financially against other venues. Bringing the defence to Spain was
controversial in New Zealand, but Dalton was always adamant that it was the only option to secure sufficient funding to also mount a credible defence. Certainly, the level of international funding attracted by staging the event in Europe would never have been achieved in New Zealand. It is understood Barcelona does not
have an automatic first right of refusal to host the next regatta. While its support for the 2024 regatta has been exemplary and drew enormous crowds, some doubt has been expressed that it would pay as much again for a repeat. No exact hosting fee for 2024 has been revealed, but it is estimated at about 70 million euros. This raises the prospect of the Middle
East coming into the picture. Jeddah hosted a preliminary regatta last December, which followed a similar event in the Spanish city of Vilanova. As for the class, the AC75s are set to
stay for at least another cycle. ‘We love the boats, the sailors love the boats. They are
JASON LUDLOW
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104
