Cup Experience News

Issue 55 | Friday 23 June 2017 Kiwis win all 4 races on first weekend

New Zealand led from start to finish in all four races last weekend. In each race the Kiwis extended the lead they had at Mark 1. From that point onwards, they controlled the race with a faster boat that they sail very well.

Defender Oracle Team USA started off one point ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand thanks to Oracle having won the round robin AC Qualifiers. The bonus point Oracle earned with that win means the Kiwis must win eight races to lift the Cup, while Oracle needs seven wins. The schedule of racing:

• Sat 17 June: 2 races, both won by NZL
• Sun 18 June: 2 races, both won by NZL
• Sat 24 June: 2 races
• Sun 25 June: 2 or 3 races
• Mon 26 June: up to 3 races if needed
• Tue 27 June: up to 3 races if needed

Racing begins each day at 14:00 Bermuda time (UTC-3)

Viewing information here.

About the schedule: Once either team has four or more points, ACEA COO Sam Hollis, acting as "Commercial Commissioner," can declare that there will be three races rather than two the following day. Deciding the Match could take as many as 14 races: if the score reaches 6-6, it will mean 13 races have been run, since the Kiwis start at minus one (-1).

Last week I made some predictions. Some were better than others...

• Neither team will sweep the other - it will be a back and forth battle.
  Not so sure about this one any more! New Zealand dominated the first four races and may continue.
• The racing will be intense, with frequent lead changes after the first downwind leg. The first boat to Mark 1 - the end of the short blast reach after the start - will almost always be leading at Gate 2, since there are few passing opportunities on the short first downwind leg.
• It will come down to sailing - how well the teams execute their maneuvers.
• Neither team will have an overwhelming speed advantage.
• Oracle's Jimmy Spithill will be very aggressive, especially in the pre-starts.
• Very light air will favor the Kiwis.

Listen to Oracle's Jimmy Spithill and New Zealand's Peter Burling give their predictions during the pre-Match press conference from Friday 16 June here.

Racing starts up again Saturday 24 June. Meanwhile, here are some photos to show some of the most important handiwork of the Defender's and Challenger's design and boat building teams.

A good look at ETNZ's "AP" all purpose daggerboard

Oracle's AP boards.

ETNZ's light air "whompers." They have been testing a different shape this week: the span is just as long but the the kink is missing and the wing has a smoother curve.

NZL's Glenn Ashby controls his wing with a touch pad tablet.

More Notes

• Regatta Director Iain Murray says the teams are sailing "unprecedentedly deep angles" on the downwind legs - as much as 160° off the true wind.
• When asked how much feel the helmsmen have for the daggerboard controls, Murray replied that they can probably tell what grade of sandpaper the boat builders used to fair the surface of the boards.
• Don't expect to see the 50 knot barrier broken. The teams have optimized their daggerboards for a wide range of low take-off speeds and good low-drag high speed performance, rather than optimizing for top end speed. They will hit their highest speed on the reach to the first mark, after the start, in the high 40's.

Rumor has it that Luna Rossa is ready to become ETNZ's Challenger of Record, and that they will choose monohulls for the next America's Cup. In fact, there is no need to choose when you can have both. In Bermuda, the J Class had up to seven boats racing. Their regatta was a big hit for local fans - rock star crews of 30 raced for their tycoon owners. So, we now have a model for how to stage an America's Cup in foiling catamarans while also paying homage to the traditions of the past.

• The three "first time" teams were the first to be eliminated: FRA, GBR, JPN.
  • Team France finished last in the round robin Qualifiers and was eliminated first.
  • SoftBank Team Japan led Artemis Racing 3-1 in the semi-finals before the Swedish team reeled of four straight wins and moved to the Challenger Finals.
  • As the top challenger in the Qualifiers, Team New Zealand had their choice of opponent for the semi-finals. They chose Land Rover BAR, thought to have the slowest boat in all but a narrow wind speed range. The Brits were improving, but not fast enough to hold off the Kiwis. Ben Ainslie's team scored a point when the Kiwis capsized on Tuesday 6 June. When racing resumed on Thursday 8 June, Ben Ainslie's men took one race from New Zealand, but the Kiwis shut the door with two wins, advancing to the Challenger Final.
• New Zealand won a hard fought Challenger Final with Artemis Racing, 5-2. The Swedish team lost one race when helmsman Nathan Outteridge went overboard during a tack. Watch the video and listen to Nathan explain what happened here.

America's Cup Guide