Cup Spy: America's Cup Match - Kiwis go two up - Day 1

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 12 Oct 15:18 UTC 13 October 2024

INEOS Britannia and Emirates Team NZ - America's Cup Match - Race 1 - Final - October 12, 2024 © Ian Roman / America's Cup

Emirates Team NZ won both races sailed on Day 1 by margins of 41seconds and 27seconds - despite being caught with a jib that was too small in a fading breeze in both races.

In the Womens America's Cup, the Italian crew dominated - leading from start to finish and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli leave Barcelona, without the America's Cup, but with maybe the next best thing - the trophies for the Youth America's Cup and Womens America's Cup.

Most were pleased to see the Womens Final - a sudden death affair - get underway on time and go to a normal start and conclusion without anyone coming off their foils. We should be thankful for small mercies, after yesterday's enduro event which ran for almost nine hours.

For all the talk about whether the Defender, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, should have started a team in the Round Robin phase of the Louis Vuitton Cup, or Challenger Selections Series, went into the first day of the America's Cup none the wiser as to who would prevail.

But with the benefit of hindsight the outcome of today's racing was very similar to the only encounter between the two teams in the Louis Vuitton Cup.

There in Match 21, on Day 6 in winds that were only a touch lighter than today, Emirates Team New Zealand beat INEOS Britannia by 3min 2 sec - a flattering margin - where the two had been less than 33seconds apart for the first four legs, with the Brits having trouble staying on their foils for the final two legs.

Today it was tighter initially, one that double Olympic Gold medalist Giles Scott described as "tricky being behind today", noting that the lead yacht could always go the right way for the wind shift and pressure and that the trailing yacht had little option but to split tacks and take their chances the other side of the course, in preference to living in the lead boat's exhaust.

Scott made the interesting comment that the Kiwis were sailing well upwind today. It was very accurate, but intriguing as it appeared that the New Zealanders were sailing with a size lower jib than the Brits - which is something that the Kiwis often do. The logic seeming to be that it is faster upwind, and that gives you the best chance of being first to the first mark, and then it is a matter of holding on downwind, and doing a rinse repeat for each lap, of today's three lap course.

The ploy seems to work even as happened in the second race, where the breeze eased, and should have worked the way of the Brits, but by that stage the Kiwis had worked out to a 30 second lead, and had the luxury of being able to play the shifts and pressure cells.

Later the Brits confirmed that they had changed down to a smaller jib between races - going to a J2, while the Kiwis incredibly went to a J3. However that is within their own jib code set - and there is no correlation between jib sizes as in one designs.

The Brits also pulled an unintentional move at the start of Race 1, entering the starboard end of the startline, 30 seconds late. The reason for the delay by INEOS Britannia was over a battery issue (all power for below the waterline functions is electric powered on the AC75s).

It did catch the Kiwis on the hop, as they flew into the port end of the start box the regulation 10secs ahead of the starboard entry boat only to find there was was no-one there - which offered the opportunity for some creative tactics, that they probable hadn't tried in the simulator. The Kiwis response was the standard match racing tactic, to try and block your opponent from entering, and being penalised. But in AC75s that is easier said than done. in the end it made little difference.

For sure the Brits were a little rattled, but got away to a good start - although the Kiwis did even better and had a nice little advantage going into the port boundary

Strangely the starboard side of the course seemed to pay in the first race, while in the second the opposite side was definitely more profitable - upwind and down.

While the Kiwis will come away pleased with their two wins on the leaderboard, but nothing has changed since the later stages of the Louis Vuitton Cup - where the boat that has been first around Mark 1 has gone on to win the race.

Despite all the hysterical commentator hype about the racing being "tight", the last time there was a genuine lead change was on Day 1 of the Semi-Finals, where Luna Rossa passed American Magic on Leg 3. There have been two others - in the same series once with a boat coming off its foils, and Luna Rossa breaking their traveller.

For the Brits there will be a lot of analysis overnight by the Boffins of Brackley as to how the Brits can bounce back, in the same way the Italians did four times in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final.

Their best chance is to adopt a basic rowing strategy - get in the front at the start - and stay there.

It is not possible in the AC75s to live in the rig exhaust of a competitor, and British skipper was able to outsmart his counterpart on

Race 1: Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) (Port Startbox Entry) vs INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Starboard Startbox entry) Start: 1450hrs CET/1250hrs UTC

Start: Racing has started with Emirates Team NZ first across the start line. Wind increasing slowly. it is now reported to be up to 13kts on the course with the seaway increasing

Mark 1: 03m 47sec NZL lead GBR margin 24secs. NZL leading by 200metres GBR sailing faster. NZL on J2 jib , GBR on J1 Mark 2: 07m 36sec NZL lead GBR margin 15secs. NZL leading by 170 metres on Leg 3 Mark 3: 12m 34sec NZL lead GBR margin 36secs Mark 4: 16m 37sec NZL lead GBR margin 40secs. Live wind is showing 9kts. NZL say they were expecting the breeze to be stronger at the race start which is why they went for a smaller jib. The wind is now with 0.5kts of their predicted strength. Brist closing down the NZL lead upwind to 300metres. Mark 5: 22m 34secs NZL lead GBR margin 56secs. One the water lead out to 600 metres. Both boats on M1 mainsails Finish: 27m 01secs NZL lead GBR margin 41secs. On the water the margin was 420 metres.

Key Statistics Finals Match 1:

Race Winner: Emirates Team NZ; Time: 27m 01sec; Margin: 41; Distance: 420metres; Top Speed: 40.3kts (NZL) 41.3kts (GBR); Average: 32.2kts (NZL) 32.3kts (GBR); Upwind Speed: 30.7kt (NZL) 29.06kts(GBR); Downwind speed: 34.0kts (NZL) 35.8kts (GBR) Average VMG: 22.5kts (NZL) 21.8kts (GBR) Distance sailed: 26,881mtrs (NZL) 27,450mtrs (GBR) Tacks: 14 (NZL) 15 (GBR); Gybes 13 (NZL) 12 (GBR); Total Tacks/Gybes 27 (NZL) 27 (GBR)

Final - Match 2 : INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Port Startbox entry) vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA) (Starboard Startbox Entry) Start: TBAhrs UTC

Start: Mark 1: 03m 50sec NZL led GBR margin 11sec Mark 2: 07m 19sec NZL led GBR margin 09sec Mark 3: 11m 55sec NZL led GBR margin 14sec Mark 4: 15m 22sec NZL led GBR margin 10sec Mark 5: 19m 30sec NZL led GBR margin 28sec Mark 6: 22m 19sec NZL led GBR margin 32sec Mark 7: 25m 56sec NZL led GBR margin 33sec Finish: 28m 23sec NZL led GBR margin 27sec

Key Statistics Finals Match 2:

Live race coverage - Louis Vuitton America's Cup - Day 1 of the 37th Match - October 12, 2024.

Course Location:

Weather Prognosis:

America's Cup Weather Partner PredictWind has provided a dedicated Race Weather Center offering fans access to detailed daily weather breakdowns, live webcams and historical weather data to daily weather breakdowns written by meteorologists.

Current Forecast Race Day 27:

Forecasts for Saturday and Sunday by Arnaud Monges, former America’s Cup Team Meteorologist

Saturday October 12

In the morning the winds will be offshore and light. By mid-day, a South-South-West wind gradient already present offshore will reach Barcelona and build quickly in strength. In the early afternoon, We expect 13-16 knots from the direction 220°. During the afternoon, the wind should not increase in strength but rather decrease slightly by a few knots. During the afternoon, the waves will be aligned with the wind and be just shy of 1 meter at a 4-second interval. The sky will be cloudy all day with warm and humid air advected from the South. Rain should occur further inland and there is a small risk it may affect Barcelona.

Sunday October 13

Sunday will see a return of sunny conditions. In the afternoon, we expect an Easterly wind around 5 to 7 knots.

America's Cup Race Schedule - Races 1 and 2: Saturday October 12, 2024

Race 1: Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) (Port Startbox Entry) vs INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Starboard Startbox entry) Start: 1415hrs CET/1215hrs CET

Puig Womens AC Final: ITA (Port Startbox Entry) vs GBR (Starboard Startbox entry) Start: 1458hrs CET/1215hrs CET

Race 2: INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Port Startbox entry) vs Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) (Starboard Startbox Entry) Start: TBA UTC

Virtual Eye

After the racing you can replay the key points, or the whole race using Virtual Eye from ARL This is the tool that Inside Tack are using to demonstrate various points - using the actual tracks of the AC75s.

You can go directly to the Virtual Eye America's Cup coverage by clicking here and click on "Watch Previous" then select the race you wish to view. Virtual Eye is a 3D viewer so you can zoom in, out, around and up and down just like you could in a helicopter.

Crew Lists -

Virtual Eye

After the racing you can replay the key points, or the whole race using Virtual Eye from ARL by clicking here and click on "Watch Previous" then select the race you wish to view. This s 3D viewer so you can zoom in, out, around and up and down just like you could in a helicopter.

Additional Images: