Cup Spy - America's Cup Match: Day 4 -Brits return fire in Battle of ...
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 16 Oct 20:46 UTC 16 October 2024
A happy Giles Scott - Head of Sailing - INEOS Britannia - Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup, Race Day 4 - October 16, .2024 © Ricardo Pinto / America's Cup
INEOS Britannia wrote another page in the history books scoring the first win by a British yacht in America's Cup racing for 90 years.
The last win was by Endeavour (Sir T.O.M Sopwith) in The 1934 America's Cup, sailed in J Class. Like today's racing Endeavour won two races and came close to winning a third and winning the America's Cup.
Wednesday was make or break for INEOS Britannia to stay as a serious threat in the America's Cup regatta. Ashore officials were quite openly talking about a proposed race schedule if the Emirates Team NZ juggernaut rolled on to score six wins. The writing was on the wall.
As revealed in Cup Spy's pre-race commentary, it was apparent after Monday's Race 4, that the British were on the cusp of scoring an upset or maybe two. Today they got the double.
Statistically in the last 18 races sailed by the top three teams in the the regatta, Luna Rossa, Emirates Team NZ and INEOS Britannia, the lead around marks, has not changed, and the boat that has led around the first mark has gone onto win the race. Prior to Monday's race the Brits have trailed around the critical first mark by substantial margins of 11-24 seconds, leaving the America's Cup Defender to sail out the course for relatively untroubled wins.
However that trend changed on Monday when the British dead heated with the Kiwis at Mark 1, and it was clear that the Brits, who have been the big improvers in the America's Cup Series, were lifting their game yet again.
On Tuesday, a no race day, there was a fresh breeze with a big seaway. The British went training with practice list to check off in the tricky conditions. It paid a big dividend.
Emirates Team New Zealand scored an own goal early in the Prestart for Race 5 when they gybed in the wrong place at the wrong time, and were caught in the double whammy of a hole in the breeze, and struck an awkward sea just as they gybed to chase INEOS Britannia who had entered from the opposite direction. ETNZ came to a near complete stop in the final minute of the pre-start.
When the Kiwis made their entry the breeze at their end of the line, was recording 7kts, a few seconds later it was down to 5kts, and on the British boat was about 4kts when they sailed through the same hole. The difference was that the Brits were sailing at 30kts, while the Kiwis belly flopped in the confused seaway, and came off their foils.
From there it was game over, with little chance of ETNZ being able to self-start and be able to rejoin the race in the breeze which stayed very light at the bottom of the course, for the duration of the race. The focus for INEOS was to stay foiling and get out of the quicksand of the start box and get into the fresher breeze further up the course.
The breeze was up for the second start at around 10kts with no risk of a repeat of Race 5.
Both team had problems with their onboard event supplied race computers. The British team must have got their system working after it went offline in the first race of the day, as the effected a near perfect start in Race 6.
Emirates Team New Zealand tried hard, but was unable to get control of the Race 6 start, with Brits administering the coup de grâce in the final 30seconds, driving through the windward at 44kts and running down into the start box, before turning up and heading the the outer (port/left hand) end. They hit the start line at top pace, with Emirates Team NZ opting to get clear of the Brits exhaust by getting a split tack start.
INEOS Britannia used their slingshot start to get quickly to the port boundary and when the two AC75s came together for the first cross, INEOS Britannia although the give-way boat had enough margin to be able to comfortably cross ETNZ, and it was race over from there, provided they could hold their advantage at Mark 1. The Brits rounded with a 6sec margin which was as close as the Kiwis got all race.
Emirates Team New Zealand fought hard, but couldn't achieve a pass despite being just 7secs back for the final three legs. The British did get a away to a 16 sec lead, mid race, however they had trouble with the seaway with their rudder rake appearing to be forcing the bow to punch into the head sea - and as a result were slow to build speed out of the tack.
The Kiwis didn't suffer from the same issue but took the pressure off the Brits with a poor rounding around the bottom gate, with the rudder washing out for a short time.
According to the Brits' public debrief, there was no pep talk before the race, everyone knew what they had to do, said Head of Sailing, Giles Scott - and they did it.
"With two wins, we're now back in the fight," he added.
There will be no racing on Thursday, two races will be sailed on Friday, and there will be at least one race on the weekend.
Full Replay America's Cup Day 4, Races 5 and 6
Inside Tack:
Pre-Race commentary: The Battle of Barcelona
Today will require the evocation of the finest qualities that make up the British character, that have come to the fore in warfare over the centuries, and have got the world's greatest seafaring nation out so many tight spots.
The Battle of Barcelona is the latest of these.
Yes the score is 4-0 in favour of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and to most the outcome is inevitable.
But a statistical analysis of the racing since the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals, and the Match including Race 4 show that 85 legs have been changed without a lead change at a mark, after the first mark has been rounded - that is across 15 races. There is only one race, in the LV Finals where there has been a mark lead change was in Race 7 of the Final when Luna Rossa was leading an broke their main traveller support structure.
The analysis is even more more compelling when the Round Robin races between the two LV Finalists and Emirates Team New Zealand is added in, then the there are another 14 legs on which there was no lead change at a mark - and the no lead change count increases to 99 marks. That's 99 to zero or almost 100% certainty that after the lead boat has rounded the first mark, it will go onto win that race.
There is only one race in the group named above where there was a mark lead change, and that is in the first encounter between Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand, in Race 2 of he Round Robin when the Italians lead around Mark 2 and the Kiwis lead around Mark 3 and continued on to take the race win.
Our view is that these three boats are reasonably closely matched for speed and this is a valid comparison and commentary on racing in the AC75 class, as a type.
For Kiwi fans and viewers, it mean that you only have to watch the first mark rounding and then can safely head off to bed knowing the race outcome. It's also time to ring your favourite bookie and see if they will take a bet on the race outcome.
Of course there are lead changes shown on the racing graphics, but the statistical evidence is that these are only transitory, and the race outcome will be the positions as they were at Mark 1.
What does this mean for INEOS Britannia?
Obviously to be first to round Mark 1. They almost did it in Race 4 - where it was judged to be a dead heat. Even a margin of two or three seconds is enough to work with - and statistically the result won't change.
As can be seen in the graphic there are not large speed differences between the boats, but the Brits do have a weakness in bottom of the tack/gybe speed - however at 25-26kts they are still well above the minimum speed to keep foiling.
While picking the wind shifts and pressure looks easy on video, have a look at one of the stern camera videos from the AC75s, and see the limited visibility and how hard it is pick wind shifts and those vital 1-2kts more pressure cells.
You've got to have a lot of sympathy for the pressure on the crews of having to think accurately, at high speed and with your back to the wall.
History shows that the British have overcome big odds many times. Will the Battle of Barcelona be another?
Race 5: Emirates Team New Zealand (Port Startbox entry) vs INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Starboard Startbox Entry) Scheduled Start: 1410hrs CET
Emirates Team NZ belly flopped in the confused seaway in the prestart area and was unable to get back on their foils before the race start. GBR's lead extended to 1.6km before NZL got established on their foils, and were able to close the margin, but it was mission impossible. Start: Mark 1: 05m 41sec GBR led NZL margin 2m 15sec Mark 2: 08m 58sec GBR led NZL margin 1m 59sec Mark 3: 13m 15sec GBR led NZL margin 1m 37sec Mark 4: 16m 26sec GBR led NZL margin Mark 5: 20m 36sec GBR led NZL margin 1m 28sec Finish: 24m 15sec GBR led NZL margin 1m 18sec
Race 6: INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Port Startbox entry) vs Emirates Team New Zealand (Starboard Startbox Entry) Scheduled Start: 15:15hrs CET
Start: Mark 1: 03m 26sec GBR led NZL margin 06sec Mark 2: 06m 35sec GBR led NZL margin 09sec Mark 3: 10m 53sec GBR led NZL margin 09sec Mark 4: 14m 09sec GBR led NZL margin 16sec Mark 5: 18m 10sec GBR led NZL margin 13sec Mark 6: 21m 31sec GBR led NZL margin 07sec Mark 7: 25m 23sec GBR led NZL margin 07sec Finish: 28m 13sec GBR led NZL margin 07sec
Live coverage
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 30:
Forecasts for Wednesday by Arnaud Monges, former America's Cup Team Meteorologist
Wednesday October 16, 2024
In the morning Barcelona has light winds, while a large scale Southerly wind gradient is present further offshore. This Southerly flow is scheduled to reach Barcelona by mid-day/early afternoon. The wind will fill in progressively from the South and we expect 8 to 12 knots from the direction 200° once established, so possible race start delay. Waves of 1 meter from the South-East at 5-second interval will be driven by the stronger wind further offshore. Waves and wind will not be aligned. The sky will be partly cloudy today with more sunshine in the afternoon and temperatures up to 24°C.
Course Location:
America's Cup Race Schedule - Races 5 & 6: Wednesday October 16, 2024
Race 5: Emirates Team New Zealand (Port Startbox entry) vs INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Starboard Startbox Entry) Start: 1410hrs CETRace 6: INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Port Startbox entry) vs Emirates Team New Zealand (Starboard Startbox Entry) vs Start: 15:15hrs CET
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.
INEOS Britannia Dockwalk
Crew Lists
Onboard video
Race 5:
Race 6:
Additional Images:
