America's Cup - Burling gets into gear on Day 2

by Richard Gladwell on 29 May 2017 Those who have followed Peter Burling's international sailing career will be aware that he often has an unspectacular opening day, seems to re-focus overnight, and comes out with all guns blazing from the second day.

That was certainly the case on Day 2 of the 35th America's Cup Regatta as he helmed his team to two come from behind wins.

Today six races were sailed in an extended program as organisers tried to catch up for the lost first day of the Qualifiers Round Robin 1.

The drama of yesterday proved to be something of an anti-climax this morning with the news that both AC50's damaged in yesterday's collision between Land Rover BAR and Softbank Team Japan would be sailing in their races as planned.

In fact, it transpired that Softbank Team Japan did not regard their damage as sufficient to lodge a request for a rest day to properly repair their damage.

The British, who were at fault in the incident had a much more serious situation, and the repair effected overnight by the British shore team, is a remarkable story. Other than paying a very sincere tribute to the LRBAR Shore team for their time, skill and application team boss Ben Ainslie didn't elaborate on the extent of the damage.

It is difficult to believe that even someone of Ben Ainslie's abilities could not have been slightly affected by the incident, and that appeared to be the case, as the British initially led both their races, only to drop the ball and allow Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand to stage come from behind wins, in Races 8 and 11.

Many, in fact, all but the French, had written off the French.

Groupama Team France provided a massive surprise in the opening race of the day by leading one of the series favourites, Artemis Racing at the first mark and led the Swedes around the course by a narrow margin in the 10-11kt breeze.

Quite what prompted Franck Cammas to pull the rabbit of the hat today, was not explained at the media conference. But the French now have their confidence up, and it will be interesting to see whether this was a fluke win or the start of something much more significant.

For Artemis Racing it was a significant loss of a point which the other teams have almost put on the scoresheet before starting. It means they have to beat one of the more consistent teams just to get back to even.

The breeze was forecast to increase as the day progressed and at the start of Race 2, it was gusting to 13kts, but averaging 10kts.

That was probably an indicator of what was happening on the race course and certainly proved to be the case in next two wins.

The British started well getting a useful jump on Oracle Team USA.

But this was a day for good boat positioning on the course and consistent sailing rather than having a speed edge or some other gimmick.

Oracle Team USA's Jimmy Spithill simply sailed very well to pass the Brits by Mark 3, rounding with an 8-second lead. However, for a reason that was not apparent to those on the course, the British had a spectacular nosedive while sailing downwind, and did not even have the excuse they were preparing for a gybe.

In photos taken just before the incident the windward rudder is completely clear of the water, and it may well be that the AC50 overbalanced and did a serious nosedive, coming almost to a complete stop as she emerged and recovered, stretching Oracle's lead to over 30 seconds - which remained at that level to the finish.

The third race - Race 9 was another 'grudge' match involving Emirates Team New Zealand with their former skipper Dean Barker, pitching against his replacement Peter Burling.

Barker as the more experienced match racer got the early advantage at the start, and Burling then started to try and grind Barker down.

However Softbank Team Japan had good pace, and Barker managed to split the Kiwis off to the left-hand side of the course on the first beat, and as they progressed, it was clear the right was favoured probably with both a favourable shift and pressure.

Japan extended on the run and led by 12 seconds. However, Burling managed to split tacks with his predecessor and surprisingly was allowed to take the previously favoured right-hand side. To the surprise of no-one, it yielded the same dividend that it had on the previous leg, and Burling was able to turn a 12-second deficit into an 18second lead at the top - a delta of 30 seconds for the leg - which increased slightly to 33 seconds at the finish.

After a vigorous pre-start to Race 10, Artemis Racing led Oracle Team USA at the first mark by a 4sec margin, which they held around the course as the wind eased to be consistently below 10kts for the race. Mid-race Artemis was able to extend to be 23seconds ahead at Mark 4 and held on for a comfortable win - and handed Oracle their first defeat in the series.

The Swedish team finish the day with an unexpected loss and an unexpected win - to end the day all square.

Emirates Team New Zealand incurred a penalty for early entry into the starting box in Race 11, handing Land Rover BAR a 4sec lead at Mark 1, with the breeze flicking back up to 11kts. However, on the run Burling eased through the British to hold a narrow 2 sec led at Mark 2, extending that to 8 secs on the beat. The Brits managed to concede a massive 40 seconds on the run - which they extended 88 secs at the finish.

On the course, the British fans assumed that Ainslie was having issues with his overnight repair, a claim he denied at the later Media Conference instead putting his losses on the day down to boat handling errors and mistakes around the course.

The final Race of the day, Race 12 was an interesting duel by the Defender Oracle Team USA and their partner, Softbank Team Japan.

In some ways it was a test of whether the Japanese team who have been on the improve in recent weeks may have gone past their development partner, but OTUSA had a massive 9.5 sec lead at Mark 1, and that was reduced to just 6 secs at Mark 2, but Spithill determined not to get another loss eased away to win by 54 sec.

Emirates Team New Zealand came away from the day with two wins from two races. Oracle Team USA had two wins from three races (they aren't scheduled to race tomorrow). Artemis Racing and Groupama Team France both had a win each. Land Rover BAR came away with no wins but holds up on the points table by virtue of the two points they earned as America's Cup World Series Champions.

While Emirates Team New Zealand might not have a speed edge, they certainly are consistently fast, and with smart sailing and good positioning on the course they were able to be the best performed on the day.

For a team that came into the series very short on hard racing experience, they are gaining with every race. Despite being the youngest helmsman of the six and in his first America's Cup campaign he appears very confident, but there is still a long way to go in this regatta, and life can change very quickly.