America's Cup 2013 - Friday Race 13 - Unlucky for some
by Sail-World.com on 21 Sep 2013
20/09/2013 - San Francisco (USA,CA) - 34th America’s Cup - Oracle Team USA vs Emirates Team New Zealand, Race Day 10 ACEA - Photo Gilles Martin-Raget
http://photo.americascup.com/
America's Cup 2013 Day 10 and the series rolls on the score between challenger Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) and defender Oracle Team USA is 8-4 on the water. The Kiwis have just one race to win to wrest the America's Cup from Larry Ellison's Oracle Team USA.
The on water score is ETNZ 8 OTUSA 4, but the US points are reduced by two with the off water penalty carried forward for the AC45 Kingpost snafu.
A totally different day weather situation. Breeze off the shore. The fog was still rolling in across San Francisco Bay. Just ahead of the two minute Emirates entry, a postponement to realign the course.
In came the Kiwis, it wass light, it was a time on distance start. USA lead off the line, a big luff on the Kiwis.
Then Oracle first into the first mark zone, a ten second advantage to Oracle, the Americans sailed low to cover but ETNZ gets into new breeze and gets the cross.
A 500 metre lead appeared in less than two minutes as the Oracle boat was stalled in a soft patch.
As Emirates Team New Zealand rounded mark two 102 second ahead of their rivals they had a second hand on the America's Cup.
The door opened on the Fat Lady's Dressing Room but there could be a party spoiler, the race rules required the race to be sailed in 40 minutes.
In the very slow conditions the Kiwis were sailing against the clock and the clock was winning.
A three minute gap, but they were slow, 4.5 nautical miles in 11 minutes or the race will be blown out. A delta of 2 minutes and 20 seconds at mark three. An adverse wind shift as the Kiwis struggled towards mark 4.
Emirates Team New Zealand was struggling to make the bottom mark inside the 40 minute time limit.
The race was blown out. Race Committee time limit had expired and this race has been abandoned. The response on ETNZ was f... hell.
Smiles aboard the American boat. They got out of jail.
The Fat Lady's dressing room door quietly shut.
And now to do it all over again.
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