America's Cup - Kiwis still have a job to do on the Great Sound

by Richard Gladwell Sail-World.com on 25 Jun 2017 Day 4 of the Match for the 35th America's Cup followed a familiar script.

Emirates Team New Zealand won both starts, led Oracle Team USA around every mark, took two points, and has now won seven races.

In a normal America's Cup Match, if such a beast exists, that would have been sufficient for the trophy to change hands.

Emirates Team New Zealand now has to win one more race to erase the one point bonus that Defender Oracle Team USA 'earned' for winning the Qualifier Round of the Challenger Selection Series for the Louis Vuitton Trophy.

The Kiwi America's Cup rookies Peter Burling and his crew who with the exception of skipper Glenn Ashby, are all sailing in their first America's Cup, made no contest of Races 7 and 8 sailed in a breeze that struggled to get into double figures.

It was a tad lighter than yesterday when Oracle Team USA scored their only win so far of the series.

The line from the New Zealand camp was that the Emirates Team New Zealand crew had made errors and handed the race to the Defender. We have heard that line a couple of times this regatta - and each time the Kiwis come back stronger on the next day. Today was no different.

For someone who claims to have no match racing experience prior to this regatta, Peter Burling again stitched up Jimmy Spithill in the start box. Spithill is one of the best in the business - if not the best - however he seems to have no counter to the unorthodox style of Peter Burling, and similarly with the other 49er Gold Medalist in this regatta, Artemis Racing's Nathan Outteridge.

Whether the 49er duo have a different match racing playbook or are just winging it, who knows? But it works and works well.

Oracle Team USA did have a moment of hope when they were able to get into the New Zealanders on the final downwind leg of Race 7, chopping the New Zealander's lead back from 34 seconds to just 13 seconds. That's about six boat lengths and within easy striking distance if the lead boat fluffs the final gybe for the finish.

Sadly for the packed stadium, Burling and his crew did not oblige, and they went on to win Race 7 by 12 seconds. That was the crucial race - a Kiwi loss would have proven Spithill's point that the Defender had found a seam of speed - and were still very much in the regatta.

The win for Emirates Team New Zealand pulled them over the point of no-return, where mathematically it would be very difficult for them to lose the regatta - given the race statistics and the unlikely prospect of a major weather change.

Race 8 put the issue beyond doubt, with Oracle Team USA getting another rogering in the start box, and Spithill trailed Burling by 14 seconds across the starline.

Inexplicably Oracle Team USA sailed outside the boundary twice on the first beat, but while penalised they were sufficiently far behind the Kiwis for the indiscretion to have minimal effect on the margin.

At the end of Leg 4, they had a boat-stopping splashdown during a gybe rounding of the leeward mark. While the boat slowed markedly, the error didn't show up too badly in the race statistics, indicating that the Kiwis probably picked the wrong side of the course.

The point being that Oracle Team USA looked to be paying the price for the removal of the BMX or 'hybrid' grinding position to lighten the boat, as they appeared to lose oil pressure at a critical moment of the race. Since the removal of Tom Slingsby and the bike grinding station Oracle Team USA have suffered a number of splashdowns in situations where previously they had looked very strong.

Oracle Team USA rounded out a decisive day at the races 30 seconds in arrears of Emirates Team New Zealand, going into a position where, if they lose another race the America's Cup will be leaving the Trusteeship of the Golden Gate Yacht Club.

That event will trigger a number of firsts.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke will become the first sailors in history to win an Olympic Gold Medal and an America's Cup in the space of 12 months.

Emirates Team New Zealand will become the most inexperienced crew to win the America's Cup - with just one America's Cup regatta amongst the crew.

Petre Burling will become the youngest helmsman to win the America's Cup.

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron will become the the first Club to win back the America's Cup.

However, those celebrations are all on hold. Peter Burling and his crew still have a job to do.

Tomorrow's forecast is for more of the same on the Great Sound - winds of 10-11kts.