America's Cup - Day 1 Replay - Dodgems continue on the Great Sound

by Richard Gladwell 27 May 2018 17:00 PDT 28 May 2018

Today, May 27 marks the first day of racing in the 35th America's Cup in Bermuda. To commemorate the win by Emirates Team New Zealand, Sail-World will re-run the daily content, from a variety of sources, unaltered. Emirates Team New Zealand are producing their own daily video clip, which forms part of our coverage. Sadly, 12 months later all video and still coverage from the official website, Youtube channel and image library remain inaccessible to America's Cup fans.

The pre-start collision in Race 6 of the Qualifiers captured the click-bait attention but were otherwise a distraction to the real take-outs of the Opening day of the 35th America's Cup.

First of these were the outcome of the rematch of the 2013 America's Cup protagonists - Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand, in Race 5.

The Kiwi crew showed their form in Race 3, crushing the hapless Groupama Team France by almost the length of the final run. Aotearoa New Zealand was on the short leg to the finish while Groupama Team France was completing her rounding of the windward mark for the final time. That was a thrashing.

There are no immediate or obvious answers to the French performance, other than it is a new team that started late, and have always had a real uphill battle to get up to speed with the established teams. Good experience for next time.

Yes, their foiling performance is not good, with more than the average number of splashdowns, but they just lack the pace of the other five teams. That will no doubt be fixed in time, but not for this regatta, and they are unlikely to make the cut for the play-offs.

The Kiwis got away to a good start in Race 5 - bang on the line with speed, but with Oracle Team USA just stacked to windward and skipper Jimmy Spithill was able to drove over and get to the first mark with a handy lead which he should have extended and maintained to the end.

However that was not to be, and the largely Cup rookie crew aboard Emirates Team New Zealand slipped through and crossed ahead on the gybe.

Then it was the turn of the young New Zealand crew to give the America's Cup Champions a sailing lesson, which they did right until the final mark, but their moderate lead was always going to be difficult to defend if the trailing crew elected to try and get an alternate phase in the breeze. The Australian afterguard of Jimmy Spithill, Tom Slingsby and Kyle Langford performed outstandingly and were able to dig deep and get a sniff of a useful shift and were once again indulge in their favourite game of turning around the Kiwis.

Having got in front, the red-headed, firey Aussie skipper wasn't going to let the Kiwis off the hook. And despite a valiant charge by Emirates Team New Zealand, it was a near impossible lead to peg back.

Using the formula of Potential minus Mistakes equals Performance, we can say that both boats have near similar speed, with maybe the edge going to the Kiwis in the foiling tack phase. For a team that has largely trained alone Emirates Team New Zealand are more than on pace. Their mistakes decided the outcome today.

Oracle Team USA have close to the speed of the Kiwis. The US team also made mistakes, but not to the same degree as the New Zealand team, and once Spithill got the advantage back he kept it.

What Emirates Team NZ do lack is serious match racing practice - which was always going to be an issue given their decision to remain in Auckland for the New Zealand summer; the shortened Practice Sessions; and the decision of two teams not to compete against the self-styled 'Lone Wolves' left Emirates Team New Zealand well short of a gallop going into the Qualifiers.

Putting Groupama Team France to one side the skippers in the other five teams in this regatta fall into two groups.

The three elder statesmen - Spithill, Barker and Ainslie are all from monohull and match racing backgrounds who have adapted to the multihull era of the America's Cup.

The other two young pretenders, Burling and Outteridge come from the younger generation of apparent wind sailors. Both have Olympic Gold and Silver medals in the 49er class and multiple world championships in the same.

They offset the match racing expertise of the other three by opting for a time on distance with hot pace approach at the race start, and from there drive hard, fast and intuitively bringing to the AC50 the same aplomb with which they handled their 49ers in Olympic regattas. They both know how to 'send it' - in skiffie-speak.

The older three, who are possibly all in their last America's Cup as sailors, can use their match racing background to grind out a win - even though well behind - as Jimmy Spithill did today in Race 5.

He made mention of their ability to dig deep - as was seen in the 2013 America's Cup - and it was there today on the Great Sound. The ability to dig deep is also part of the Australian sailing culture - bred into them after Australia II's comeback in 1983. No hole is too deep for an Aussie to climb out - and their self belief saves them time and time again.

The other reminder of San Francisco came at the finish of Race 5, with Oracle Team USA finishing at high speed and an impressive rooster-tail in front of the cheering fans.

On the water, it was clear to hear the commentator winding up the roar of the home crowd - and that would not have gone unheard aboard Oracle Team USA.

There is no doubt now that this America's Cup Regatta is a home game for Oracle Team USA, and expect to see them respond to their fans many times in this series.

The test for the Challengers will be to lift their game above Oracle Team USA and maintaining that momentum.

The other matches did produce some surprises - or outcomes that ran against the form guide.

Land Rover BAR performed outstandingly against Artemis Racing, who from the Practice Sessions was expected to be the benchmark for the fleet, Defender included.

Ainslie looked like had grown another leg and looked extremely comfortable to be showing Artemis Racing around the 17 minute long course.

Yes, Ainslie blotted his copybook again with the pre-start incident in the final race of the day. And had Land Rover BAR been able to deal with Softbank Team Japan in the same way as they had with the Swedes - then with their two points from the America's Cup World Series - the Brits would have been top of the table with four points.

Now Ainslie is in the hands of his shore crew. He can get no relief from the newly altered Redress Rules as he was judged to be at fault. If the Brits can't sail on the morrow, they will be back in the pack on the points table, and Oracle will be on the way to take a point going into the America's Cup Match in just over two weeks time on June 17.

Of course, the issue for the Defender is that they have just seven races left in the Qualifiers to sharpen their claws ahead of the Match - and one of those is against the French - which on current form should be just starting practice. So that leaves just six.

The four Challengers that make the Playoff cut will have at least double the number of serious races as the Defender, and maybe more.

The chief beneficiary from that exercise will be Emirates Team New Zealand who should improve with every race.

What remains to be tested is their basic speed in the light and heavy breezes. Today the Kiwis showed they are on the pace in moderate and are the serious threat they promised to be.

Official Report and Results from ACEA - Sir Ben Ainslie was forced to explain a highly dramatic collision in the first day of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers on Bermuda’s Great Sound.

Having already seen some thrilling and action-packed racing in the first five of the six races that were run on day one, particularly from Oracle Team USA who claimed back-to-back wins, the drama really unfolded in the final race of the day between Land Rover BAR and SoftBank Team Japan.

In what proved the biggest flashpoint of the afternoon, both teams were looking for the advantage going into the start box, before the two boats collided at speed, resulting in a penalty being given to Sir Ben Ainslie and the British team. Damage was sustained to both boats, with the Olympic legend’s boat taking on water after the incident.

In scenes similar to the final week of practice racing, in which Land Rover BAR hit Emirates Team New Zealand, Ainslie again found himself having to defend his actions when questioned after racing.

“To be honest, to me it appeared six of one and half a dozen of the other,” said the Land Rover Bar helmsman, whose team suffered defeat in their second race of the day having enjoyed a morale-boosting win over Artemis Racing earlier in the day in race four.

“The collision was obviously unfortunate but these things happen when you are racing these boats.

“You don’t go out there intending to cause damage and so on that front it is was unfortunate to see both boats with damage.

“Unfortunately I’m not a boat builder so I’m not sure about the extent of the damage just yet, but no doubt both shore teams will be working incredibly hard to make sure we are both ready for tomorrow.

“However, for me it was fantastic just to see us competing and up to speed with all of the others. I believe we have silenced a lot of our doubters and I am just incredibly proud of all of our team.”

Meanwhile, SoftBank Team Japan helmsman Dean Barker, whose team suffered defeat to Artemis Racing in their first race of the day, bounced back with victory in race six and was relieved that none of his team had sustained any injuries in the collision with Land Rover BAR.

“We were incredibly lucky that there were no injuries sustained by the guys,” said the New Zealand native. “Maybe they were still in a bit of shock when we started racing but the way they regrouped and got back into things was fantastic.

“Ben has apologised. Clearly it was their mistake because they caused it but it doesn’t stop the guys in the shore team having to have a big workload tonight to put things right.

“You know what is about to happen. You can see it coming in slow motion but there is nothing you can do to stop it.

“What would have been worse is if their boat came a little bit higher over our hull, that would have been really dangerous.

“Fortunately we were able to carry on with the race and limp our way home. The guys did brilliantly to regroup in reply to what happened and get on with the race.

“The first race against Artemis Racing was disappointing. We had good pace and obviously tried hard to keep ahead but ultimately we couldn’t.

“However, what was pleasing was how we bounced back and got that victory in the final race.”

Meanwhile, it proved a highly positive day for the Defenders of the ‘Auld Mug’, Oracle Team USA, who comfortably beat Groupama Team France in the opening race of the afternoon, before coming from behind to overcome Emirates Team New Zealand in what proved the highlight race of the day.

However, despite seeing Oracle Team USA sit joint top of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers standings with three points, alongside Land Rover BAR, skipper Jimmy Spithill was left far from content as he refused to rest on his laurels ahead of day two tomorrow.

“The lads aren’t happy tonight. We can definitely sharpen up a lot ahead of tomorrow,” said the two-time America’s Cup winner.

“Of course it is good to end the first day with two wins from two races but we have got to sharpen up on what we do out there.

“Consistency is the key in a competition like this and so there is a lot for us to improve on.

“However, as I said, it is pleasing that we managed to finish this first day of competition and come away with two race wins.”

Another helmsman who was left with mixed feelings was Artemis Racing’s Nathan Outteridge, having seen his side claim a victory against SoftBank Team Japan, before somewhat surprisingly losing out to Land Rover BAR in race four.

“It proved a very tiring first day of racing,” said Outteridge.

“Our first race we started slowly but you could see how hard we pushed to get back into the race and when the opportunity came, we took full advantage.

“The second race against Land Rover BAR, we just didn’t get any opportunity to pass them. It was disappointing to lose the race but we will look at ourselves and see what we can do to improve.

“However to get that first win on the board is really important. We had some strong performances in practice racing and so it was great to be able to bring that forward to today and get a first point banked.

“It was also pleasing to win in in the manner in which we did. We kept chipping away, put pressure on SoftBank Team Japan, and then, to get something, that feeling was really good.'

Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling was left satisfied with his team’s showing on the first day, having also taken one win from the day, overcoming Groupama Team France, before losing out to Oracle Team USA in their second race of the day.

“It is really great for us to have got a win on the board,” said the youngest helmsman competing.

“Having taken that win, we always knew it was going to be tough taking on Oracle Team USA. We put up a strong challenge and matched them throughout the race but they just edged us in the end.

“Having lost it late on was a little frustrating but I’m really happy with our first day on the water.

“We’re now excited to get back into action tomorrow and no doubt we’ll be racing hard again.”

Meanwhile, it proved a difficult day for Groupama Team France, who suffered defeats in both their encounters, losing to both Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand.

However, having faced two of the highly-fancied teams on the first day, helmsman Franck Cammas is remaining hopeful of an improved showing from the French team in the days to come.

“Today to have our first two matches against teams like Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand was a hard way to start the America’s Cup,” said Cammas.

“We knew those teams were among the best teams but we wanted to be closer to them than we were in the end.

“We have to work hard and try and understand why we weren’t fast today. We also need some big improvements in the maneuvers and so there is a lot to work on for us.

“We will try for sure to improve as quickly as possible. Every day is different and so we will see what tomorrow brings.”

Race results:

Race 1: Oracle Team USA beat Groupama Team France

Race 2: Artemis Racing beat SoftBank Team Japan

Race 3: Emirates Team New Zealand beat Groupama Team France

Race 4: Land Rover BAR beat Artemis Racing

Race 5: Oracle Team USA beat Emirates Team New Zealand

Race 6: SoftBank Team Japan beat Land Rover BAR