23 October 2024
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Emirates Team New Zealand concluded a historic chapter, winning the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup after an epic final showdown in Barcelona against the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia, in a single race that ebbed and flowed from the outset but ultimately saw the Kiwis secure victory by 37 seconds.
On a day where the Barcelona waterfront was treated to the spectacle of a record breaking 350 Patí Catala catamarans on the racecourse before racing, the British came out looking for a pre-start fight. In a shifting breeze of 7-11 knots on flat water, they entered on starboard before gybing immediately onto the Kiwi line to trail them out to the far-right boundary of the box and the race was on!
Emirates Team New Zealand were first to gybe down the boundary but found INEOS Britannia, who had gybed inside, right on their bow. On the lead back to the line, the New Zealand crew tried to wriggle free with two tacks, but these were matched deftly by the British.
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As the set-up began for the line, INEOS Britannia sat to leeward, attempting to force a shutout at the right-hand end of the line. But in the final seconds, both boats had time to kill and bore away down the line, allowing Emirates Team New Zealand to assume the windward position and tack off immediately for the right boundary. On the tack back, the Kiwis had the right-of-way advantage and crossed before making a decision that was crucial to the race’s outcome.
Ignoring the chance to tack immediately and cover the British—who were headed to the right-hand boundary—the canny afterguard of Emirates Team New Zealand held on straight, sailing into increased pressure and a favourable shift that helped them eke out further boat lengths ahead, so that when they tacked back their lead was assured. It was a masterclass of wind-reading and sailor’s intuition, with Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge, Blair Tuke, and Andy Maloney sharing information effectively between them and reacting accordingly.
For INEOS Britannia, the writing looked to be on the wall, but the never-say-die attitude that has been carefully cultivated within the team came to the fore, and on the second windward leg, a rare miscalculation on the pressure from the Kiwis opened the door for the British to stage a comeback.
INEOS Britannia helmsmen Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher grabbed the opportunity with both hands, playing the far-right boundary to great effect and eating up the distance metre-by-metre to bring Britannia within striking distance at the second windward gate.
With a right-hand wind shift making both boats overstand on starboard tack on the final approaches to the gate, the teams elected to take opposite markers, with Emirates Team New Zealand bearing away around the port marker as Britannia tacked around the starboard. The official delta was measured at precisely zero seconds – literally, nothing separated the two boats.
This dead heat rounding set up a potentially fascinating downwind leg, but after gybing on the right boundary, Emirates Team New Zealand came scorching across on port gybe in a pressure patch that had been spotted by the team well in advance, and the resultant 180-metre gain was telling.
As the set-up began for the line, INEOS Britannia sat to leeward, attempting to force a shutout at the right-hand end of the line. But in the final seconds, both boats had time to kill and bore away down the line, allowing Emirates Team New Zealand to assume the windward position and tack off immediately for the right boundary. On the tack back, the Kiwis had the right-of-way advantage and crossed before making a decision that was crucial to the race’s outcome.
Ignoring the chance to tack immediately and cover the British—who were headed to the right-hand boundary—the canny afterguard of Emirates Team New Zealand held on straight, sailing into increased pressure and a favourable shift that helped them eke out further boat lengths ahead, so that when they tacked back their lead was assured. It was a masterclass of wind-reading and sailor’s intuition, with Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge, Blair Tuke, and Andy Maloney sharing information effectively between them and reacting accordingly.
For INEOS Britannia, the writing looked to be on the wall, but the never-say-die attitude that has been carefully cultivated within the team came to the fore, and on the second windward leg, a rare miscalculation on the pressure from the Kiwis opened the door for the British to stage a comeback.
INEOS Britannia helmsmen Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher grabbed the opportunity with both hands, playing the far-right boundary to great effect and eating up the distance metre-by-metre to bring Britannia within striking distance at the second windward gate.
With a right-hand wind shift making both boats overstand on starboard tack on the final approaches to the gate, the teams elected to take opposite markers, with Emirates Team New Zealand bearing away around the port marker as Britannia tacked around the starboard. The official delta was measured at precisely zero seconds – literally, nothing separated the two boats.
This dead heat rounding set up a potentially fascinating downwind leg, but after gybing on the right boundary, Emirates Team New Zealand came scorching across on port gybe in a pressure patch that had been spotted by the team well in advance, and the resultant 180-metre gain was telling.
Sir Ben Ainslie, understandably disappointed, reflected on a remarkable campaign for the British saying: “Mixed emotions of course, first of all I’ve got to say credit to Emirates Team New Zealand, an amazing achievement for that organisation and for our team to get into the America’s Cup itself was a huge achievement and we’ve been on quite a journey for the last 10 years, and especially the past three years.
“Ultimately to fall short at the final hurdle is always tough, but we know that we’ve been up against one of the best if not ‘the’ best teams in the history of the Cup.
“We have to take that on the chin, and I think that the team have done a brilliant job to develop through this campaign, through this series and as one very plucky Brit said, it’s the courage to continue that counts, so that’s what we’re up for.”
Looking to the future, as well as reflecting on the support the team has received in Barcelona, Ainslie added: “We can’t say enough about the support we’ve had here and back over in the UK, it has been unbelievable. I’ve never experienced anything like it and it has made a huge difference to the team, a great motivator and a great driver. As for the future of the team, we set out to win the Cup, we got close and we’re getting closer every time.
“To my mind when you set out to achieve a target, you’ve got to get there so we continue, we keep going and keep taking this organisation forward. Every time we do it, we get more efficient, we learn more about the technical approaches, we learn more from our competitors, and I think we’ve got a great group of people and we can take it to the next level.”
Emirates Team New Zealand defended the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in style and accepted the trophy with class and grace officially at the main stage of the Race Village this evening.
The future of the event will be announced in “due course,” according to Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup Event and Emirates Team New Zealand, with the tradition being for a challenge to be issued as soon as the winning boat crosses the finish line of the last race.
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