It has been a tense four races for the Team New Zealand crew so far in the America's Cup Match. Photo / Getty
Two-time Olympic gold medallist and expert commentator Shirley Robertson has been analysing the America's Cup Match up close on the water. Here's what she has discovered in the four races so far.
OPINION:
The opening day of the America's Cup Match rarely disappoints. Add to the mix a new class, the two most established teams in the modern Cup era, and an overlying layer of tension brought on by the global pandemic, and day one of AC36 was always going to be tense.
Out on the water, it was a fascinating affair, confirming without doubt that whatever the experts claim they know going into a Cup Match, the sole measure of performance is what goes on once racing gets underway.
Dock out on day one served to highlight the differences between these two sailing dynasties.
The atmosphere inside the Italian quarter of Auckland's Viaduct was one of expectant anticipation. Daring to dream, every crew member, every shore team worker was cheered down the slipway by the red, white and green of a fanatic crowd. The booming Italian techno was inescapable at a more serious and sober dock out over at the fortress across the viaduct, where a workmanlike Team New Zealand took to their AC75 and slipped dock, to cheers, applause, and an occasional yell.
Two very different send-offs, two very different teams, but, it turns out, two AC75s a lot closer in performance than originally thought.
Steering Luna Rossa in his first America's Cup Match, Francesco Bruni may well have been nervous, but it was his starboard counterpart, four-time AC helm Jimmy Spithill, that seemed to suffer from first-day jitters.
With both AC75s simultaneously turning for the line sixty seconds out, it seemed Luna Rossa were in a commanding position. Twelve seconds from the gun, and with time over distance looking well judged, Spithill came on comms – "Just coming down a little…", and with that Luna Rossa momentarily nosed away from the line.
At the wheel on Team New Zealand, Peter Burling has, over the past few months, presumably been ignoring all the naysayers questioning his match-racing credentials. He remained solid and with ten seconds from the start of race 1, Spithill's slight deviation on the way to the line opened up an ideal lane for the less-experienced New Zealand helm. He held his course, and by a fraction of a second the home boat crossed the line ahead. Crucially though, they hit the line with a four-knot boat speed advantage.
Within 20 seconds that extra boat speed put New Zealand 25 metres in front, and again we heard Spithill on comms - "There could be a little luff here, stand by…". The following attempt to draw a penalty saw the Italian boat speed drop to 20 knots. Ahead and unfazed, Burling pushed on, their boat speed constantly up around 30. Fifteen seconds further up the track, Luna Rossa were 100 metres behind. They never regained a foothold.
Even in defeat though, the Italians would have taken heart - the numbers off the boats were comparable, there was parity in pace.
They took that confidence into race 2, first into the start box, they gybed deep. While seemingly trying to avoid contact, Team New Zealand tacked high, slowed on the exit, and hesitated. And in those few seconds, the rhythm of the race had been set.
The Italians again led the pair to the line, but this time there was no deviating, an assured Spithill heard on comms "There's going to be a tack, I think we tack with him" - the voice of a match racer with a clear plan in place.
As Team New Zealand tacked over the line, Spithill called "board down" on Luna Rossa, and both bows turned towards the right of the course. This time, it was the Italian boat that pulled ahead, stayed composed and sailed away to end a fascinating day one all square.
We learned from the opening day that Luna Rossa have a confidence in their manoeuvres, they know they can tack on New Zealand and stay ahead in the cleaner air. And that, it seems, is where this America's Cup Match is heading.
Competition on day two initially looked unlikely, but a steady wind eventually filled in on Course E, the lighter winds once again leaving us all guessing. These conditions were different, Luna Rossa are a light air machine, they have bigger foils, surely they would dominate the day.
As the pre-start played out, it was all about time and distance, with so much at stake the pressure to hit the start line at speed and in good shape is immense, and both crews excelled.
But at these speeds – 30 knots as they crossed the line - the next tactical decision is always fast approaching. It's fascinating to watch these scenarios unfold, at lightning speeds, with so much information coming off the race yachts, and such small nuances carrying significant outcomes.
With the boundary fast approaching, and both boats tacking simultaneously, the advantage immediately swung the Italians way, courtesy of a smooth tack, straight into a high fast sailing mode, they out-positioned Team New Zealand and extended into an unassailable lead.
As the first two minutes of race 3 unfolded I'm pretty sure I heard a collective gasp from the impressive spectator armada assembled around Course E. Could this be happening..? Luna Rossa look so capable, so confident, so far from the whitewash everyone had been expecting.
The home team though showed their mettle in race 4, and bounced back from that worrying defeat.
In what looked like a similar start set-up, Luna Rossa this time started closer to the New Zealand boat, and tacked off in search of more breeze up the right-hand side. A brief tacking duel followed, but New Zealand never lost the advantage, normalcy resumed, the home boat extended and a collective sigh of relief echoed around the race course.
So four races in, more questions have been raised than have been answered.
Every race so far has been won by the port entry boat, the first boat into the start box. For me, there's been nothing in any of the pre-starts to suggest that this is anything more than a coincidence, an opinion shared in the post-race press conference by both Spithill and Burling.
The performance of the boats, that's tough to call.
There's a slight downwind advantage for Team New Zealand, a marginal upwind edge for the Italians.
But after four fascinating races what I do know is this - the performance gap on these brand new AC75s is minimal, each one of these races will be decided by split-second decisions, made at the fastest boat speeds an America's Cup has ever seen.
We may see the odd mistake, a decisive wind shift perhaps, but don't let anyone tell you they know where this Cup is going.
After what we've seen so far, in the conditions we've seen it sailed in, it genuinely is too close to call.
Heading into the Cup racing?
• Give yourself plenty of time and think about catching a ferry, train or bus to watch the Cup.
• Make sure your AT HOP card is in your pocket. It's the best way to ride.
• Don't forget to scan QR codes with the NZ COVID Tracer app when on public transport and entering the America's Cup Village.
• For more ways to enjoy race day, visit at.govt.nz/americascup.
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