As Team New Zealand prepared to attack Ineos Britannia in the pre-start, port helmsman Nathan Outteridge had a good feeling as he handed control of their AC75 Taihoro over to Peter Burling on starboard.
Looking to increase their lead in the best-of-13 America’s Cup match to three, homework paid off for the Kiwi crew as they expertly countered a move the Brits have consistently been going to when on starting port entry, with Ineos Britannia being penalised for not keeping clear.
It was a delicately aggressive move from the Kiwis, with the two boats coming alarmingly close to one another as well as Team NZ risking falling off their foils as a result of the sharp turn – a risk flight controller Blair Tuke was well aware of, as he was heard on the broadcast saying “keep it on the foils, keep it on the foils”.
But it was a risk that paid off in a big way. Ineos Britannia had to start the race by falling 75m behind Team NZ, which allowed the Kiwis to control the race and claim a 52s win.
“If you do your homework on your competitors you have a rough idea of where their comfort zones are,” Outteridge said.
“Clearly their comfort zone is that 360 on the entry on port, we saw it in the round-robins, we saw it in the preliminary regatta, we saw it in the [Louis Vuitton Cup] final against Luna Rossa, so you always think if there’s an opportunity to gain an advantage somewhere, you’d go for that.
“We’ve seen it here as well so it’s interesting to see how the rest of the America’s Cup unfolds in the pre-start box.”
Emirates Team New Zealand and Ineos Britannia duel for position in the pre-start. Photo / Georgia Schofield, Photosport
It was the biggest moment of the Cup match so far, and saw Team NZ take a 3-0 lead in the race to seven wins before light winds saw the second race for the day bumped into what was initially scheduled as a reserve day tomorrow.
Team NZ have looked every part the powerhouse many expected they would be upon returning from a month without racing, sailing Taihoro well, navigating some tricky conditions and impressing many with the high level of communication head on board among the sailors.
“It’s been a really solid start,” Tuke said.
“Especially yesterday was a really nice foundation that we laid. As the defender, you come into these races without racing for a while compared to the boat you’re up against and I thought yesterday was a real testament to the preparation we’ve done over the last three weeks or a month to come out and get into our rhythm really quickly.
“Just the communication between the four of us, the speed of the boat as well as how we positioned it around the race track was really nice and we just built on that today. I still see it as a start.
“We need to keep building but we’re loving the challenge. We’re up against a great team, they’ve showed that, and we’re relishing in pushing ourselves against them.”
America’s Cup match results
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Ineos Britannia by 41s
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Ineos Britannia by 27s
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Ineos Britannia by 52s
Emirates Team New Zealand lead the America’s Cup first-to-seven series 3-0
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
