The conditions were, as race director Ian Murray described it, a “sailor’s day”. By that he meant any differences in boat speed between Britannia and Taihoro were going to be more the result of the changes in wind strength and direction as opposed to inherent design and settings differences.
The wind conditions varied hugely across the course, from lulls of around 8 knots to puffs of 18 knots. This meant the priority for both teams was to position themselves for the best benefit from the massive changes in wind strength and direction.
A secondary but equally important priority was for the teams to be able to change gears through the wind strength range by adjusting their sails, foil angles and helming.
The co-ordination between the four sailors aboard was critical – but it must also be acknowledged that without the hydraulic fluid pressure created by the cyclors, the rapid and almost continuous adjustment of the sails would not have been possible.
What played out was that the Kiwi team simply did this better than the British. As sailing match-racing so often is, it was all set up by the starts. The key on such a puffy and shifty day was securing the side you wanted off the line. Both teams focused on predicting where the next puff and wind shift was going to come from.
In race seven the Kiwis clearly wanted the right side off the line, anticipating that the next big puff and shift was coming from that side of the course. They got the side they wanted but needed to be able to hold their position above the Brits off the start until that right shift arrived.
It was a tense moment because they had to hang in off the hip of Ineos Britannia for 10-15 seconds while the Brits were slowly climbing up to them. This is why Nathan Outteridge’s voice was somewhat tense and he broke the “only say something once” communications protocol by repeating “bring it up, bring it up” and “they are closing gauge” several times to Peter Burling, who was not able to see the Brits to leeward.
Outteridge knew it was critical that Burling was able to hold Taihoro in its position until the right shift and puff arrived because when it did, they would have the advantage.
So it proved, and the right shift was a huge rotation, with a big increase in wind strength and Taihoro slingshotted forward to a controlling position.
With their ability to tack in front of the Brits from there and control the right-hand side, they established an early lead. With the pick of the wind shifts and puffs from that controlling lead position, they stretched out and banked a solid win by over a minute.
Race eight required a similar choice: which side do you want to be on off the start? If your prediction is the next puff and shift is coming from the right, you fight to start to the right of your opponent and vice versa.
From early on in the pre-start, it was clear the Kiwis wanted the left. They choreographed their moves beautifully to lead back to the start line and “pull the trigger” to reach maximum speed when hitting the line right on the start signal.
It was perfectly executed, with “Pistol Pete” Burling hitting the line at maximum pace, exactly on time and jumping Taihoro out to an early advantage heading to the next wind shift, which was going to be in their favour.
Ainslie conceded early and the Brits tacked away. The Kiwis waited until they had maximum benefit from the left shift, tacked on to port and were instantly nearly 100 metres in front.
From there they looked comfortable and completely in control. As Burling said afterwards, just like sailing in a southwesterly off Takapuna.
Much will be made of the speed differential between the two yachts in these races. I would not pay too much attention to this because the Kiwis set themselves up to have the first pick of positioning for the puffs and shifts and, as a consequence, were always going to have faster overall boat speed in these races.
What was more interesting to focus on was how much more locked-in Taihoro looked in the flatter water, and how much flatter in shape her sails were. Any experienced sailor will tell you this is the better configuration in puffy, up-and-down conditions in flat water.
Related to this was the Kiwis’ choice of a smaller jib for both races. In these super-fast foiling yachts, the size and shape of this front sail (which are referred as jib “codes”) is proving critical.
Each team carries at least six different jib codes and leaves the selection of which jib to use until the last possible minute before the pre-start sequence.
Choose a size too small and the yacht is underpowered and potentially at a disadvantage, especially down-wind when the apparent wind-speed acting on the sails is lower.
Choose a size too big and the yacht is carrying more drag upwind, is harder to turn and the yacht can feel out of balance to sail.
Remarkably, the range for each jib code is as narrow as two knots of wind speed. It’s a critical choice.
