America’s Cup: Team NZ set the tone early in Cup match against Ineos Britannia

By Christopher Reive in Barcelona

In their first race for a month, Team New Zealand were back like they never left.

Opening their America’s Cup defence against Ineos Britannia in Barcelona this morning, the Kiwi crew showed no signs of race rust; executing their starts well and navigating the tricky conditions to sail to a 2-0 lead in the first-to-seven series.

Coming into the Cup match, there had been plenty of talk about just how important the pre-starts would be to deciding races, and Team NZ set the tone immediately.

“The team did a really good job of executing that first trigger pull; probably one of our best yet,” starboard trimmer Andy Maloney said.

“It’s such an important part of the race and we’ve been working hard on it, so that was really rewarding to see.

“Looking over your shoulder to see the Brits a little bit back there from the first start, you don’t think too much of it at the time because you’re onto the next thing and trying to figure out what the next move is.”

Team NZ rode that start to a 41s win in the opening race, before a much tighter affair in the second saw the lead change a few times before the Kiwis finally pulled away on the fifth of eight legs.

It was a strong way to start the defence as Team NZ look to become the first syndicate to win three America’s Cup regattas in a row, particularly in a breeze that was hard to read at times and required plenty of onboard communications to navigate.

“It was so puffy and dynamic that you’re really trying to unload a few of the people onboard to try and make some good decisions, and I think the way we sail the boat is really good for that and we managed to pick some really good shifts,” Team NZ starboard helmsman Peter Burling said.

“We definitely made life a little harder than we should have in a couple of things, but the way we managed to go to plan B and pull it off was really cool.”

While Team NZ came away feeling good about their performance and results, Ineos Britannia could take plenty away from the day as well.

The Brits had to change a battery not long before the start of the first race, which saw them arrive late into the starting box and beaten off the line.

They were far more competitive in the second race and were consistently the faster boat downwind throughout the two races.

“Everybody’s been looking forward to seeing where we stack up in performance compared to Team New Zealand and we’ve got a whole punch of guys back in Brackley in the United Kingdom and here who are going to pore through that data and try to figure out where we’re at in terms of manoeuvres and straight-line speed. It’ll be interesting to see what we come up with overnight,” Ineos Britannia cyclor Neil Hunter said .

“I think the boats are incredibly evenly matched and there will just be subtle differences in certain areas of the wind speed or conditions that favour one boat or the other so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out over the next week.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.