America’s Cup: A challenging and complex day for Emirates Team NZ
by Emirates Team NZ Media 16 Oct 11:51 PDT
INEOS Britannia and Emirates Team NZ – Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup, Race Day 4 – October 16, 2024 © Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup
The weather has reverted to the ‘normal’ conditions experienced in the final series—a south-west wind of 6-10 knots, but a choppy leftover sea state from yesterday’s strong westerlies. This type of environment is precisely where minor errors can have significant repercussions.
That was the narrative for Emirates Team New Zealand today: small faults in the pre-starts of both races five and six, which allowed INEOS Britannia to jump ahead and navigate the course, earning their first two points in the regatta.
With a 4-2 scorecard at the conclusion of Race Day 4, the clichés ring true as the stakes and intensity progressively heighten each day.
Skipper Peter Burling reflected on the day: “It was quite frustrating in the first race to make a slight error, have the wind shift against us, and end up off the foils. In the second race, we really felt we had them under pressure but made one minor misstep, allowing them to regain the lead on the return to the line, putting us on the back foot from there.
We persevered, kept pushing, and managed to re-engage with them. In the end, we lost by mere seconds, but it was just one shift, one boat length, and it could have been ours.”
America’s Cup Race Reports
Race 5
Conditions were light across the racecourse with wind speeds around 7-8 knots, above the wind limit of 6.5 knots, allowing racing to commence on time with course lengths set at 1.5 nautical miles. Emirates Team New Zealand entered from the port side right on cue at 2 minutes 10 seconds, while INEOS Britannia came in a bit late from starboard. INEOS Britannia took the lead, with Emirates Team New Zealand trailing and quickly losing foiling ability in their wake, while INEOS Britannia continued toward the left boundary. Emirates Team New Zealand struggled to regain their speed as INEOS Britannia returned on port tack along the starting line, crossing over them and sending more wind over to Emirates Team New Zealand. INEOS Britannia tacked around the port end and executed a dip-line start, crossing over Emirates Team New Zealand who remained in displacement mode.
Emirates Team New Zealand made an uncontested start, heading for the left boundary and building enough speed to tack for the first time. They attempted to accelerate towards the right boundary but had to tack onto starboard to avoid going out of bounds, now on starboard trying to gain speed in the significant sea state. INEOS Britannia sailed off uncontested, and the battle became about remaining on the foils across the remaining six legs.
INEOS Britannia maintained wide angles to stay on the foils as they approached the top mark, with Emirates Team New Zealand just beginning to foil about 1600 meters behind. INEOS Britannia picked the port marker and bore away at 39 knots to charge down the first run initially (looking downwind). A gybe before the boundary on a significant shift allowed INEOS Britannia to almost aim directly at the leeward gate on port gybe, rocketing downwind on the wave patterns.
A gybe low on the course saw INEOS Britannia round up at the starboard gate as Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the top gate approximately 2 minutes 15 seconds behind. Initially, INEOS Britannia went left, then tacked to the right, crossing behind Emirates Team New Zealand as they approached the leeward gate. INEOS Britannia’s lead was down to 1200 meters, but they were uncontested at the second windward gate, sailing onto the port layline and bearing away at the starboard marker with three legs remaining.
INEOS Britannia sailed down the left side of the course until just before the boundary, then gybed onto a long starboard gybe down to the lower right side and the starboard layline. Emirates Team New Zealand rounded 1 minute and 47 seconds behind while following the same path as INEOS Britannia initially. INEOS Britannia gybed on the layline and rounded the leeward gate, heading towards the right side of the course. The Race Committee announced an extension of the legs to 1.55 nautical miles as the wind increased at the top of the course to 9-11 knots.
Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the port marker 1 minute and 36 seconds behind as the Race Committee extended the finishing leg to 1.7 nautical miles. INEOS Britannia sailed up the right side of the course, bearing away at the port marker for the run to the finish and holding starboard before a gybe at the boundary to continue down the course on port gybe. The focus was on minimizing maneuvers here. Emirates Team New Zealand rounded 1 minute and 29 seconds behind.
INEOS Britannia gybed before the left boundary and stayed high to maintain speed on starboard gybe. One final gybe on the starboard layline was nailed, and INEOS Britannia crossed the finish line to achieve their first victory of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match. The score now stands at 4-1. Emirates Team New Zealand crossed the line 1 minute and 18 seconds later.
Emirates Team New Zealand Skipper Peter Burling expressed disappointment over the pre-start mistake, stating, “We hit the largest lull of the day right upon entry, and it was a shame that we couldn’t quite get ahead of them or gather enough speed to gybe, causing us to drop off the foil, which is tough to recover from with the wind building.”
Race 6:
With wind speeds exceeding 11 knots, Race 6 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match commenced on schedule, with INEOS Britannia entering the start box precisely on time from the port side, making the cross before heading up and undertaking a tack, moving above the line. Emirates Team New Zealand sought to position leeward before INEOS Britannia tacked, attempting to roll over them towards the right boundary. Emirates Team New Zealand was the first to gybe at the boundary, setting up astern before tacking away to the right off the line. INEOS Britannia initiated at around 10 knots faster from the starboard end of the line and sailed left before tacking to face off against Emirates Team New Zealand at the right boundary.
INEOS Britannia was clear ahead at the first cross and opted not to cover, heading decisively over to the right before tacking. Emirates Team New Zealand sailed left in clear air and tacked at the left boundary, crossing behind INEOS Britannia who continued toward the port layline. Emirates Team New Zealand positioned themselves on the starboard layline and set their sights on the port marker, being 6 seconds behind. They moved to the right (looking downwind) and bounced off the boundary to cross on port gybe. INEOS Britannia was ahead by 150 meters.
INEOS Britannia allowed Emirates Team New Zealand to cross behind them and navigate to the left part of the course before gybing back as Emirates Team New Zealand split the phase and sailed down on starboard gybe towards the right. INEOS Britannia aligned on the port layline for the leeward gate, rounding the starboard marker with a lead of 9 seconds. Emirates Team New Zealand moved to the right boundary on the second beat as INEOS Britannia initially went left, then tacked to cover them.
At the first cross, INEOS Britannia was clear ahead and proceeded to the right side, extending their lead to 160 meters. Minimizing tacks, INEOS Britannia sailed over to the left side as pressure built before tacking back to engage mid-course with Emirates Team New Zealand, remaining ahead. INEOS Britannia set up on the starboard layline and aimed for the port marker. They rounded 9 seconds in front and headed towards the right downwind while Emirates Team New Zealand struggled to round the starboard marker and headed left.
During the first gybe, INEOS Britannia splashed down off a wave, losing some speed but crossed paths with Emirates Team New Zealand mid-course, maintaining a lead of 265 meters. Emirates Team New Zealand sailed down the course on starboard gybe to the right, closely followed by INEOS Britannia, and both gybed at the right boundary while approaching the leeward gate on the starboard layline. Rounding up at the port marker, INEOS Britannia’s lead now stood at 16 seconds as Emirates Team New Zealand executed a slow gybe at the gate, rounding the starboard marker.
On the second beat, INEOS Britannia tacked before the boundary, covering Emirates Team New Zealand to the left, and as they crossed mid-course, INEOS Britannia’s lead reached 200 meters. They maintained a loose positional cover over Emirates Team New Zealand to retain leverage; when Emirates Team New Zealand tacked back from the right, INEOS Britannia waited for wind pressure to build before covering. They set up on the starboard layline and bore away at the port marker, increasing their lead to 13 seconds. Emirates Team New Zealand split strategies and rounded the starboard marker.
On this eight-leg course, leg 6 allowed INEOS Britannia to lose some distance as Emirates Team New Zealand found pressure off the left top quadrant, closing the gap to within 120 meters with the breeze at 9-10 knots. Both vessels sailed a prolonged port gybe, and INEOS Britannia gybed before the gate to take the starboard marker just 7 seconds behind.
As the boats converged again mid-course, INEOS Britannia stayed slightly ahead and gybed onto the Emirates Team New Zealand line, forcing them to gybe back left. The lead diminished to just 70 meters, and Emirates Team New Zealand crossed on starboard but were unable to overtake as INEOS Britannia crossed first to win by 7 seconds. The score now stands at 4-2 in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match.
INEOS Britannia defeated Emirates Team New Zealand (7 seconds)
Reflecting on the last race, Nathan Outteridge, the helmsman, noted, “That start looked promising, and they managed to roll us and come over. We did well to keep it competitive throughout, finishing only meters apart.” He kept a level perspective, stating, “Everything is good here; we just need to improve our execution and prepare for the next challenge. We’ll review the events tonight and return better prepared next time.”
