Another glorious day here in Barcelona with expected winds being similar to yesterday with a south-westerly filtering in at race time with expected wind speeds around 10-12 knots. Sea state should be less than the 0.5 metre swell of yesterday as this weather patterns drains off down the Mediterranean. Temperatures are still high with an expected 29 degrees Celsius so it's going to be hot work for the cyclor teams.
There are some terrific line-ups today, not least being the first start of the day between two winning teams from yesterday with Alinghi Red Bull Racing and NYYC American Magic facing off, before INEOS Britannia meet Emirates Team New Zealand in the second race. The Americans get two races today and will face Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the third flight, whilst the day concludes with the Kiwis coming back to face Orient Express Racing Team in the final race of the day. Game on and all on.
Billed as one of the stand-out races of the second day in the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta, the two challenger teams from Switzerland and America gave little quarter right from the start. Max Bachelin brought ‘BoatOne' into the starting box and went straight into a circle over at the right side of the course before breaking and heading out to the right boundary for the set up and lead back.
Patriot goes deep in the box; gybes around and initially looks like they prefer a leeward start position. The Swiss attempt to latch onto the transom of the Americans on the final approaches and just get their timing wrong but it's American Magic that makes a superb start to leeward, effectively gassing the windward Swiss who were falling into dirty air and forced to tack away. Immediately, the Americans cover but out towards the right boundary, Magic eschews the direct cover and heads hard over to the right boundary having crossed effectively.
For Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the only option was to go to the middle and then come back but these were losing manoeuvres with the right paying again and the Americans protecting it tenaciously. In the final quarter, Alinghi Red Bull Racing dis-engage and go hard left to the port layline which Magic covered and took the starboard gate after a slick tack on the layline onto port. It was 12 seconds at the top mark and both boats headed out to the left boundary (looking downwind) before gybing onto starboard for building pressure in the middle of the course.
Winds look relatively even across the course and for American Magic it was a case of just covering off the Swiss gybes. Great communication between Tom Slingsby, Paul Goodison, Andrew Campbell and Mike Menninger and at the leeward gate, the Americans opted for the starboard marker and executed a rapid two-board down rounding.
The Swiss followed suit but the lead was out to 15 seconds for Magic. The fight for the right was evident with Alinghi Red Bull Racing tacking first, covered by Magic further up the course and it was a straight drag race out right with the Americans absolutely in control and effectively ‘bouncing' the Swiss out of their preferred tactics.
No panic though onboard ‘BoatOne' with Arnaud Psarofaghis, Max Bachelin, Bryan Mettraux and Nicolas Rolaz staying calm and just keeping it tight and not making any gambling calls. At the second top mark, Magic bears-away around the starboard marker at speeds in excess of 46 knots in just 12 knots of breeze. The Swiss follow suit but it's a 31 second deficit that they are facing.
Out at the left-hand boundary, Patriot executes a smart gybe with a high exit speed and heads down the course on a long starboard to the layline with Alinghi Red Bull Racing following suit. At the leeward gate, the telegraphed port rounding came to pass and again, the Americans go for a two-board rounding at speeds of around 32 knots. The delta now was out to 36 seconds and there was very little that the Swiss could do: “The doors are not really opening,” commented Pietro Sibello, one of the coaches for Alinghi Red Bull Racing, and that was more than true.
NYYC American Magic dominated the right and kept a devastating cover from afar, sending the dirty-air vortices down the course, extending well whilst keeping ultimate control of the right side and not getting sucked down on the Swiss line. It was a killer move and at the top mark, Magic rounded the port marker to take advantage of some good pressure that had moved to the right side of the course (looking downwind) and the delta was some 46 seconds.
With an unassailable lead, combined with a real click of boatspeed, there were no mistakes on the final downwind with Paul Goodison and Tom Slingsby sailing some aggressively low and fast angles, gybing on the pressure and bringing ‘Patriot' home at 45 knots with a morale boosting finishing delta of 56 seconds. Great race by the Americans who face Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in their next race.
Challenger of Record versus the Defender of the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup, this was a race with more questions than answers and it was Dylan Fletcher in the port pod of Britannia who brought the British boat into the line knowing that they needed accuracy. Two seconds late, the pressure was on with the Kiwis nailing their time on distance but the British cross on port and immediately go into a circle as the Kiwis dis-engaged and go right in the box.
INEOS Britannia elected to gybe round first and lead back, and this was the fatal move as the Kiwis set-up from behind to get the hook to leeward and in the final approaches pinned the British and forced them off the foils in a text-book move that allowed Emirates Team New Zealand to sail off into an immediate lead from which it would be very hard to come back from. The lead was in excess of 400 metres and for the Kiwis it was a case of reading the conditions, holding the right and loosely covering whilst for Britannia there were few options.
Bearing away at 45.1 knots around the first windward mark and electing to take the starboard marker, the leading delta was out to 38 seconds by the time the British followed suit and bore-away at 45.9 knots. With the downwind course offering little, it was all Emirates Team New Zealand who gybed at the boundary and headed on a long gybe leg down to the starboard layline that they nailed effectively. Rounding the port marker at the first leeward mark with the clear intention to hold the right side up the second beat, the delta was steady at 39 knots and the British opted for a smart gybe to take the starboard marker.
The British legged out to the left-hand boundary (looking upwind) in a clear intent to roll the dice which the Kiwis observed but stayed resolutely middle right and at the second windward marker, at the halfway stage, Emirates Team New Zealand had stretched the lead out to 55 seconds – tough for the British as the Kiwis extended to almost 1000 metres ahead. The Kiwis looked ultra-smooth and executed their gybes to near-perfection with low exit angles and high speeds so that by the second leeward gate, with a beautiful one-board rounding, the lead had narrowed marginally to 51 seconds.
Again, on the final beat, no mistakes from the Kiwis who protected the right initially and then legged out on starboard tack to the extreme left boundary, tacking on the port layline to set up for the bear away at the starboard marker at the final windward mark and a delta of some 59 seconds. With no passing lanes downwind, it was all Emirates Team New Zealand who powered to the finish line and crossed to record a winning delta of some 52 seconds and a winning distance margin of almost 950 metres. Confident win for the Kiwis who now face France in the final race of the day.
