Kiwis do it again

Emirates Team New Zealand into the lead after first day of Act 3 fleet racing

The first day of fleet racing in Act 3 of the 32nd America's Cup here in Valencia provided the ultimate test for the afterguards of the eight boats competing. Despite a good breeze at the start of both races, the first saw some significant shifts while in the second the wind died to nothing as the sea breeze began fighting with the gradient wind.
For spectators today's racing provided a welcome change from match racing and the prospect of seeing eight boats rather than just two thundering down the course in unison. In the event the conditions meant there was little thundering but thanks to the flukey conditions there was much position changing, although as ever it was the top teams that came to the fore.

Following their win of the match racing in Act 2 it was Emirates Team New Zealand who have taken an early lead after day one. In the first race the Kiwi team had pulled up to second around the top mark and followed Alinghi and Luna Rossa around the bottom gate - all three boats tightly bunched. However the Kiwis chose the opposite gate mark to Alinghi and then the right side of the beat. "We sailed an amazing second beat," recounted Dean Barker. "We had a big pressure difference on the right, picked up a big shift and it was just golden for us."

Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the top mark for the second time with a 2:14 lead over Philippe Presti at the helm of Le Defi (sailing an excellent race) to win the race with a 2:27 margin.

In the second race the real snakes and ladder began. Alinghi pulled out an early lead to pull around the top mark first 9 seconds ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand. After Alinghi blew out a kite, both boats were neck and neck going into the bottom gate and as the wind went light on the second lap it was a case of keeping ones fingers crossed.

"The last race was a bit of a nail biter," recounted Barker. "When it shuts down like that you don’t know what is going to happen whether the guys behind you are just going to sail right round you or what. With no discards you don’t like to have too many races like that. We went around the top mark thinking we were going to have a second placing, then the breeze dropped away and that’s when opportunities open up - we could have won the race or we could have been eighth."

In the end Emirates Team New Zealand took a small flier in towards the finish to find more pressure that nearly paid off. The Kiwis and Alinghi ghosted into the finish abeam, the Swiss team winning by just two seconds.

"We learned to sail the boat a lot better in Marseille," commented Barker trying desperately to play down their success. "We are sailing better here than we were in Marseille. The conditions are different which are suiting our boat better than in Marseille. We are comfortable with our pace and I have a lot of confidence in the guys making the calls. We’ve been very fortunate a number of times and we know it is going to be a tough regatta."

One of the reasons for Emirates Team New Zealand's success can certainly be attributed to their having taken into their afterguard two of the world's best fleet racers - Ben Ainslie and American Terry Hutchinson, recent winner of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds on Jim Richardson's Barking Mad. "You kind of sail a bit differently by virtue of other boats being around, boat positioning becomes a much bigger deal and minimising risks versus big loses is a big part of it," says Barker. "You could argue that Terry and Ben’s best expertise is in fleet racing. It is interesting the different approaches sailing around the course."

For Iain Percy at the helm of +39 the fleet racing appeared to come as something of a shock, despite this being his speciality too. +39 finished sixth in the first race and very last in the second and is now in the DFL position overall.

"We will get our chance," commented Percy optimistically. "I think once we get off the start clean. We’ll learn a few of our mistakes. Downwind we should be fine. The guys at the back know what to do when we’re in front - it’s just a little bit of management over how to make the best of a bad situation we’re struggling with. The boat is still fairly okay for pace. We are not as fast as the first four but we are not far off, I’d say we are the fifth fastest boat here and improving as we get better at trimming. So if we steady ourselves up tactically we’ll get some better restuls in the fleet racing."

Despite the size of the boats and numbers on the start line, Percy says he finds the fleet racing less stressful. "You know what you’re doing and you know what the object of the exercise is. I get confused with match racing when one guy is trying to mess you up - I wish they’d just stop it and let you start!" In the second race they were heading for a good start when their rudder stalled. This happens when the boat is accelerating and it is then a case of spinning the wheel and the trim tab to prevent it rounding up. The art is of course in using the sails as well as the appendages to steer the boat and the team are currently working to improve co-ordination between helm and trimmers to prevent this happening. "I try to explain that eighth’s good in any fleet," quipped Percy.

The dire result of the day was really for BMW Oracle Racing who despite leading the first beat of the first race finished fifth in that race and then came sixth in the second race.

Results

Act 3 - 1st Race
1 - Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 81) in 1:11.22
2 - Le Defi (FRA 69) at 02:27
3 - Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) at 02:31
4 - Team Alinghi (SUI 64) at 02:39
5 - BMW Oracle Racing (USA 71) at 03:05
6 - +39 (ITA 59) at 03:48
7 - Team Shosholoza (RSA 48) at 04:19
8 - K-Challenge (FRA 57) at 04:27

2nd Race
1 - Team Alinghi (SUI 64) in 1:15:39
2 - Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 81) at 00:02
3 - K-Challenge (FRA 57) at 00:24
4 - Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) at 04:31
5 - Team Shosholoza (RSA 48) at 05:06
6 - BMW Oracle Racing (USA 71) at 06:55
7 - Le Defi (FRA 69) at 07.28
8 - +39 (ITA 59) at 12:42

Overall results:

1 - Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 81) - 15 pts
2 - Team Alinghi (SUI 64) - 13 pts
3 - Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) - 11 pts
4 - Le Defi (FRA 69) - 9 pts
5 - K-Challenge (FRA 57) - 7 pts
6 - BMW Oracle Racing (USA 71) - 7 pts
7 - Team Shosholoza (RSA 48) - 6 pts
8 - +39 (ITA 59) - 4 pts