Any foiling sailor will tell you
how much more difficult it is to balance the yacht on the foils when the water surface is chopped up and turbulent. The instability of an unpredictable confused sea-state throws a variable into the sailing of the foiling yacht that is difficult to manage.
So it proved early in the pre-start of Race 5. The Kiwis were unable to get their time on distance right in their entry into the start box. The lighter winds at their port end of the start line and the sea-state coming at them threw the on-board computer calculations of their entry timing out of whack.
Their late entry in lighter winds and being slower due to the sea state, which was coming towards them across the course, meant they were vulnerable to attack from the British boat coming in faster on the right-of-way starboard tack. The British had more wind on their side of the starting area and the seas were following from behind their yacht pushing them forward even faster, negating the required 10-second delay on entry compared to the Kiwis.
In these yachts, travelling at closing speeds of over 100kp/h, things unfold very quickly and the Kiwis suddenly were unsure as to whether they could cross clear ahead of the Brits. In order not to potentially foul and incur a penalty from the umpires, they made a quick and unplanned decision to gybe.
In retrospect, it was the wrong call.
The turn into the gybe was rushed, in light winds and with a sea-state slowing the yacht’s speed. The result was they fell off the foils.
It was a race-loser. There was no coming back from that.
Brits used a high-risk strategy
Race 6 was an interesting pre-start. British starting coach Ian Williams claimed in the after-race interview that their pre-start tactics were planned. If this is true it was a high-risk strategy. The Brits were trapped above the start line by the Kiwis and were in trouble and at risk of being shut out above the line at the start.
They saved themselves by heading to the safety of the course boundary where the rules required the Kiwis to give them room to gybe back towards the start line. They executed this gybe beautifully and came out with speed. The Kiwis were just a little slow in their matching of the gybe and, as a consequence, the Brits were able to squeeze over the top and break free.
The result was the British won the start and forced Peter Burling to tack away at lower speed and back into the sea state coming towards them on port tack.
That’s all it took. The British sailed well from there to bank a narrow seven-second win – but they always had the race under control leading around every mark.
Looking at the data and the way the boats are sailing it is clear that Rita is designed for and is much more comfortable in a larger sea state. She is a more robust, higher-volume design with more powerfully set sails. Because they have raced in these choppy seas a lot through the challenger semifinals and finals they look confident and comfortable in these conditions.
In contrast, Team NZ looks less stable and the advantage they have had to date in their manoeuvres is not evident when the sea surface is choppy.
Both teams will be looking very carefully at the forecast for Saturday’s resumption of racing after another lay-day on Friday NZT. At this point, the wind and wave prediction models are a bit all-over the place with light winds under 10 knots and a southerly 6s period swell of around 0.5 metres forecast.
Races 6 and 7 are hugely important. If the Brits win both, then it’s all tied up at 4-4 and the momentum is definitely with them.
If the Kiwis win both, then they go to match point at 6-2 and it is hard to conceive of the Brits being able to win five straight races, given how close these boats are in speed.
It’s certainly livened up this America’s Cup and either team could still win this. As they say, it’s all still to play for.
America’s Cup match results
- Emirates Team New Zealand beat Ineos Britannia by 41s
- Emirates Team New Zealand beat Ineos Britannia by 27s
- Emirates Team New Zealand beat Ineos Britannia by 52s
- Emirates Team New Zealand beat Ineos Britannia by 23s
- Ineos Britannia beat Emirates Team New Zealand by 1m 18s
- Ineos Britannia beat Emirates Team New Zealand by 7s
Emirates Team New Zealand lead Ineos Britannia 4-2 in the best-of-13 series.
