Emirates Team New Zealand could get within one win of clinching the America's Cup when the match resumes tomorrow. Photo / Photosport
Emirates Team New Zealand could get within one win of clinching the America's Cup when the match resumes tomorrow. Photo / Photosport
By Christopher Reive in Barcelona
Tomorrow’s slate of America’s Cup races could change the outlook of the match in more ways than one.
Team New Zealand have stormed out of the gates in their first-to-seven series against Ineos Britannia, taking a 4-0 lead across the first three days of sailing in their bid to lock the Auld Mug away for a third straight time.
The first British representative to earn the right to challenge in the Cup match in 60 years, the pressure will weigh heavy on their shoulders when sailing resumes on Thursday morning.
Having a day off to find improvements wherever they can, Ineos Britannia will be looking to close the gap on the scoreboard and extend the series on the Mediterranean Sea. It’s not entirely make-or-break time for the Brits; we’ve seen before that a team can come back with their opponent just one win from victory.
Should they not be able to do that, the schedule for the rest of the week is expected to be changed.
If Team NZ get within two races of closing out the series tomorrow, race management are expected to call for Saturday morning to be called as a reserve day and for racing to potentially finish on Sunday.
In a media briefing before racing yesterday, regatta director Iain Murray said there was a part of the protocol developed by the defenders Team NZ and challengers of record Ineos Britannia that stated racing on the weekends should be prioritised and the Cup match was not to finish before Saturday local time (Sunday morning NZT).
Emirates Team New Zealand could get within one win of clinching the America's Cup when the match resumes tomorrow. Photo / Photosport
“They wanted the event to start on the weekend and finish on the weekend,” Murray said.
“The consideration to the stature of the event – the FA Cup doesn’t happen on a Thursday or a Friday, the Olympics start and finish on weekends – there’s a common theme going on here and that’s what was decided.”
Should the Cup match sit at 5-1 after the next day of racing, Murray said Saturday morning could be used to hold one race and then call the day off if Team NZ moved within a win of defending, but it was unlikely that step would be taken.
If conditions look grim for racing on Saturday and Sunday, however, Murray said that would lead to another conversation about whether to disregard the protocol and race on Friday instead.
For now, that is all hypothetical and Team NZ aren’t casting their gaze too far into the future.
While a 4-0 lead looks comfortable on paper, it doesn’t quite tell the tale of how close racing has been in the bumpy Barcelona seas. But it does relay how well the Kiwis have been performing.
In race four yesterday, the teams were dead even as they rounded the first mark, and Team NZ held a lead of just 3s at the second. But the Kiwis were able to kick clear to a 13s lead after the third leg and go on from there.
In race two, the Brits overcame a slight deficit at the first gate to overtake the Kiwis at the first downwind cross, but Team NZ fought back to lead at the gate again. Winning the close moments and taking control when the opportunity has been there has been a consistent feature of the Team NZ performance so far.
“It’s definitely been tight,” Team NZ port helmsman Nathan Outteridge said.
“All the races could’ve gone one way or the other at some point in the race. It’s always nice to be on the right side of those ones because we know how difficult it is to get a race win.”
