“‘The comeback is on,’ declared Ben Ainslie after Ineos Britannia took their first race wins of the 37th America’s Cup match to move from 4-0 to 4-2 down against Emirates Team New Zealand, halving their deficit in the first-to-seven series.
“It remains to be seen whether Ainslie’s prophecy is fulfilled, but this felt like a huge momentum shift and British sailing fans will look ahead with much more optimism now.
“Thursday is a reserve day with the next two races in the series taking place on Friday.
“Ineos will hope for similar choppy conditions to Wednesday when they do resume hostilities because this was completely different to what we saw on the first three days of racing.
“Ainslie’s team had been on the back foot in the light, flat conditions which prevailed over the weekend. But with the waves of over one metre making sailing far less smooth, New Zealand’s seemingly impregnable defence was breached for the first time.
“An uncharacteristic error saw the Kiwi boat fall off its foils in Race 5, allowing Ineos to build a huge lead which they never relinquished, winning by 1min 18sec.
“And in Race 6, Ainslie’s crew proved they could win a tight one, wriggling out of a tricky spot in the pre-start when New Zealand appeared to have them on the ropes, and then rolling their rivals on the line to establish a crucial advantage.
“A thrilling race ensued, with Ineos keeping their noses ahead at each gate, eventually winning by 7sec.”
Ainslie’s Britannia sparks sea change
Andy Bull, The Guardian
“You wait 90 years and six long days for a win, and then two come along at once. There’s been a sea change at the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, where the waves have picked up enough to sweep Ineos Britannia to their first wins in the best-of-13 series.
“The British boat, skippered by Sir Ben Ainslie, coped much better with the choppy water than Emirates Team New Zealand, and they won both of the day’s races. They now trail by four to two, ahead of the seventh and eighth races on Friday afternoon. “There’s still a long way to go,” Ainslie said, “but the comeback is on.”
“Emirates Team New Zealand decided to take the reserve day on Tuesday off. Ineos Britannia, on the other hand, spent a long, hard day out on the water, working on their boat in the difficult conditions. It showed. The New Zealanders, skippered by Pete Burling, were caught out by the altered sea state. They were forced into a calamitous mistake before the start of the first race, when Britannia forced them to make a slow jibe to avoid a collision, and they dropped off their foils.
“The light wind meant their boat, Tahoro, was left dead in the water while Britannia circled gleefully around them, trapping the New Zealanders in their dirty air. When the race started, Britannia sailed off into an insurmountable lead, while Tahoro squatted motionless on the start line.
“Britannia’s second point followed soon after. This time, Ainslie’s superb maneuvering during the pre-start meant they were able roll from underneath New Zealand and arrive at the start-line with a 10 knot speed advantage.
“That gave Ineos Britannia control of the race. Burling made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes as he hurried to catch up, and while Britannia also splashed down after making their penultimate turn, they recovered well and went on to win by seven seconds.”
America’s Cup ignites as Britain peg back New Zealand with two wins
“Great Britain reignited their America’s Cup bid by winning both races in Barcelona on Wednesday to close the gap on leaders New Zealand to two points. Sir Ben Ainslie’s Ineos Britannia boat capitalised on an error at the start by their rivals to win race five by over a minute and claim Britain’s first America’s Cup point since 1934.
“And they held off a gutsy comeback by New Zealand in the second race of the day to make it 4-2 and give them hope of further reducing the deficit when racing resumes on Friday.
“The British team seized their chance at the start of race five as New Zealand were caught tacking and Ainslie took full advantage to build up an unassailable 250-metre lead by leg five.
“The sixth race was a tougher challenge but once again the British team took their opportunity at the start, securing a commanding advantage which Kiwi skipper Peter Burling tried gamely to haul back, with Ainslie crossing the finish line seven seconds clear.”
Chinks in the armour have been seen for the first time
The Times
“Hindsight is always 20-20 but the Ineos crew have been repeatedly saying they are making gains day by day. The decision to take to the water on Tuesday’s reserve day, while New Zealand stayed ashore, may also have helped them narrow the gap. Ainslie pointed out the sea state was up on Tuesday and so it had been vital practice. Even during the first race, the coach Rob Wilson was encouraged by what he felt were performance gains. Certainly, staying ahead of New Zealand in a closer contest will be a significant boost to morale.
“Nathan Outteridge, the Kiwis’ co-helm, took it on the chin. “The truth is that they were really fast, but it is clear that making a mistake is expensive. We are calm. They trained hard on Tuesday, we saw them and we expected this great reaction. There is still a long way to go, but today was a warning.”
“It was a big day even without being seen through the prism of the series. It was way back in 1934 when Sir Thomas Sopwith and Endeavour last won an America’s Cup race. To give some sporting context, that was also the year Fred Perry won Wimbledon for the first time, Max Baer beat Primo Carnera for the heavyweight boxing title, and Golden Miller won the Grand National.Ainslie is a keen historian but will not be dewy-eyed over this achievement and those landmarks. His eyes are wide open and focused on bigger goals. It is still a long way back to overhaul such a good New Zealand team but chinks in the armour have been seen for the first time. Two more races are scheduled for Friday. You don’t want to miss them.”
Ineos Britannia and Emirates Team New Zealand in action this morning at the America’s Cup in Barcelona. Photo / Photosport
Will they have enough time left?
Yachting World
“Emirates Team New Zealand are not invincible – a single mistake by the Kiwi boat took them out of the Race 5 before the start.
“Boat handling for both teams was knife-edge in the waves, but INEOS Britannia seemed marginally more sure-footed.
“INEOS Britannia have been focussing on manoeuvres and performance in wavier conditions – but with lighter winds forecast for the end of the week, will they have enough time left in the event to capitalise on those gains?”
“INEOS Britannia wrote another page in the history books scoring the first win by a British yacht in America’s Cup racing for 90 years. The last win was by Endeavour (Sir T.O.M Sopwith) in The 1934 America’s Cup, sailed in J Class.
“Wednesday was make or break for INEOS Britannia to stay as a serious threat in the America’s Cup regatta. Ashore officials were quite openly talking about a proposed race schedule if the Emirates Team NZ juggernaut rolled on to score six wins. The writing was on the wall.
“Emirates Team New Zealand scored an own goal early in the Prestart for Race 5 when they rush gybed in the wrong place at the wrong time, and were caught in the double whammy of a hole in the breeze, and struck an awkward sea just as they gybed to chase INEOS Britannia who had entered from the opposite direction. When the Kiwis made their entry the breeze at their end of the line, was recording 7kts, a few seconds later it was down to 5kts, and on the British boat was about 4kts when they sailed through the same hole. The difference was that the Brits were sailing at 30kts, while the Kiwis belly flopped in the confused seaway, and came off their foils.
“From there it was game over, with little chance of ETNZ being able to self-start and be able to rejoin the race in the breeze which stayed very light at the bottom of the course, for the duration of the race. The focus for INEOS was to stay foiling and get out of the quicksand of the start box and get into the fresher breeze further up the course.”
“Solid effort from the team today and that was really for everyone both on here and back on land.
“It was a big, big team effort to try and get some performance back. Still a long way to go, but the comeback’s on.”
Ineos Britannia Trimmer Leigh McMillan
“It’s great to get a couple of wins under the belt that’s for sure. Emirates Team New Zealand have set the bar pretty high and we feel like we are clawing into them now. We are looking forward to getting back out there on Friday and keeping the pressure on and momentum going.”
Team New Zealand helmsman Nathan Outteridge
“I don’t think any of us are surprised at all,” at Ineos Britannia’s change in fortunes. He reflected: “We know that they are very good sailors and have a great boat. We didn’t really execute the best day ourselves so we sort of let ourselves down, so we’ll go and review that tonight and come back next time in better shape.”
“That start looked pretty strong for us there and they just managed to roll us and get over the top but we managed to do a good job keeping it close all race and as you saw it was only metres in it at the end so it’s all good here - we’ve just got to execute a little bit better and get ready for the fight.”
