The beleaguered Brits are hauled ashore after copping a broken wing. Photo / AP
The beleaguered Brits are hauled ashore after copping a broken wing. Photo / AP
Love tap of the day
Ben Ainslie and his British team were on the receiving end this time.
Five minutes into their crucial first challenger playoffs race against Emirates Team New Zealand they suffered a hydraulic failure in their wingsail. BAR were forced to retire, handing Team New Zealand the victory.
The Brits attempted to get back to their base, swap out their wing and get back out on the racecourse in time for the second race, but that was always going to prove an ambitious ask. So, all Team NZ needed to do to collect the second point was to turn up at the start box on time, engage in a pre-start routine by themselves and cross the start line.
While the result means Team NZ have a handy advantage in the series, helmsman Peter Burling said the day was a "bit shorter than [I] would have liked".
In the short engagement time Team NZ did have with the fast-improving British boat, there were one or two positives Burling could take out. The Kiwi crew got the better of their rivals in the pre-start - an area that had been singled out as a potential vulnerability for Team NZ.
"It felt like we had a good fight in that pre-start. Really happy with taking the lead down that first reach, leading at mark one, obviously Ben is one of the better pre-starters out there," Burling said.
Despite only needing to cross the startline to collect the second point, Burling said the team decided to stay out on the race course a bit longer to get in as much practice as they could in the difficult conditions. The wind on the course was at around 15-18 knots, and it is only going to build later in the week.
"Even though we weren't racing against another boat in that second race we still did the pre-start at full noise," Burling said.
"We went on and did the first reach and about the first lap. We did a lot of manoeuvres and a lot of things we wouldn't normally do in a race. We were pretty happy with the way the boat is going today."
Ainslie was confident his team could repair their boat and make the start-line for today's racing against Team NZ. The problem was initially diagnosed as a broken camber arm. Since each team carries two wings, it would be a relatively straightforward process replacing the broken one, if repairs could not be carried out in time.
Weather watch
The semifinals could become a battle of survival, with "fresh to frightening" conditions forecast over the next few days.
After light winds on the Great Sound forced the postponement of the opening day of the semifinals, the forecast later in the week looks set to test the upper end of the wind limit of 24 knots. It will also test the boat handling and mettle of the respective crews.
Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby said once the wind gets above 20 knots, the high-tech, but highly skittish, 50-foot foiling catamarans become very difficult to handle.
Sir Ben Ainslie.
"It's going to be fresh to frightening at times, and we're going to have to work really hard to get the boat around the track in one piece," said Ashby.
"It really comes down to how well you can handle these boats. They are very whipped up in the big breeze and very, very difficult to sail. The choreography needs to be perfect to get the boats around the start box well. You're almost semi-surviving in some of these conditions to do your manoeuvres, so it is going to be very, very interesting to see who can survive these conditions."
Term of the day
A wingsail is a variable-camber aerodynamic structure that is fitted to a yacht in place of conventional sails.
Wingsails are analogous to airplane wings, except that they are designed to provide lift on either side to accommodate being on either tack. Whereas wings adjust camber with flaps, wingsails adjust camber with a flexible or jointed structure (for hard wingsails).
Wingsails are typically mounted on an unstayed spar - often made of carbon fibre for lightness and strength.
The geometry of wingsails provides more lift, and a better lift-to-drag ratio, than traditional sails. Wingsails are more complex and expensive than conventional sails.
Quote of the day
"It was a tough day for the team to lose two races like that so early on in the piece, considering what's at stake here," said Ainslie afterwards. "But I've got a lot of belief in the team that this is something they can come back from."
Get up for the Cup
Team New Zealand's first race against BAR is at 5.36am today with the fourth race of the series scheduled for 6.30am. SoftBank Team Japan race Artemis Racing at 5.08am, with the sceond race at 6am.
Semifinal results so far:
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Land Rover BAR by withdrawal (NZ 1-0); SoftBank Team Japan beat Artemis Racing by 23 secs (Japan 1-0); Emirates Team New Zealand beat Land Rover BAR by walkover (NZ 2-0); Artemis Racing beat SoftBank Team Japan by 29 secs (tied 1-1).
