Women’s America’s Cup: Team NZ make semifinals before being eliminated in rollercoaster race day

By Christopher Reive in Barcelona

Team New Zealand’s final day in the Women’s America’s Cup was a rollercoaster.

The Kiwis were eliminated from the regatta in the semifinals, finishing fifth of the six teams to progress to the second round after four fleet races and missing out on a spot in the final by 15 points.

That came after a long day on the water waiting for the wind to build and having work to do simply to qualify for the semifinals.

The Kiwis and the other five teams in Pool A were scheduled to complete their final three pool races, but had to wait about six hours before finally getting some racing in. Because of the lost time, that saw two of those final three races cut from their pool’s schedule.

That loss of races brought the spotlight down on the Kiwis and Alinghi Red Bull Racing, who held a five-point buffer over Team NZ for the third and final semifinal spot.

And after a confusing moment where the race was stopped midway through saw cries of relief from the Swiss and drew tears from the Kiwis, those roles were reversed when the race was completed and the Swiss were left at the mercy of the shortened schedule.

Team NZ needed everything to go their way in the final contest of pool racing. Trailing by five, they needed to finish second at worst, and hope the Swiss finished either fifth or sixth.

It didn’t get off to a great start for the Kiwis in either time the race was attempted, as they were over the starting line early both times and had to restart.

In the race that ultimately counted however, they burned that penalty off quickly and began to work their way through the fleet; with Alinghi leading the way.

However, the Swiss came off their foils rounding the second gate, opening the door for the Kiwis.

Alinghi were back to fifth by the time they got flying again, with Team NZ comfortably in second place.

That was where they stayed – Team NZ securing the third spot in the semifinals alongside Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy) and Athena Pathway (UK). Both Team NZ and Alinghi finished on 25 points, but Team NZ progressed as they had the better result in the last race.

In the semifinal fleet races, the Kiwis finished fourth, fifth, third and fifth but it was the Italians, British and Spanish teams who were the most consistent performers and ultimately competed for the two spots in the final; with the Brits and Italians earning those spots.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.