Yachting: Better boatspeed tells in the end

By Chris Dickson

Wow, what a final! Too close to call and every bullet in the magazine was fired in this series. Both teams were pushed well outside their comfort zones.

A great job by Paul Cayard to come back from a "must-win" 1-3 deficit and even more kudos to Francesco de Angelis to keep his team together and come out on top from a "have-to-win" 3-4 down.

Well done Prada, a deserved win.

This Louis Vuitton Cup final was always Prada's for the taking. They were more practised, had fewer weaknesses and, most of all, better boatspeed.

It became a question of whether they would take it or give it away. All week it was clear that if Prada were going to make mistakes, AmericaOne were quite happy to capitalise and when it came to mistakes, both teams could claim plenty.

In the first seven races, the major error count from both boats was unbelievably high - stupid penalties, blown spinnakers, bad tactics, botched gybes and atrocious drops to mention the obvious ones. Basic stuff, but under the pressure of a big final, real competition and unforgiving Hauraki Gulf conditions, mistakes were made and lots of them.

Prada threw away two wins, but AmericaOne showed they could botch it up just as well with two losses from similar "can't lose" situations. For a while the Louis Vuitton Cup was looking like a hot potato that neither team wanted to hold. Perhaps a fairer analysis is to say the best two teams were out there racing to the maximum and forcing errors. Hmm. Maybe.

Race one was revealing, with the AmericaOne crew holding poker faces when, after having been tapped on the nose and suffering a penalty, Prada simply shrugged their sheets and sailed away. What the faces didn't show, the body language did. Prada were sailing faster. Not a lot, but enough to show that every time things were even, Prada came out in front.

It still took until the last two races for de Angelis to settle Prada into what they could do best. Survive the pre-start, make a clear lane, let the boat and crew do the work, leave no openings and don't mess up.

Of course Paul Cayard wanted to street fight. He couldn't beat Prada at their game and with a 3-1 penalty count against him, didn't beat them in the street fighting either. It takes two to tussle and I thought Prada did a good job of playing their own game but showing they could throw a solid punch when they had to.

In the final analysis, the biggest weakness for AmericaOne was boatspeed and equipment failures. For Prada it was pre-starts and passing tactics. Perhaps a smaller rudder on Prada made them quicker around the course, but the price was paid in pre-start manoeuvering. Then again, in pre-starts the best form of defence is attack.

At the bottom line, the faster boat won. And why were they faster? More time on the water, more time practising, more two-boat testing, more investment in technology, better preparation, fewer weaknesses.

And good luck, some might say? Funny thing about luck - it seems to go to the guys who put the most time in. Well done, Prada.