Stephen Burgen reports from Barcelona.
They will come back on Monday for a single-race day, 2pm local time in Barcelona.
The crucial moment of the race we did get to see.
⚔️ almost crossed. Full match racing action in the pre-start#AC37 #AmericasCup pic.twitter.com/tho4PCpKkC
— INEOS Britannia (@ineosbritannia) October 13, 2024
Here’s Reuters’ take on that first race:
BARCELONA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - New Zealand won the third America’s Cup race against Britain on Sunday to take a 3-0 lead in the first-to-seven series, after a near collision between the two before the start.
Ben Ainslie’s British team were penalised after failing to keep clear in response to an aggressive close-quarters manoeuvre by Peter Burling’s New Zealand crew in the pre-start.
“It was a little bit uncomfortable .. with how close the boats got,” Burling said laughing on the America’s Cup live broadcast immediately after the end of the race off Barcelona.
Burling said the New Zealand team had been “working on little bits and pieces” in preparing to defend the America’s Cup against Britain, which won the right to challenge them.
The 33-year-old Kiwi skipper said it was “great to finally execute it in a race ... and to make it count”.
Britain had to drop 75 metres behind the Kiwis after crossing the line to shake off the penalty, handing the America’s Cup holders an early advantage.
“It was obviously a port-starboard and we thought we were keeping clear but the umpires didn’t see it that way,” Ainslie said of the decision to impose a penalty on the British, who were the give-way boat under the rules of racing in sailing.
Despite coming close to overtaking during an early tacking duel, the British were unable to get past and the New Zealanders sailed away from them for a convincing win at the finish.
So, with the wind dropping, there’s no more racing today. It’s 3-0 to New Zealand. Perhaps that helps the Ineos team; they can go back to the drawing board. And maybe hope for a better start than almost crashing into their opponent.
New Zealand appear in control, and are opening up a gap of over 100m. The wind is helping them along, as it’s coming to them first ahead of the British team. Their speed is greater, too as the Brits have to negotiate the dirty air. New Zealand take the first leg, with 24 seconds in it.
It appears the TV decided to show the opening race from Saturday.
Updated
Hang on....the wind drops and that's that
Racing has been abandoned for the day….
Updated
Ok, the wind situation is that we go again in eight minutes.
The race will start at 15.23 – that’s ten minutes more. The lower wind limit has been passed. So we wait for it to pick back up.
Make that another few minutes. They are waiting on the wind. It has dropped. We’re blow the knots required for a race. Meanwhile, the boats/foils throb.
The next race is in around five minutes. The sea state the same as before, and the wind is dropping. The boats are circling each other.
Jeremy Boyce gets in touch: “As I was discussing with Dom yesterday, I’m enjoying the racing, but with reservations. It’s Sailing Jim/John, but not as we know it. This is Foiling, a totally different concept. If the actual hull of the actual boat is in actual contact with the actual water, actually that’s probably going to cost you the race. What they do is hugely impressive, as it should be given the investment required, but even Ainslie said it, it is very much a push-button and timing sport nowadays. You don’t see hands on deck heaving ropes and dodging the boom, much less on-the-fly to balance the boat. All that is controlled by the on-board tech, plus the in-race tech-support back in Blighty. I’m sure the crew work super hard, they all look well fit, but you only ever see them in their cockpits helmeted-up. I’m an old skule kind of person (vinyl music, real books, craft beer, sturdy lace-ups and sensible brogues...) and I’d be much more inclined to sign up for live TV coverage if the boats were actually sailing on the water, with actual sails, hoisted by actual people using actual ropes, teamwork, and timing, dodging the actual boom. Mark my words, it will all come back. As the Americans say “What goes around, comes around”.”
Against Modern Sailing. #ams
Team Ineos have 30 minutes or so to turn this around. The recriminations from that near-crash will just have to wait.
The race penalty of 75m was so costly. “Keep plugging, guys, long way to go with this,” says Ben Ainslie. New Zealand only need four more wins.
Peter Burling, Kiwi captain. “It was uncomfortable how close the boats got….it was great to make it count.”
Ben Ainslie again: “A tough call. It felt we were keeping clear but the umpires didn’t see it that way. We shall have a look at the conditions.”
He then swats away the Kiwi commentator who suggests the New Zealand boat might be superior to the Ineos. The commentator demures.
New Zealand take the third leg, and lead 3-0
Plain-sailing for New Zealand. “A real nice breeze” is heard from their crew. It’s been theirs from the start. The lead is 600m, almost unassailable. The Brits have been beaten by a more aggressive, more disciplined team. They’re going much slower, too. They almost idle to the finish line. Job done. That’s 3-0.
Updated
The Ineos Britannia turns and makes its way for the final two legs. A vast margin to make up. Rob Wilson, GB coach on that penalty. “We’re just hanging in there, they’re sailing cleanly.” That near-clash of foils at the start could have ruined the day as a whole. The NZ boat seems to be able to speed away from its tacks. A feat of engineering beyond Big Sir Jim’s men, it seems. The final leg is cut down to 1.2 nautical miles as the Kiwi team turns for home at the end of leg five.
All smiles in the Kiwi camp. What can Britannia produce? Clipped conversation between their co-helm. The lead is 450m or so. Huge. They’ve managed this well. Perhaps only the wind dropping can stop them. They approach the bottom gate to sure through with a clear lead after leg four.
Into the third leg, and Ineos Britannia is going quicker. The problem is the dirty air coming off their opponents. Ben Ainslie is quiet. Too quiet? That start has hobbled the Britannia. He was steering when it happened. New Zealand are staying well away, out of danger, in full control they lead coming out of leg three.
The crowd is huge in Barcelona, lots of Union Jacks but the Kiwis’ boat is extending its lead. The race committee shorten the course as the conditions ease. The New Zealand team are pedalling for their lives. They have the bigger gybe, and that’s helping them along. They take a clear lead after the second leg, a very big lead. It’s theirs to lose already.
Away we go!
New Zealand set off at a faster rate of knots, GB drop those 75m behind to clear the penalty, and that’s a good recovery as they give chase. The gap is down to 54m. “Stand by,” says Dylan Fletcher as they seek a chance to pass. The New Zealand team tack left, and that slows the British. They drop to 100m down, then 130m down. This is only the first leg after which New Zealand lead.
Britain start with a 75m penalty
So, both teams are primed and ready, launched into the bay, ready to start tacking. They nearly crash into each other ahead of the start. The Brits gets a 75m penalty from the start. Whoops.
The race is due in just a couple of minutes, good to go. What can Britannia do?
And more from Stephen: “A friend skippering boat for tourists says conditions very different from yesterday, sea much more choppy.”
The talk from the British team is of a battery problem ahead of racing. The sea is said to be flatter, and they are expecting to get the first race underway. The second could be a victim of a drop in conditions. A “light-air battle”.
Stephen Burgen is our man on the ground in Barcelona: “While we’re waiting: Not everyone is happy about the America´s Cup being staged here. Two hours before racing began, thousands of people - 10,000 according to the organisers - joined a protest organised by the “No to the America’s Cup” campaign. The campaign is also bringing a case to the anti-fraud office claiming that the organisers have made false and grossly inflated claims about the economic benefits to the city of hosting the event.”
Updated
So how does it work?
Teams must first compete in a series of regattas, culminating in the Louis Vuitton Cup, which determines the main event’s challenger. This year’s matchup will see Team New Zealand as the defender take on Ineos Britannia after the Britons won the right to challenge New Zealand by beating Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli comfortably in the decisive race. The current format features a best of 13 series; the first to win seven races takes home the Cup. This year’s edition begins with the first two races on 12 October. After that, the third and fourth races are set for 13 October. Subsequent races will occur on 16 October for the fifth and sixth races and on 18 October for the seventh. If necessary, the eighth race will be held on 18 October, the ninth and 10th on 19 October, the 11th and 12th on 20 October. The final race, if required, will take place on 21 October.
Tale of the tape here.
Important piece by Nick Ames on the Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe sporting empire.
Preamble
Saturday didn’t go well for Sir Ben Ainslie and his crew. While they were winning the Louis Vuitton Cup, the New Zealand team were clearly working on their craft. So, 2-0 to the Kiwis and Team Ineos Britannia really need to salvage something from Sunday to keep their heads above water.
We start to race at 1pm, UK time. Join me.
