Calm Kiwi helps get brittle Brits back on course
From the depths of despair — grinder Freddie Carr reckoned it was “about as low as I can remember the team in four years” — to that sweet feeling of pressure released. Could this be the all-important momentum-changer for the British challenger at this America’s Cup?
How Land Rover BAR needed this. After four successive defeats that had left them, by their own admission, fighting to avoid being dumped out of the 35th America’s Cup at the first hurdle this weekend, the pressure was on them like never before.
They responded with a victory over Artemis Racing which was as smooth as it was welcome to British fans, moving them up to four points on the table and virtually assuring themselves of qualification to the playoffs, which begin on Monday (New Zealand time).
They are not there yet performance-wise. Not by a long chalk. But they may just have turned a corner.
There were a few things to note about this win. Firstly, it came in much the same wind range — 10-13 knots — as their only other win to date in this qualifying series, which also came against Artemis, last Sunday. That suggests the British team prefer the light to medium stuff. The question then becomes: can they be as effective in other conditions?
The second thing to note about Wednesday’s victory over Sweden was it came with Jono Macbeth on board. At 44, the Kiwi sailor is getting a bit long in the tooth. His primary role these days is as Land Rover BAR’s sailing team manager. But he is also a three-time America’s Cup winner with a wealth of experience.
Ainslie had flagged up issues of communication in the defeat by France, saying the team needed to find better balance to be effective. It appears Macbeth’s mere presence on the boat made a difference; helping to establish the right atmosphere.
“The bloke’s done like 20 America’s Cup matches,” Carr noted. “You cannot buy that experience. I think Jono would be the first to say that, physically, guys like Bleddyn [Mon] and Neil [Hunter], the young guys who also sail in his spot, are fitter than him. He’s still a strong old beast. That’s why we call him The Bear. But his temperament today blew me away. In four years of sailing with BAR that is actually the first race I have done with Jono. But he brought an attitude on to the boat that resonated across the crew.”
Ainslie was similarly impressed. “That was why I wanted him on the boat because we’ve been having a tough time,” he said. “If the guys on the other boats look across and see him, it probably puts the shivers down them a bit. It helped to settle the boat. That’s what you need, to bring on big name players and put on a performance.”