We’ve got a race on our hands
The America’s Cup has indeed got a rivalry and thank goodness for that. Team New Zealand looked like they might have a boat to make the racing this summer a bit of a procession with an absolute trouncing of Luna Rossa in the opening race of the world series and Christmas regatta in Auckland yesterday.
But American Magic lived up to their name and handed the Kiwis a loss in final race of the day.
In between the British entry INEOS Team UK suffered prestart penalties and boat issues to lose both of their races in embarrassing fashion and the claims of Luna Rossa’s supposed turning precision came under question.
Dean Barker, on the wheel of American Magic, followed up his practice win over the Kiwis last Tuesday with a victory of far more significance.
They have fired a shot across the bows of the defenders at this very early stage of what will be a long summer of action.
The US syndicate has put in more time than any rival in these radical boats and it showed with a day of consistency when others around them were dogged by inconsistencies.
That included the Kiwis who, after humbling Luna Rossa by more than three minutes, struck some technical issues of their own in the pre-start against the Americans and again got into some questionable judgment calls as they successfully battled their way back into the race.
Match-racing suddenly turned real and it was the Kiwis who ultimately paid the price, losing ground on costly turns at
both the bottom and top marks to eventually lose by 12 seconds.
But the raw data will have been just as encouraging to the Americans who edged Team New Zealand in boat speed both upwind and downwind.
With that edge Barker managed to hold on under some intense pressure that included the first tacking duel of the competition.
Lightning quick against the Italians, the Kiwiswere suddenly confronted by something in their own class.
It was a perplexing day on many levels, though it showed the need for precision in preparation and crew performance in boats that throw up problems when least expected.
The loss will hurt Team New Zealand but the result will encourage America’s Cup fans, adding some real fascination to the racing format to go with these ridiculously quick craft.
Team New Zealand are desperate for racing action and it showed why yesterday. They
have got a quick boat for sure, but they also have to get far better at sailing it.
Worryingly they are going to have to do that by themselves without the sort of drama that AmericanMagic confronted them with.
Team New Zealand have to spend January and February training on their own against the reality of the challengers sharpening themselves in the Prada Cup series for two months.
Right now, American Magic is already looking pretty sharp.
They got out of a day with no technical issues and Sir Ben Ainslie will tell you that’s an accomplishment in itself.
Burling will back him up there too. But it wasn’t just the mechanicals of these complicated boats that cost the Kiwis in the end, and that will be the reality they will confront overnight.
Mistakes are costly in these boats, and they found that out again the hard way.
Team New Zealand have just three more days to match themselves against the challengers.
They need to make them count and the prospect of two clashes with the brittle Brits today isn’t exactly enticing.
A chance to throw down a marker on yesterday was wasted.