Ineos a formidable team
THE lame duck of the America’s Cup is no more. In its place, a formidable — and undefeated — challenge.
Ineos Team UK struggled to just finish races in the America’s Cup World Series in late December 2020, but has come flying out of the gates for the Prada Cup Challengers Series with two wins on the opening day of racing.
With the draw dealing the British challenger two races on day one, there was plenty of interest in how the Brits would bounce back. In short, they did so impressively.
After beating American Magic by 80sec in the opening race of the day, they repeated the dose against Luna Rossa in race two, their 28sec win giving them two points from the day and leaving their opponents yet to get off the mark.
‘‘That’s another one for the guys back in the dock,’’ team skipper Sir Ben Ainslie said after the race.
‘‘We couldn’t be happier with how the boat went around the track today. They’ve done an awesome job.’’
It was the dream start for Team UK, which got the luck of the conditions on day one.
The team has made it clear it favours the higher breeze. Yesterday, it sailed in winds of up to 15 knots, while tomorrow is expected to be much lighter, predictions being below 10 knots.
After a smart start from Ainslie landed Team UK on the right side of the course, it took the upper hand early over Luna Rossa and never relinquished it.
It was a similar story in the first race. The better wind was on the right side of the course and the British syndicate played its hand perfectly to ensure it was sailing with the best of the conditions.
‘‘The right hand side was stronger, North head, as we saw in the races a couple of weeks ago . . . quite a big feature,’’ Ainslie noted.
‘‘Giles [Scott] did a great job calling the breeze and the guys sailing the boat fast and the handling. It was a good team effort.’’
In the two races, Team UK did not trail at a single gate and reached speeds of up to 43 knots.
At times it appeared as though it was having to work hard to maintain stability in flight, but it sailed with confidence and, while wobbly at times, never appeared to be losing its handle on the vessel.
The opening race was a tough one but American Magic was simply outpaced by a boat his team expected to be fast and he was confident the team would bounce back, Dean Barker said in his postrace interview.
‘‘It’s early days, it’s one race. We obviously would have much preferred to have come out with a win, but at the same time, it’s a long series and we’ve got to keep improving. Nothing really changes for us.’’
It was reported late last evening that Luna Rossa would protest Team UK over a design technicality. According to the report, the challenge was over a hole in the British boat’s mainsail that is considered illegal. — The New Zealand Herald