Ineos Britannia started their fightback with two race wins on day 4 of the 37th America’s Cup to finish the day 2 – 4 down to Emirates Team NZ.
A runaway win in the first race of the day (R5) after Emirates fell off the foils in the pre-start, and Ineos making a good job of keeping them there before racing away to a 2 min 26 esc lead round the first gate.
Ineos sailed smoothly to cross the finish with a 1 min 18 sec lead and score their first America’s Cup match win.
Better breeze, 10 to 12 kts, for the second race (R6) saw the Brits breakaway from the Kiwi pre-start cover, and cross the start some ten knots faster and take a 6 sec lead at gate 1.
Ineos maintained their lead, but a loss of the rudder on leg 7 allowed Emirates to close.
In a race for the finish Ineos kept them behind down the final leg to take a nerve-wracking second Win.
Sir Ben Ainslie came ashore and reflected on what was an outstanding day for the British team saying:
“Big day, massive day for the team. We really needed that, and I can’t say enough about how everyone across the board responded to being four down – the designers, engineers, shore team all coming together to find those little gains, to up the performance out there on the racecourse and that’s what we got today.”
Asked what the difference was today in the performance of Britannia, Ainslie added: “
It’s just little things, it really is. These boats are so fickle in terms of how you set them up and the techniques of how you sail them. Going up against the Kiwis and seeing some areas where we were perhaps a little bit behind so full credit to the coaching team and the engineers trawling through the data trying to figure out how we can make some of those adjustments.”
It is perhaps worth mentioning that these were Britain’s first America’s Cup Match wins for *90 years, which highlights just how long the road back has been.
With the overall score now 2 – 4 to the Kiwis, it throws the competition back on the block with a possible grandstand finish over this weekend.
Next two races are Friday 18 October.
Current Standings after 6 Races
DAY 4 RACE UPDATE:
Wind conditions, 7 kts at start Race 5
Wind conditions, 12 kts at start Race 6
13:10 BST – AC37 Race 5 – Eimirates Team NZ come off foils in pre-start. Ineos Britannia on foils and do a dip start to leave NZL off foils.
Gate 1 – GBR lead by 1600 metre, 2 min 15 sec
Gate 2 – GBR lead by 1 min 59 sec
Gate 3 – GBR lead by 1 min 37 sec
Gate 4 – GBR lead by 1 min 36 sec
Gate 5 – GBR lead by 1 min 29 sec
FINISH – Ineos Britannia take first win by 1 min 18 sec
MATCH SCORE – NZL 4, GBR 1
14: BST – AC37 Race 6 – In pre-start GBR break away to cross start 10 kts quicker then NZL over startline.
Gate 1 – GBR lead by 6 sec, 65 metre
Gate 2 – GBR lead by 9 sec
Gate 3 – GBR lead by 9 sec
Gate 4 – GBR lead by 16 sec, NZL touchdown
Gate 5 – GBR lead by 13 sec, NZL close to 115 metres
Gate 6 – GBR leadby 7 sec
Gate 7 – GBR lead by 7 sec, NZL close to 60 metres
FINISH – Ineos Britannia win by 7 sec
MATCH SCORE – NZL 4, GBR 2
* Endeavour 1934 Sir Thomas Sopwith
