The first day of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup was not what Ben Ainslie and the INEOS Britannia team were looking for, in fact it was their worst nightmare.
Back to back race wins for defender Emirates Team New Zealand set the bar, and left the Brits on the backfoot and already facing a fightback situation.
The first race took place in very patchy conditions, with significant shifts and holes in the wind.
Ineos were late into the start box and ETNZ got away to take a 24 sec, 300 metre lead at gate 1, they were never headed and extended their to 42 sec by the finish.
Race 2 saw Ineos competitive from the start and but after a close tacking duel, ETNZ had an 11 sec lead at gate 1. Ineos responded with the lead changing hands, but it was ETNZ ahead with a 9 sec lead at gate 2.
From there ETNZ was never headed, although Ineos came close several times. The Kiwi team took their second win by 27 sec, some 300 metres.
Ben Ainslie, Team Principal and Skipper of INEOS Britannia, said the first day of the 37th America’s Cup Match was “not the start we were looking for”.
Ainslie said although it was not the result his team INEOS Britannia wanted, it gave the British team “a great opportunity to check in” with the Kiwis and see how they had altered their AC75 race boat since they last raced them on 5 September.
Exuding an air of confidence and determination, Ainslie added:
“It’s definitely not a time for panicking and we’ve all seen that the America’s Cup is a funny old game, and things can change pretty quick, so we’ve just got to keep plugging away and as a team we will look again at the way we sailed, and we’ll just take every opportunity to learn and improve.”
The New Zealand team did not really need to comment . . . their results spoke for them.
Racing in the 37th America’s Cup Match resumes on Sunday, with two more matches between Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand and Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia.
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