The America’s Cup starts this weekend and all the signs point to it being a very close competition. Can Ben Ainslie’s British team beat defender Emirates Team New Zealand? \u201cLook, we\u2019re the underdogs in this, without a shadow of doubt,\u201d Ben Ainslie told the UK\u2019s Guardian Newspaper in a recent interview looking ahead to Saturday\u2019s America\u2019s Cup.
\nOn the face of it, he\u2019s not wrong. Ainslie\u2019s crew (the first British team to make it to the America\u2019s Cup in 60 years) are up against the reigning America\u2019s Cup champions, and a country which can lay claim to four America\u2019s Cup wins.
\nNot only are Team New Zealand the most successful America\u2019s Cup team in modern history; when it comes to match racing on foils they are unrivalled.
\nThe Kiwis were first to introduce hydrofoils into America\u2019s Cup racing back in 2013 when they and their foiling 72ft catamaran got to within one win of wresting the America\u2019s Cup from then Defender Oracle Team USA.
\nThe Kiwis were first to foil and America\u2019s Cup class back in 2013
\nThe following America\u2019s Cup \u2013 by then sailed in 50ft foiling catamarans \u2013 the Kiwis won by a landslide.
\nIn 2021, with the event sailed in the new AC75 foiling monohulls, they were imperious again, sweeping aside Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to successfully defend.
\nA Luna Rossa team who, it must be noted, had crushed Ainslie\u2019s INEOS Britannia 7-1 to secure their place in that America\u2019s Cup.
\nBritain may famously love an underdog, and it seems that Ainslie\u2019s INEOS team could yet again be the David going up against an all-conquering Goliath.
\nBut if you put all that history to one side and focus on what we know just two days out from the start of racing, to my mind the most likely outcome is an incredibly close America\u2019s Cup, much closer than 2017 or 2021.
\nINEOS Britannia and Emitares Team New Zealand race in the Louis Vuitton Round Robin Series. Photo: Ricardo Pinto \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nThe Boats
\nWhat is notable about this second generation of AC75 is how close the performance of the boats has been to date.
\nThis is often the case when a rule set is allowed to mature as relative advantages shrink with every iteration of the class.
\nWith Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli\u2019s AC75, the Louis Vuitton Cup Final featured the challenger that was closest to Emirates Team New Zealand in design philosophy.
\nINEOS, by contrast, is arguably the furthest away from Emirates Team New Zealand (with American Magic being a more radical version of the New Zealand and Italian philosophy in pure hull concept).
\nIn terms of hull philosophy, INEOS is the biggest and most-muscular looking boat in the fleet, while Emirates Team New Zealand favours more organic lines.
\nINEOS Britannia is bulkier than most of the other AC75s. Photo: Ricardo Pinto \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nThis certainly makes the British boat look \u2013 to the layman\u2019s eye at least \u2013 less aerodynamically efficient. However, the team\u2019s close cooperation with Mercedes F1 technologies, and use of their sophisticated aerodynamic and structural engineering tools, should have had a significant positive impact in this area.
\nIn the words of America\u2019s Cup designer Thomas Tison speaking to Yachting World, \u2018it looks as though the British boat has been designed to both reduce drag and maximise lift.\u201d
\nIn flat water the British AC75\u2019s significant skeg (or bustle) allows it to sail just kissing the water, sealing the gap between sea and water, maximising an \u2018end plate\u2019 effect, which is (very simply) aerodynamically beneficial to the sail package.
\nIn wavy conditions we have seen the British team needing to sail with more leeward heel in order to keep this larger skeg \/ bustle out of the water.
\nThe Emirates Team New Zealand boat is, in many ways, a further refinement of the AC75 that won them the last America\u2019s Cup.
\nThe team\u2019s approach appears to have focussed around a meticulous attention to detail, such as the removal of vertical surfaces and the streamlining of the deck comings. These changes, while seemingly minor, should collectively contribute to significant performance gains.
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Team New Zealand\u2019s skeg \/ bustle, is also designed to prevent wind from passing underneath the boat, making best use of the end plate effect.
\nHowever, theirs is significantly smaller than the INEOS design, which makes it less efficient in ideal conditions, but also less likely to hit the water when it\u2019s wavy. As such when the sea state is up, the Kiwis will not need to sail with the same leeward heel (and thus slight righting moment loss) as the Brits.
\nZooming in, you can see the blended bulb approach of INEOS over the less blended bulb of New Zealand. Photo: Ricardo Pinto \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nThe Foils
\nFoils are the area about which we have the least information, especially when it comes to the New Zealand boat, as the teams have to declare what they are using, but they otherwise remain very closely guarded secrets
\nFrom what I\u2019ve seen to date, it looks as though the Kiwis and the Brits are the two teams with the smallest foils \u2013 certainly the Brits had the smallest foils of the challengers.
\nSmaller foils mean less drag but less stability. Top speeds should be higher, and downwind performance should be better \u2013 but staying on the foils is likely to be harder and manoeuvrability can be limited.
\nBut it\u2019s important to remember that the drag tradeoff every team has to make when designing their foils can be counterbalanced by the drag tradeoff that teams can make in their sail plans.
\nLuna Rossa, for example, seemed to have larger (and therefore higher drag) foils than INEOS, but their sail control looked to be better and they were able to flatten their sails better to reduce sail drag once foiling. This led to similar performance just from a different direction \u2013 higher drag foils, lower drag sails.
\nThen Kiwi foil arm bulb is similar to Luna Rossa\u2019s and puts weight low down and forward and remains clear of the water most of the time. Photo: Ian Roman \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nBoth the Brits and the Kiwis feature a bulb on the foils in order to put enough weight into them to measure under the rules. Without these bulbs they would need much fatter foils with enough internal volume to add weight to measure, which would therefore be draggier over their total span.
\nBoth boats have also added rule-required weight at the base of the foil arm. Here, New Zealand has a similar solution to Luna Rossa with a large bulb protruding forward from the foil arm, above the water when the boat is foiling normally.
\nThe British solution is hydrodynamically better should the boat end up foiling lower than ideal (usually in waves). Ian Roman \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nINEOS\u2019s solution is for large \u2018ears\u2019 on the trailing edge of their foils which will be in the water more often, but will be less draggy when they are submerged.
\nIn the wavier conditions of the Louis Vuitton Final we saw these bulbs on Luna Rossa hitting the water often and they looked particularly slow during those moments.
\nUnder deck sail controls, and a less wide traveller are key features of the Kiwi boat. Ricardo Pinto \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nSail controls
\nThe hulls are the most obvious difference between teams, and once they are racing differences in the foils are fairly easy to spot. But more tricky is the difference in sails and controls as much of this is hidden between the two sail skins.
\nAs mentioned in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final it looked as though Luna Rossa had better control of their mainsail at the foot of the sail than INEOS, the latter often having a very full foot, which translates into drag at speed.
\nA much wider track n the British boat, and they have often struggled to flatten out the very bottom of their mainsail. Photo: Ricardo Pinto \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nSince its launch, one of the standout aspects of Emirates Team New Zealand\u2019s new boat is in the operation of its twin-skin mainsail. Specifically, the way in which the team has integrated the mainsail hydraulic systems within the sole of the boat.
\n\u201cUnlike other teams that house these systems on the deck, Team New Zealand has managed to embed them below, reducing the aerodynamic drag and the weight above the waterline,\u201d Tisson explained to us in his analysis of the boat.
\nBut it\u2019s also thought that they have a much more refined control of the two skins individually than other teams, allowing them better control of the mainsail shape.
\nA great deal of software exists on these boats and a number of things have been set up to be, essentially, pushbutton. Modes like high mode or bear aways, or speed build after tacks are pre-programmed and selected by trimmers to provide the broad parameters within which they will fine-tune.
\nLuna Rossa had very impressive sail control. Photo: Ian Roman \/ AmericasCup
\nAnd here the Brits may have an advantage. It is well known that all the data from their boat and from race days is being pumped back to the Mercedes F1 factory in Brackley, UK where they are parsing it in real time and making software and other instrument adjustments to improve performance from day to day \u2013 at a minimum. It\u2019s believed the team can even work on some of the data race-to-race if the gap between races is large enough.
\nOf course F1 is all about analysing, understanding and utilising data, so there is almost nowhere in the world better for this undertaking \u2013 and is a clear contributing factor to INEOS\u2019 constant improvement to date.
\nAinslie Vs Burling
\nThough all we\u2019ve discussed so far is technological improvements, if the boats are close, the sailors will be the ones to make a difference.
\nMuch is new in modern America\u2019s Cup racing and in 2024 for all teams bar Luna Rossa \u2013 who invented the concept for 2021 \u2013 having two helmsmen is another wholly new development.
\nIn 2024 duties have been shared on all the AC75s between the four team members on either side of the boat \u2013 a port and starboard skipper, port and starboard trimmer, and corresponding cyclor teams.
\nBilling this match up as Ben Ainslie Vs Peter Burling does a huge disservice to their two co-skippers of Dylan Fletcher and Nathan Outteridge.
\nBut as effective team leaders, and starboard-tack helmsmen, Ainslie and Burling will be largely responsible for decision making in the pre-start \u2013 always a key part of America\u2019s Cup match racing.
\nINEOS came out on top of the starts in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Photo: Ricardo Pinto \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nIn the Louis Vuitton Cup Final against Luna Rossa, INEOS was clearly the aggressor in each start and walked away with the series win.
\nBut it should be noted that Luna Rossa were not looking to engage in the start box, despite having one of the world\u2019s best match racers, Jimmy Spithill, as their starboard-tack skipper.
\nQuite why the decision was made to not engage in the start box remains unclear. It could well be that Luna Rossa saw some strength in INEOS (for example they thought the Brits were more manoeuvrable).
\nEqually it could be that a perceived upwind speed weakness of the Brits made an even start more desirable for Luna Rossa. The Brits have not often shown a strong \u2018high mode\u2019 so are less of a threat if they are to leeward off a startline than they might otherwise be.
\nWhatever the reason, INEOS go into the America\u2019s Cup match having roundly beaten a very strong team in the crucial pre-start more often than not, and much of that can be attributed to Ainslie\u2019s match racing aggression.
\n\u201cI\u2019m quite sure that the Kiwis are fast, but Ben is also fast and the thing that Ben has got up his sleeve is he\u2019s such a match racer and he\u2019s got a lot of match experience under his belt that the Kiwis don\u2019t,\u201d AC veteran and 2024 regatta director Iain Murray recently told Reuters.
\nEmirates Team New Zealand with a 26 year old Peter Burling at the helm won the America\u2019s Cup in 2017. Photo: Ricardo Pinto
\nFor his part, Burling came into America\u2019s Cup racing as a generational high performance boat talent. He was the best Olympic 49er helmsman the class had seen for many years and he and long-term sailing partner Blair Tuke won every event they entered in the four-year build up to their gold in the 2016 Olympics.
\nBecause the New Zealander got into America\u2019s Cup racing so early (aged just 26 at his first Cup in 2017 in Bermuda) he does not have the long match racing pedigree as someone like Ainslie or Spithill.
\nTime and again Burling\u2019s match racing prowess has been called into question ahead of America\u2019s Cups. And time and again the deadpan Kiwi has proved more than up to the task.
\nThe two Cup wins to date have been in far better machinery than their opposition (and as the saying goes, a fast boat makes a good tactician) but he\u2019s never looked out of his depth in the cut and thrust of competition.
\nBurling may be considered the high performance talent of his generation, but Outteridge is every bit as quick and the two were training partners in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics where Outteridge took 49er gold and Burling silver.
\nIn 2016 after all that 49er dominance it was Burling who took gold, but Outteridge who took silver, so the pair are very evenly matched. And Outteridge was every bit as effective on the foiling 50ft catamarans in 2017, his Artemis team simply did not have the pace to get to the America\u2019s Cup final.
\nFletcher and Bithell after securing gold in Tokyo in the 49er class, beating Burling and Tuke to silver. Photo: Sailing Energy \/ World Sailing
\nThe newest skipper in this Cup by quite some way is Dylan Fletcher. Most assumed Giles Scott would be Ainslie\u2019s co-skipper in this edition and it was Scott who had done much of the co-skippering to date.
\nScott also took on the role of tactician in the 2021 America\u2019s Cup regatta. But Fletcher\u2019s skill and tenacity saw him selected shortly before the Round Robin racing began as Ainslie\u2019s co-skipper.
\nFletcher is the same breed of sailor as Burling and Outteridge and comes from a 49er background Like both of them, he has also spent plenty of time sailing foiling Moths (he was World Champion in 2022). Clearly, Fletcher brings a high performance edge to the boat.
\nIt\u2019s also worth noting that Fletcher and his GBR 49er crew Stuart Bithell took gold in the class at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, beating Burling and Tuke into silver. Knowing you beat your opposition in the last biggest event you sailed will certainly go some way to removing the perception of invincibility from the Kiwi team.
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\nThe post Who\u2019s favourite to win the America\u2019s Cup? INEOS Britannia Vs Emirates Team New Zealand analysed appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The America’s Cup starts this weekend and all the signs point to it being a very close competition. Can Ben Ainslie’s British team beat defender Emirates Team New Zealand? \u201cLook, we\u2019re the underdogs in this, without a shadow of doubt,\u201d … <\/p>\n