The second day of America’s Cup racing saw the Kiwis take yet another win as INEOS Britannia picked up a costly penalty in the pre-startThe first day of America\u2019s Cup racing was a big disappointment for Ben Ainslie\u2019s INEOS Britannia as the America\u2019s Cup Defender Emirates Team New Zealand won both races to go 2-0 up in the first-to-seven-wins competition.
\nHowever, the 2-0 scoreline does not mean this is going to be a cakewalk for the Kiwis. INEOS Britannia still demonstrated decent downwind speed, while multiple place changes in the first half of Race 2 suggests it could be a close series. But New Zealand has looked very impressive upwind and their impressive form will be a worry for the Brits.
\nThe third day of America\u2019s Cup racing saw a light easterly wind of around 8 knots across the course, but the forecast was for this light wind to tail off as they day progressed. And sure enough, by the start time for the second race, the wind had dipped below the mandatory 6.5 knots and despite trying for 30 minutes, it was clear the wind was only going one way and the race committee cancelled racing for the remainder of the day with only one race run.
\nKey takeaways from the Louis Vuitton America\u2019s Cup Day 2<\/p>\n
Costly start error from the Brits leaves them 3-0 down and needing to find something special to have any chance in this America\u2019s Cup
\nEmirates Team New Zealand looked faster on all points of sail today
\nManoeuvring seems to be a key strength for the Kiwis, particularly tacks.<\/p>\n
Race 3 Emirates Team New Zealand\u00a0Vs\u00a0INEOS Britannia
\nSkippers
\nEmirates Team New Zealand:\u00a0Peter Burling\u00a0&\u00a0Nathan Outteridge\u00a0
\nINEOS Britannia:\u00a0Ben Ainslie\u00a0&\u00a0Dylan Fletcher
\nAlthough the forecast was for light winds, the first race of the day got away without any delays, with the breeze across the course hovering just a touch under 10 knots.
\nINEOS Britannia were port entry and so first into the start box. The Brits \u2013 as has become their standard move \u2013 tacked around to try to follow the Kiwis and be the aggressor. However, Burling and Outteridge had clearly been studying the British team\u2019s starts, and quickly looked to head them off on starboard tack.
\nWith INEOS on port gybe and the Kiwis on starboard they got incredibly close and, though the Brits were gybing away, it was not fast enough and they picked up a penalty for their troubles. That penalty was a significant unforced error and put the Kiwis in the driving seat before the race had even begun.
\n\u201cWe tried that one yesterday but we didn\u2019t get it quick right,\u201d said Burling of the start incident after racing. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working on little bits and pieces like that,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s a tough call, I felt like we were doing enough to keep clear, but obviously the umpires didn\u2019t see it that way,\u201d commented Ainslie of the situation.
\nPhoto: Ricardo Pinto \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nThe Brits did a good job of clearing their penalty and getting split out to the left of the course. But the Kiwis were pretty happy protecting the right and tacked on the British team at every opportunity.
\nInitially INEOS Britannia managed to keep things quite tight and kept the Kiwi\u2019s lead to around 100m through the early part of the beat, but New Zealand really extended in the final third of the leg and were around 20 seconds ahead rounding the windward gate for the first time.
\nNew Zealand sailed a pretty flawless downwind to step away from the Brits even more and as they took the left hand leeward gate mark, they were 27 seconds ahead of Ainslie\u2019s British team who rounded the left hand gate mark.
\nThe Kiwis were quick to tack over to limit the separation between the two boats and, once again did a tidy job of keeping the Brits in their pocket throughout the course of the upwind.
\nThere wasn\u2019t much the Brits could do on the upwind with their opponents keeping a tight cover on them and by the next windward gate they\u2019d leaked a few more seconds to their competition.
\nThe wind continued to die away throughout the course of the race and, although the start had seen winds just shy of double digits, by the end of the second lap, it had dropped to around six to seven knots.
\nWith the Defender in control of the race, the only hope for the Brits was for the wind to soften even further and the Kiwis to get stuck in a hole. But it wasn\u2019t to be and New Zealand easily sailed on to a solid win, putting their series lead up to 3-0.
\nWhat did we learn from the America\u2019s Cup Race 3?
\nEmirates Team New Zealand\u2019s tacking looked much more tidy than the Brits, and it was clear that INEOS was slipping back through each tack. Worse, although yesterday\u2019s racing had seen the British squad showing their trademark pace downwind, today it looked a lot more even with the Kiwis building their lead both upwind and down.
\nIf the British team want to get a toe-hold in this competition, they will need to be close to flawless in their sailing and errors like today\u2019s pre-start mistake simply wont cut it.
\nFollow all of our 2024 America\u2019s Cup coverage
\nThe post Costly pre-start error from the Brits sees them go 3-0 down on the second day of the America\u2019s Cup + what we learned from the action appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The second day of America’s Cup racing saw the Kiwis take yet another win as INEOS Britannia picked up a costly penalty in the pre-startThe first day of America\u2019s Cup racing was a big disappointment for Ben Ainslie\u2019s INEOS Britannia … <\/p>\n