After thunderstorms cut short racing on Tuesday and cancelled racing yesterday, INEOS Britannia finally got underway in Round Robin 2 this afternoon.
The British Challenger of Record, racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron in the 37th America’s Cup, took on NYYC American Magic in the first race of the day and Defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the third. Despite putting on a solid performance in what commentators described as the “match of the regatta so far”, INEOS Britannia just lost out to the Americans and was unable to secure a win against the Kiwis.
The first race of the day was filled with drama from the pre-start all the way to the finish. It started with Ben Ainslie and his crew taking the initiative from American Magic, who were late into the pre-start box. It allowed the British boat, with the starboard entry, to push the USA towards the left-hand side where there was very little wind. The American team had to go above the start line to keep their boat foiling, but it was the British AC75, Britannia, that then dropped off the foils as they gybed to go back to start. They pulled off a brilliant recovery and managed to accelerate sufficiently to be foiling on the gun, starting right on American Magic’s stern at the right hand end of the line.
The Americans sailed a solid first leg, keeping INEOS Britannia pinned against the right-hand boundary where the British took a penalty. It pushed them back enough for American Magic to assert full control and use their advantage to extend their lead to 20 seconds at the top gate.
The Americans continued to extend on the first downwind, moving to a 29-second advantage at the end of the first lap, but from there until – almost – the finish, it was all about the British. On the third leg American Magic chose the right-hand side towards the top. It allowed Ben Ainslie and his team to split for a gain that moved them back to just 16 seconds behind.
It was more of the same on the next leg, with INEOS Britannia coming into the American boat all the way down. At the next gate, the British crew engineered an immediate split onto the penultimate leg and with the deficit now down to just 9 seconds the race was wide open.
The two yachts sailed to the boundary on their respective sides, and when they came back together American Magic tacked to cover. Rinse and repeat. The third time the boats came together the British boat went low and fast towards the Americans who tacked a little early, giving INEOS Britannia room to sail above American Magic. By the time the Americans had accelerated the boats were dead even.
At the final gate, American Magic took the right-hand side but slid into a crash off the foils. They just saved it and got going again, leaving INEOS Britannia in a narrow lead. It all came down to the final choice at the final cross – the British took the left – and the final gybe. There was a little wobble on INEOS Britannia’s maneuver, and the Americans found a 3-4 knot puff of extra wind on the right-hand side. The combination was enough to take the Americans over the line for the win.
After watching the Italians dispatch the French in the second race of the day, INEOS Britannia was back to the plate, this time to face the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand. It was a great start for both boats, with them sharing the lead position at multiple points on the first leg. The key moment came as both boats tacked, with the British trying to hold high to gain a ‘lane’ of clear air above New Zealand.
They tried a little too hard, got a bit slow and slipped off the foils. They got it going again, but the New Zealanders were out to a 300m lead. It converted to a 24-second deficit for INEOS Britannia at the top gate. The British kept it tight through the next lap and a half, but as the wind dropped to as little as 5 knots, INEOS Britannia slightly misjudged the final approach to the buoy and had to double-board and sail low and slow to get around it. It washed too much speed off and the second touch-down ended the race as a competition.
Ainslie said: “It was tough out there in the light winds. We had a great first race with the Americans where we managed to come back strong from being behind. We had the lead on the final leg but there was a really difficult tactical decision to make and the gybe wasn’t our best so they ended up slipping past us, but we will learn a lot from that. We had a nice start against the Kiwis but they did a great job to hang on our hip to the boundary in the first tack. It wasn’t our finest day but we are improving the performance of the boat day by day and will continue to do that throughout the series.”
INEOS Britannia maintains its position of second on the Challengers Leaderboard, with three wins and two losses, after American Magic lost the fourth race of the day to Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI). The fifth and final race of the day saw New Zealand beat the French Orient Express Racing Team.
Round Robin 2 resumes 7 September, with INEOS Britannia set to face the Swiss and the Italians. UK viewers can watch the action live on TNT Sports.
