The odds against the America’s Cup returning to Britain after a 60-year absence lengthened a little further on Sunday after the dominant New Zealand team established a three-race lead in the best-of-seven, 13-race competition.
The planned fourth race was cancelled as winds failed to reach the 6.5 knot minimum and will be held as a one-off on Monday. Weather permitting, the two-race schedule will resume on Wednesday. Britain’s Ineos team may feel relieved that on Sunday’s second race was cancelled after a New Zealand display of superiority over the first three races that El Mundo Deportivo described as “almost insulting”.
On day two of the showdown, Race 3 proved to be pretty much a replica of the first two races. On a fine, warm day with a light north-easterly wind of 7-10 knots, once again the ETNZ boat made an aggressive and better start and quickly established a comfortable lead. The two boats almost collided at the start line, for which the Brits paid with a 75-metre penalty for failing to keep clear from which they never recovered.
By the end of the first stage, New Zealand were 150m ahead, extending their lead to 400m by the fourth leg before crossing the line with more than 600m of clear water, 52 seconds ahead of the British, having led at every stage. At each turn they seemed to have better acceleration than their rivals.
Asked about the manoeuvre at the start line, Peter Burling, the NZ captain, said the team had been “working on little bits and pieces”, adding: “We tried it yesterday and they just got past us. It was uncomfortable how close the boats got but it was great to finally execute it in a race, to make it count.”
“It was an awesome moment that we’ve been practising a lot,” said Team New Zealand coach, Ray Davies. “It was great to see a bit of match racing creeping in. Ben [Ainslie, the British captain] has been asking for someone to do it for quite a long time. It was good that it was us who gave him one of those,” he said. Ainslie, felt his team’s penalty at the start of the race was a tough call. “It felt like we were keeping clear but the umpires didn’t see it that way,” he said, adding that he accepted the decision.
The general view is that, technically, there’s little to choose between the British and New Zealand boats and that, ultimately, it is the driver that counts. On this showing, New Zealand’s are simply better than Britain’s.
“We’re under no illusions,” Burling said. “They’re an amazing team and they’re going to be putting together a hell of a fight, so we’re expecting a battle every race, but we’re definitely up for it.”
People in Barcelona have been largely indifferent to a competition in which racing started two months ago and the boats have been visible in the port since the start of the year. However, as of Saturday, there have been signs that America’s Cup fever is finally beginning to catch on. The fan zones were packed on Sunday, with British fans heavily outnumbered by New Zealand supporters, many wearing the ETNZ team shirt. In addition, dozens of boats, large and small, crowd around the edges of the race area to give fans a closer look.
However, by no means is everyone in Barcelona happy about the competition being staged here, and opposition has been building over recent months. Two hours before racing began on Sunday, thousands of people – 10,000 according to the organisers – joined a protest organised by the ‘No to the America’s Cup’ campaign, which is supported by around 140 local and community organisations.
Protesters say that holding these prestigious events only benefits the wealthy and contributes to rising housing costs, pricing residents out of their homes. The campaign is also bringing a case to the anti-fraud office on the grounds that the organisers have made false and grossly inflated claims about the economic benefits to the city of hosting the event.
Technically speaking, the racing could continue for a further eight days, but the British team must know that they will have to up their game if they don’t want to find themselves heading home on Friday on the losing end of a 7-0 score line. “We know there’s a long way to go in this competition, we just keep pushing hard,” said Ainslie, whose phlegmatic nature has been put to the test these past 48 hours.
