The first day of America’s Cup racing was a big disappointment for Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Britannia as the America’s Cup Defender Emirates Team New Zealand won both races to go 2-0 up in the first-to-seven-wins competition.

However, 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.

The third day of America’s 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.

Key takeaways from the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Day 2

• Costly start error from the Brits leaves them 3-0 down and needing to find something special to have any chance in this America’s Cup
• Emirates Team New Zealand looked faster on all points of sail today
• Manoeuvring seems to be a key strength for the Kiwis, particularly tacks.

Race 3 Emirates Team New Zealand Vs INEOS Britannia

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

Although 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.

INEOS Britannia were port entry and so first into the start box. The Brits – as has become their standard move – tacked around to try to follow the Kiwis and be the aggressor. However, Burling and Outteridge had clearly been studying the British team’s starts, and quickly looked to head them off on starboard tack.

With 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.

“We tried that one yesterday but we didn’t get it quick right,” said Burling of the start incident after racing. “We’ve been working on little bits and pieces like that,” he added.

“I’m sure it’s a tough call, I felt like we were doing enough to keep clear, but obviously the umpires didn’t see it that way,” commented Ainslie of the situation.

Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

The 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.

Initially INEOS Britannia managed to keep things quite tight and kept the Kiwi’s 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.

New 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’s British team who rounded the left hand gate mark.

The 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.

There wasn’t much the Brits could do on the upwind with their opponents keeping a tight cover on them and by the next windward gate they’d leaked a few more seconds to their competition.

The 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.

With 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’t to be and New Zealand easily sailed on to a solid win, putting their series lead up to 3-0.

What did we learn from the America’s Cup Race 3?

Emirates Team New Zealand’s tacking looked much more tidy than the Brits, and it was clear that INEOS was slipping back through each tack. Worse, although yesterday’s 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.

If 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’s pre-start mistake simply wont cut it.

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