Today’s forecast was always going to be challenging and the first race of the day was held on a snakes and ladders course with big variations in both wind speed and direction across the course for Day 5 of the America’s Cup.

In the first race of the day Emirates Team New Zealand showed both confidence and fluid communication in their decision making to win the favoured side and go 5-2 ahead.

The Kiwi team then demonstrated that it was no single fluky shift which put them ahead, by again reading the wind conditions best to easily dominate the second race.

Key takeaways from the America’s Cup Day 5

• Emirates Team New Zealand halt INEOS Britannia‘s advance by dominating Day 5 in shifty conditions
• INEOS Britannia demonstrated both speed and manoeuvrability in Race 7 start – but the race was won by ETNZ picking the right lane on the first beat
• Emirates Team New Zealand sounding confident, with constant communication across the whole boat, slick boat handling, faster boat speed, and flawless decision making.
• British Challenge now in the last chance saloon. With light winds forecast tomorrow – potentially no racing possible – what can Ainslie and crew do to regroup?

Shifty conditions on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Race 7 INEOS Britannia Vs Emirates Team New Zealand

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

It was a stripey, snakes and ladders course for Race 7, with a 6-16 knot breeze that was extremely patchy across the racing area.

INEOS Britannia executed a slick and confident start, entering the box and swiftly throwing their AC75 through a tight gybe and circling, perhaps demonstrating some improved manoeuvrability, to keep clear of the Kiwis. The British boat then hit the line a nose ahead and at full speed, over 40 knots.

Emirates Team New Zealand tacked off right, immediately hooking into a favoured right-hand shift which saw them make early gains to take lead at the first cross.

Burling and Outteridge tacked immediately on top of the British boat, bouncing them back off to less favoured left, and were able to bank the gains of a 40-degree wind shift up the first beat. As the winds flicked across the course the lead varied from 200m down to 50m, but with each further shift the Emirates New Zealand Team were able to increase their overall advantage.

Downwind INEOS Britannia initially showed a click more speed, but ETNZ were better in phase with the shifts and quickly restored their lead to over 300m.

From there, there was nothing the British team could do – while the breeze was puffy and shifty across the course, there were no significant opportunities to pull back the Kiwis’ advantage, and by the final leg there was over 1km between them.

Huge crowds in Barcelona as the 37th America’s Cup nears its conclusion
Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Peter Burling said after racing: “Obviously a completely different day, it’s really shifty tricky dynamics.

“We probably didn’t expect to do quite that many circles [in the pre-start], but they were obviously obsessed by trying to follow out to the boundary. We feel like we did a pretty nice job. We really liked that right-hand side and went back on some aggressive late times and that’s what gave us the early lead, and nice to be able to capitalise on that.”

Nathan Outteridge added: “It’s a very different day out here today, super dynamic, there’s a big hill upwind of us. Just got this gust-lull situation, where one minute you’ve got 8 knots, the next 13 or 14 and big shifts. but we were pretty switched on to what was going on.

“I think it kind of caught everyone a bit off guard how dynamic that start got. But it was great to get off the line nicely above and defend the right-hand side. But I’m sure the next race is going to be pretty different.”

British skipper Ben Ainslie commented: “Tough race for us, we looked like we were potentially going to be in good shape on the startline but the breeze just kicked in hard on the right.

“That was kind of it really.”

Race 8 Emirates Team New Zealand Vs INEOS Britannia

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

Despite regatta director Iain Murray’s warnings that the breeze might fade this afternoon, instead it had built slightly for the second race of the day with puffs of 15 knots. Both boats downsized their headsails accordingly.

In the pre-start, rather than the dizzying circles of Race 7, Emirates Team New Zealand looked to have held INEOS Britannia up above the line. However, with enough separation between the two boats, the two started fairly evenly, ETNZ a click ahead and quicker, just 1m back from the line.

The British boat then tacked off to the right-hand side which had paid so handsomely on the previous race, but Burling and Outteridge confirmed their preference to each other to initially carry on.

When the two boats tacked and crossed, Emirates was easily ahead, and the Kiwis went on to pick up better pressure on the right-hand side of the course in the second half of the top leg. They rode a significant lift and around 3 knots more pressure into the top mark, and their lead quickly became unassailable.

EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND win the start of Race 8 in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

A slight touch down for INEOS Britannia on the first downwind leg sacrificed another handful of metres, and with the two boats out of phase there was no coming back for the Brits. Emirates Team New Zealand near doubled their advantage on the penultimate leg, and crossed 1km and 55 seconds ahead.

This moves Emirates Team New Zealand to ‘match point’ on 6-2, with just one win needed to secure their third successive America’s Cup victory.

“It’s not over yet,” Ben Ainslie told his crew on INEOS Britannia as they crossed the line.

Skippers reactions on America’s Cup Day 5

Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling said after racing: “It was nice to bounce back from a few small mistakes the other day and put a couple of solid races on the board. Obviously completely different conditions to anything we’ve race in so far.

“It was just awesome. We were loving it, it feels like a south-wester at [home]. Super shifty, you had to use the modes a lot, and the team behind me on both sides of the yacht put in a huge amount of watts to give us heaps.

“Really proud of the way the team executed today. Obviously when you get a couple of losses it really puts you under pressure and the way the team responded to that today was awesome.”

Nathan Outteridge added: “Today you needed to get off the line, and if you got off the line well and you got your first choice of the first bit of pressure life gets pretty easy.”

Outteridge, who’s facing the possibility of winning his first America’s Cup said he was “Really stoked to be in this position,” but added, “I”m feeling like it’s not done til it’s done!”

INEOS Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie commented: “It wasn’t a good day for us. Hats off to the Kiwis they just sailed two really really strong races it that shifty stuff. They managed to pick the right side, do a nice job of defending, and put us in a bad spot.

“But we’ll take that on the chin. It’s still not over yet, so we’ll keep fighting.”

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