American Magic concludes Round Robins against New Zealand
by New York Yacht Club American Magic 9 Sep 11:57 PDT
September 9, 2024
NYYC American Magic closed out the Round Robin stage of the Louis Vuitton Cup today with a match against America's Cup holders Emirates Team New Zealand.
After the previous day's races were abandoned due to a storm front that brought torrential rain and then insufficient breeze for fair competition, Day 9 saw improved conditions, though the wind remained light at around seven knots from the south.
American Magic faced a challenging start, encountering a patch of light wind that dropped Patriot off the foils on approach to the starboard end of the line. However, by the start, the team recovered and made a solid, on-time exit on port tack, while Team New Zealand headed off on starboard toward the left-hand boundary.
Making his debut on helm in the absence of Paul Goodison due to injury, Lucas Calabrese joined Tom Slingsby on the controls. The American crew — including trimmers and flight controllers Andrew Campbell and Michael Menninger — quickly dealt with a pre-start boundary penalty and sailed efficiently up the windward leg, rounding the first windward gate just seven seconds behind the Kiwis.
A downspeed gybe at the beginning of the first downwind leg allowed Emirates Team New Zealand to extend their lead, stretching out to 150 meters and rounding the first leeward gate 31 seconds ahead. American Magic responded with a smooth, fast rounding of the left-hand gate mark and clawed back 10 seconds on the following upwind leg, rounding the second windward gate 21 seconds behind.
However, as the breeze continued to die on the second downwind leg, American Magic got caught in an expanding light wind patch at the leeward gate, forcing two difficult gybes. Despite doing well to stay airborne through these maneuvers, the time lost extinguished any hopes of a comeback in this non-points-scoring race. At the finish, Team New Zealand crossed the line two minutes and 37 seconds ahead.
Post-race, Terry Hutchinson, Skipper and President of Sailing Operations for American Magic, commented: "We have everything that we need. We need to keep putting it all together. So for us, over the next day, today's Monday, so we'll go training tomorrow on Tuesday. We probably won't sail on Wednesdays. And then we'll have a good little lead-in to Saturday: Thursday, Friday, Saturday. We're into the racing on Saturday, so we'll focus on the things that we need to focus on: good boat handling and consistent maneuvering. You know, all the obvious gains we can take and then getting the boat locked into mode as quickly as you can out of every maneuver."
American Magic will find out their semifinal opponents at the upcoming Press Conference on Friday, September 13 — the eve of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semifinals. The team will begin their semifinal campaign on Saturday, September 14, as they continue their quest for the Cup.