Emirates Team New Zealand defends the 37th America's Cup
by David Schmidt 22 Oct 08:00 PDT
October 22, 2024
Emirates Team New Zealand win the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup Barcelona © Ricardo Pinto / America's Cup
Fittingly, the 37th America's Cup was decided by a final finish-line delta of 37 seconds. In the first-to-seven series, the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ), representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, demonstrated that they had the speed, boathandling, and strategy and tactics to lift the Auld Mug for a third consecutive time. Impressively, ETNZ's 7-2 win over the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia, who was flying the colors of the Royal Yacht Squadron, marked the first time in 41 years that a Defender has successfully defended (at least) three consecutive America's Cup matches.
(N.B., while the San Diego Yacht Club achieved three consecutive wins [1987, 1988, 1992], this involved two different sailing teams, namely DC's Stars & Stripes, and Bill Koch's America Cubed.)
As for AC37, ETNZ looked dominant from the first races of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta, where they collected four wins and only a single loss, and in the Louis Vuitton Cup Double Round Robin, where they collected eight more wins and only two losses.
While the NYYC American Magic earned the first win against the Defender in the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta, INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli both notched wins against the Kiwis in the buildup to AC37.
The Brits put paid to the Italians in the Louis Vuitton Cup, setting up a scenario of the Defender meeting the Challenger of Record on the starting line of AC37.
Then, the bloodshed happened quickly, with the Kiwis winning the first four races. Not surprisingly, the rumor mill started pontificating about the odds of an AC shut out for the Challenger of Record, but the Brits bounced back, winning Races 5 and 6.
Suddenly, it felt like we had a proper horse race on our hands, but then the Kiwis—led by drivers Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge—dropped the hammer, winning Races 7 and 8.
Match point.
The final race of AC37 was perhaps one of the most exciting of the entire Cup cycle, and not just for obvious reasons. Despite the fact that the two teams were racing aboard different-looking yachts with different-looking foils, the racing was tight, and while the Kiwis controlled the first half of the contest, come the halfway point, the Brits were back in the game.
Ultimately, however, the righthand side of the course was paying better dividends than the left, and the Kiwis weren't sharing this half of the sandbox.
"We got a relatively even start, they were quite close, so we just decided to get out to the right that we really liked but yeah really pleased the way we just continued to improve through the week, the boat was feeling awesome today and it was a real team effort," said Burling of the final race, in an official event communication.
"All credit to Ben and INEOS Britannia, I think they put together an incredible challenge, they pushed us the whole way, obviously we got a good jump on the leaderboard, but every race felt like a real battle, and they were amazing challengers," Burling continued.
While Sir Ben Ainslie, INEOS Britannia's team principal and skipper (and one of their two drivers), was disappointed, he seemed to have plenty of fight for future Cup efforts left in his words.
"Ultimately to fall short at the final hurdle is always tough, but we know that we've been up against one of the best if not 'the' best teams in the history of the Cup," Ainslie said in an official communication. "We have to take that on the chin, and I think that the team have done a brilliant job to develop through this campaign, through this series and as one very plucky Brit said, it's the courage to continue that counts, so that's what we're up for."
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Royal Yacht Squadron was again the first to lodge a challenge for the 38th America's Cup, again earning them the title of Challenger of Record for AC38. INEOS, for their part, has said that they will again support this effort.
As for the location of AC38, it's fair to say that this is anything but settled business.
While this year's Cup cycle provided plenty of excitement for international sailing fans, 2024's year of (metaphoric) fireworks is far from over, with the singlehanded around-the-world Vendee Globe Race set to begin on Sunday, November 10, on the waters off of Les Sables-d'Olonne, France.
May the four winds blow you safely home.
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor