Day 1: Luna Rossa shows her teeth to the fearsome Team New Zealand (1-1)
Burling-Spithill: Most Merciless Helmsman Combat in 170 Years
The tension in the Gulf of Hauraki Gulf (Auckland) can be cut with a Maori knife.
Team New Zealand
and
Luna Rossa
shared the partial wins again this Friday, one for each, and the scoreboard for the
36th America's Cup
reflects a draw (
2-2
) that leaves the contest full of uncertainty.
There is no clear dominator and the exchange of blows is reminiscent of
Francisco de Goya's
'Club Duel'
.
The two boats will be with their feet (hydraulic arms, actually) stuck in
kiwi
waters
, hitting each other, until only one remains.
The second day of the final was held under weak wind conditions, at times touching the limit established by the rules for racing (6.5 knots).
The Regatta Committee, in which the Spanish
María Torrijo
is the Chief Regatta Officer, postponed the start for 20 minutes until it managed to keep the spectator boats out of the course.
In the first duel, Luna Rossa once again showed that she feels very comfortable in that wind range thanks to the
design of her 'foils'
(the appendages that work the 'miracle' of lifting the sailboats above the surface of the water), bigger than Team New Zealand.
The Italian crew had to enter the pre-start box first, so Team New Zealand was the pursuer in that two-minute process in which the boats try to destabilize the opponent before crossing the starting line.
James Spithill
advanced to the limits of the box before turning, at which point
Peter Burling
reacted to take the lead.
Seconds before the starting signal was heard, however, helmsman
James Spithill got a length ahead
.
Enough to keep the 'Defender' aft.
And it is that with the AC75 sailboats there is already an established maxim:
whoever goes out first, wins the sleeve
.
We will have to wait for the following rounds to see if this circumstance changes, for the good of the fans.
Because, no matter how sophisticated and fast these boats are, the
match racing
spectacle
(boat versus boat format) are the tactical alternatives, the kamikaze attacks and the Numantine defenses.
And none of that is abounding to date.
Luna Rossa reached the first gate 10 seconds before Team New Zealand,
an advantage that would increase in the next two stages
(up to 27 seconds) thanks to the speed with which the crew completes the maneuvers - tacking and gybing.
With little wind, the regatta requires the pulse of a surgeon, expertise that this time the helmsman of the All Blacks of the sail, Peter Burling, did not have.
The
Challenger of Record
was unchallenged at any time,
gaining a
half-kilometer lead
on the final sprint and eventually winning by a
37-second
margin
, proving that the victory on the first day was no accident.
The defense of the Hundred Guineas Jar will not be the bed of roses that many predicted in New Zealand.
Ahead is a colossus ready to take the trophy to Italy, a galactic team that hardly makes mistakes.
With a 2 to 1 against, Team New Zealand was under enormous pressure for the next round of the day, since a new defeat would leave them on the ropes.
And it is not easy to manage the pressure at more than 30 knots of speed.
The Kiwis needed to take out all the artillery and keep their cool.
Summary of sleeve 3:
LUNA ROSSA / TEAM NEW ZEALAND
Time: 27:18 / +37 sec
Upwind speed: 27.89 knots / 29.04
Downhill speed: 34.12 knots / 35.18
Maximum speed: 39.09 knots / 39.57
Distance: 25,651 m / 27,108
Tacks: 17/18
Gybes: 8/9
AC75 Te Rehutai entered the pre-start box first and this time Peter Burling managed to control his rival, especially in the last seconds when he closed the passage of Luna Rossa near the mark.
Team New Zealand won the start by the minimum
.
Spithill and Bruni decided to turn quickly to separate from the leader, perhaps hoping that the latter would follow.
It was not like that and it was necessary to wait for the first crossing to confirm that the 'Defender' maintained its position, with a 9-second advantage after the first of the six sections of the route, to the relief of its legion of followers.
During the first run (downwind section) New Zealand was flying at 30 knots with a wind of just 8 knots, an outrage.
Luna Rossa was still lurking astern, waiting for an opponent's failure, but what happened was her misstep.
On the approach to the second gate,
the hydraulic arm of the Italian ship remained under water and its speed immediately decreased
.
It could have been a human error or a technical failure, but the truth is that the race ended there, since Luna Rossa faced the second beat (against the wind) with 34 seconds behind, an insurmountable gap.
The Italians were trying to get a miraculous gust of wind out of their hat, but it was nowhere to be seen, so each failed attempt gave Team New Zealand wings.
In the end,
Kiwi triumph by 1:03 minutes apart
, the most bulky distance so far at the end.
Summary of sleeve 4:
With the tie, there will be no outcome of the 36th Copa América this weekend, where another two rounds are scheduled per day (4:15 am in Spain).
The battle continues in style.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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