Day 3: The Marmot Regatta (3-3)
Day 2: Club match in Auckland (2-2)
Day 1: Luna Rossa shows her teeth
The most ruthless helmsman's fight in 170 years
Equality is over.
Smiles and tears.
Turning point in the
36th America's Cup
.
In the third round of the final of the mother of all regattas (rounds 7 and 8),
Team New Zealand
hit a
Luna Rossa
twice in a row on Monday,
which was left stagnant on a crazy day.
The 'Defender' broke the equality and with a score of
5 to 3
in his favor he is only two partial wins away from retaining the Hundred Guineas Jug.
More than the advantage obtained by
Peter Burling's
crew
, it is the feelings that prevail in each team that invite us to think that the course of the Cup has definitely changed.
Team New Zealand won the first round by taking advantage
of the adversary's mistakes and with that extra top speed
that its AC75 has, while in the second round it was able
to masterfully manage the crisis
that erupted when its boat was trapped in a well with no wind. .
Finishing up by almost four minutes of difference when in the fourth section of the route he was four minutes behind the Luna Rossa, says a lot about the faith of the Kiwis when it comes to sailing.
On the Italian ship the disappointment is the size of the Hauraki Gulf.
And that the seventh manga left
the biggest
match racing
duel
seen to date
in the 36th edition of the Cup.
James Spithill
again wasted genius in the pre-start;
Burling's men managed to corner Luna Rossa between the box boundary and the right mark of the starting line, but the Australian helmsman had no qualms about leaving the border, taking a little detour and getting back into the box in time , having gotten rid of the rival and accelerating without problems.
Yes, Team New Zealand managed to go out to port, the winning side on the race course, but with the Italians right next to it.
From her position, Luna Rossa was pressing the 'Defender', who could not turn to start the second board and was getting closer and closer to the limit of the race course.
It was the Italians who maneuvered first, managing to be in the lead.
Once again, Team New Zealand was sailing a couple of knots faster upwind (upwind), but
Luna Rossa turned better, enough to gain an eight-second lead
in the first leg and a 10-second lead in the next.
With wind conditions favorable to its design (7 and 14 knots), the 'Challenger' and Italy still had reason to dream.
However,
the Italian dream soon turned into a nightmare of not sleeping
.
Luna Rossa performed the transition maneuver poorly to tackle the second upwind section and shortly after escaped at the junction with Team New Zealand, who was able to continue with an incredible board that would end up leaving him ahead the next time they crossed.
Luna Rossa was lagging behind (19 seconds in the third gate 3, 29 in the fourth and 48 before facing the final sprint).
Without committing any mistakes,
Burling's men added their fourth partial victory by 58 seconds apart
.
Manga summary 7:
TEAM NEW ZEALAND / LUNA ROSSA
Time: 25:17 / +58 sec
Upwind speed: 31.74 knots / 29.94
Downhill speed: 38.70 knots / 36.62
Maximum speed: 42.97 knots / 42.50
Distance: 26,964 m / 25,425
Tacks: 14/14
Gybes: 7/7
In the waiting time between the two rounds on board the AC75 'Te Rehutai' the crew members could not hide their satisfaction, while on the Luna Rossa an emergency meeting was called with the members that make up the gray matter of the team: Francesco Bruni, James Spithill, Philippe Presti and Vasco Vascotto decided to change the jib (headsail) and surely they drew up a different strategy to put the tables back on the scoreboard.
But no one could foresee what was about to happen.
This time Luna Rossa managed to go out to port and command the first upwind crossing.
And immediately after, Team New Zealand began to close the gap little by little, knot by knot.
There was not as much
macht race
as in the first round, but the excitement made up for it.
With determination, Spithill and Bruni started the second stage, the first downwind, with a 16-second lead.
Shortly after, in the middle of the race course,
Team New Zealand tried to jibe in an area with very little wind intensity and braked, floated and stayed flat
.
Seeing an ultra-fast AC75 trying to take off without wind is a ridiculous image.
As the kiwis struggled to revive their machine, Luna Rossa placidly sailed toward the third gate, thinking that fortune had taken her side.
But the
Luna Rossa also stayed ironed right at the door of the fourth section
.
Out of action, the Italian AC75 crawled, desperate to find a little wind.
He even left the race course to try to resume the march, which earned him up to three penalties.
For its part, Team New Zealand did manage to take off, reach gate three (with a disadvantage of 4:07) and give a recital of how to fly without wind, thanks in large part to their knowledge of the race course and a titanic effort by the grinders to feed the beast.
Team New Zealand won by 3:55 after 38 minutes of anguish
.
The Kiwis have finally donned the
Defender
outfit
.
Manga 8 summary:
TEAM NEW ZEALAND / LUNA ROSSA
Time: 38:57 / +3: 55 sec
Upwind speed: 26.24 knots / 23.05
Downhill speed: 28.28 knots / 26.60
Maximum speed: 37.24 knots / 35.19
Distance: 32,277 m / 32,025
Tacks: 16/15
Gybes: 12/11
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
sports
New Zealand
Italy
Copa AméricaEquality in the marmot regatta
Luna Rossa shows her teeth to the fearsome Team New Zealand in the America's Cup
Sports36th America's Cup: the most ruthless helmsman's fight in 170 years
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