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Kiwis outsail Oracle on first day
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Emirates Team New Zealand won the first two races of the 34th America’s Cup on Saturday with what appeared to be better boat speed, tactics and crew work than defending champion Oracle Team USA.
“For us, it couldn’t have been a better start,” said Dean Barker, the low-key Kiwi skipper. “I’m really proud of the way the guys sailed. The boat was spot-on today.”
Both Barker and rival skipper James Spithill said it’s too early to tell if the Kiwis have a speed edge. While Spithill was aggressive in both races, the American-based crew didn’t always make the right calls.
“I don’t think you can say we lost on boat speed,” Spithill said. “We made just a few little mistakes here and there. It was very, very tight racing. There will be a lot of lessons learned. The team that can really take steps forward from these days, win or lose, will be the team that will advance more.”
At the very least, the Kiwis took some hide out of the American powerhouse, which is owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp.
On a hot, sunny day in San Francisco, the Kiwis lost and then regained the lead to win the opening race by 36 seconds. They led the whole way in the second race to win by 52 seconds.
The Kiwis need seven more wins to claim the oldest trophy in international sports for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, which held the Auld Mug from 1995-2003.
Oracle Team USA must win 11 races to retain the America’s Cup because it has been docked two points before the contest even started for breaking the rules in a warm-up regatta.
Oracle is also sailing without a key crew member, Dirk de Ridder, a 40-year-old Dutchman who was banished from the event for his role in the scandal.
The racing disproved concerns that there would be no passing lanes on the short course between the Golden Gate Bridge to a point past Alcatraz Island, and that the competition would be devoid of match-racing tactics.
There were both in the opening races of the first America’s Cup contested inshore rather than miles out at sea.
This is also the first time sailing’s marquee regatta has featured foiling catamarans, which lift onto hydrofoils when they reach a certain speed, with both hulls completely out of the water. That reduces drag and increases speed.
Races 3 and 4 were set for yesterday.
On Saturday, Barker was a little quicker off the starting line just inside the Golden Gate Bridge and beat Spithill to the reaching first mark in both races. That allowed him to dictate the race from there.
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