A warm and humid day in Barcelona yielded southerly thermal breezes of 7-11 knots for two absorbing races in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match that saw INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record, take back-to-back victories to move the scoreline to 4-2.
The wins also served to halt the early-series momentum that had been building in favour of the America's Cup Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand.
For the British, it’s the first time in over ninety years since 1934 that they have won two races in an America’s Cup Match. Back then Sir T.O.M. Sopwith’s ‘Endeavour’ scored the first two wins before Harold Vanderbilt’s ‘Rainbow’ came back strongly and clinched the series 4-2. History was certainly being made in Barcelona today.
The opening race got underway on time with the wind above the 6.5 knots lower racing limit and a lumpy, bumpy, residual sea state that made it challenging to keep the AC75s flying consistently. In essence, this race was decided soon after Emirates Team New Zealand dialled into the starting box from the port end. They were on time, but without the speed to comfortably cross INEOS Britannia’s starboard gybe entry. The onboard decision to gybe around saw ‘Taihoro’ lose speed and drop into displacement mode.
Still on their foils, the British crew made sure to apply maximum wing-wash on their rivals, as they first powered over them to windward on port and then once again on starboard as they started, leaving Emirates Team New Zealand struggling to speed build on a long displacement port tack towards the right boundary.
