In a closely fought race that rewarded the most marginal of gains, Emirates Team New Zealand took one more point in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match this afternoon in Barcelona, with a fourth consecutive victory over INEOS Britannia that advanced them to within three points of victory in this first-to-seven series.
It was a tough loss for the British who came out with a very different pre-start game-plan, electing to disengage from any potential penalty-inducing close calls and instead trusting in the outright speed of their yacht ‘Britannia’ to try to outmuscle the Kiwis in a straight line. It was a tactic that initially appeared to work.
INEOS Britannia came off the start line to windward with two knots more boatspeed and then matched Emirates Team New Zealand’s pace to the boundary, where they were able to first execute a leebow tack on the Kiwis to force them to quickly tack back to the left, before making a cross on the next tack as they exited the right hand boundary.
On the next convergence the British allowed Emirates Team New Zealand to duck and head to the right of the course. From there, sailing in clear air and benefitting from a slight pressure build out of the upper right quadrant, the Kiwis eked there way back level with the British boat as the windward gate approached and squeezed in a tack in front to block the Challenger’s route to the right hand mark.
