Emirates Team New Zealand has dominated all three races against Luna Rossa.
Emirates Team New Zealand continues to dominate their races with Luna Rossa. On Saturday 21 July they powered to a 7 minute 14 second win. This is the second time in three races that ETNZ has finished more than five minutes ahead, meaning that once again, Luna Rossa was scored DNF (did not finish).
ETNZ has shown flawless crew work. Their choreography during maneuvers on the race course shows the result of all having sailed their AC72 more days than any other team. They also set up in their gym a full scale model of their boat layout, complete with trampoline. They have drilled every sailor’s role in every maneuver. When their jib let go and started in flogging in their second race against Luna Rossa they quickly mastered the situation with little drama. They kept their lead while sorting out the problem, then extended once the pesky jib was thrown overboard.
So… can anyone beat New Zealand?
Luna Rossa has not come close, even when ETNZ had an equipment failure. Artemis has scored high emotionally by getting their boat on the water and into action, but barring massive breakdowns on the Kiwi boat, they have little chance of taking a race from ETNZ, much less winning the seven races needed to win the Louis Vuitton Cup final. And, of course they would first need to beat their presumed opponent Luna Rossa in the semi-final. That leaves Oracle Team USA…
Although they have not lined up with ETNZ, they clearly have speed. Their second boat looks fast, powerful and stable on the foils. And, they have two extra months to refine their crew work while two-boat training. So, the question could just as easily be, can anyone beat Oracle Team USA? Find out in September in the best of 17 race America’s Cup Match. Will ETNZ win 9-0? Will OTUSA win 9-0? Or will we have a knock down, drag out heavyweight slugfest that goes the full 17 rounds? Be there!
Two answers:
probably (hopefully) not. Oracle look as fast as ETNZ in straight line speed, but ETNZ has been hinting at even higher VMGs than they’ve displayed to date, plus – so far as we can see – Oracle can’t consistently pull off a foiling jybe. It also hasn’t helped to train on rudders that breach the class rule and that the jury – unfortunately, showing that there are some things even Larry Ellison can’t buy – declined to authorise. So – absent a serious ETNZ gear failure or flukey light winds – they’re going to lose. And it will serve them right; or
No – endless money, a degree of brazen self-dealing that would make even Dennis Connor blush (anyone remember Club Nautico di Roma? anyone? Larry? No?) and the continued nastiness might just win out. And that’ll be the end of the Cup for as long as Larry Ellison/Oracle want to insist on boats almost no-one else can afford, a match location and overall set-up that has been at least consistently unsporting, if not worse.
A question we would love answered by an expert, not asked. Are there any results from telemetry that give us a clue? Are OTUSA sailing OK on legal rudders yet?