Image: Ian Roman / America's Cup
Emirates Team New Zealand concluded a historic chapter, winning the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup after an epic final showdown in Barcelona against the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia, in a single race that ebbed and flowed from the outset but ultimately saw the Kiwis secure victory by 37 seconds.
On a day where the Barcelona waterfront was treated to the spectacle of a record breaking 350 Patí Catala catamarans on the racecourse before racing, the British came out looking for a pre-start fight. In a shifting breeze of 7-11 knots on flat water, they entered on starboard before gybing immediately onto the Kiwi line to trail them out to the far-right boundary of the box and the race was on.
Emirates Team New Zealand were first to gybe down the boundary but found INEOS Britannia, who had gybed inside, right on their bow. On the lead back to the line, the New Zealand crew tried to wriggle free with two tacks, but these were matched deftly by the British.
As the set-up began for the line, INEOS Britannia sat to leeward, attempting to force a shutout at the right-hand end of the line. But in the final seconds, both boats had time to kill and bore away down the line, allowing Emirates Team New Zealand to assume the windward position and tack off immediately for the right boundary. On the tack back, the Kiwis had the right-of-way advantage and crossed before making a decision that was crucial to the race’s outcome.
Ignoring the chance to tack immediately and cover the British—who were headed to the right-hand boundary—the canny afterguard of Emirates Team New Zealand held on straight, sailing into increased pressure and a favourable shift that helped them eke out further boat lengths ahead, so that when they tacked back their lead was assured. It was a masterclass of wind-reading and sailor’s intuition, with Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge, Blair Tuke, and Andy Maloney sharing information effectively between them and reacting accordingly.
For INEOS Britannia, the writing looked to be on the wall, but the never-say-die attitude that has been carefully cultivated within the team came to the fore, and on the second windward leg, a rare miscalculation on the pressure from the Kiwis opened the door for the British to stage a comeback.
INEOS Britannia helmsmen Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher grabbed the opportunity with both hands, playing the far-right boundary to greatffect and eating up the distance metre-by-metre to bring Britannia within striking distance at the second windward gate.
With a right-hand wind shift making both boats overstand on starboard tack on the final approaches to the gate, the teams elected to take opposite markers, with Emirates Team New Zealand bearing away around the port marker as Britannia tacked around the starboard. The official delta was measured at precisely zero seconds – literally, nothing separated the two boats.
This dead heat rounding set up a potentially fascinating downwind leg, but after gybing on the right boundary, Emirates Team New Zealand came scorching across on port gybe in a pressure patch that had been spotted by the team well in advance, and the resultant 180-metre gain was telling.
The Kiwis, having seen their lead evaporate once, were in no mood to give it up again. On the final beat, they played it conservatively up the right side, tacking on Britannia where necessary to bounce them to the left and rounded the final windward gate at 47 knots with a 17-second lead. It was brilliance combined with boat speed, and the results were devastating on the water.
A final downwind leg to the finish, textbook in its execution, saw Emirates Team New Zealand gybe off the right boundary and fly down the course before a final gybe on the port layline to angle into the finish line and the history books. The finishing delta was recorded at 37 seconds, and as INEOS Britannia crossed the line, they were quick to round up and applaud the victorious Emirates Team New Zealand crew, who were almost immediately surrounded by an armada of spectator boats and supporters.
Onboard ‘Taihoro’, the sails were quickly and efficiently stowed before the New Zealand flag was raised above a banner with the Catalan words: ‘Moltes Gràcies Barcelona’ – Many Thanks, Barcelona. Bernard Arnault, the Chief Executive of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, was welcomed aboard ‘Taihoro’ by the Kiwi sailors before the customary spraying of Moët & Chandon champagne in celebration.
After both teams made a fast tow back to the Port Vell—which was filled with spectator craft of all shapes and sizes – Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei once again greeted the arrival of ‘Taihoro’ at the dock. Emirates Team New Zealand have officially made history as the first continuous team to win the America’s Cup three times in a row, and the sense of elation around the dockside was palpable.
Stepping ashore, Peter Burling skipper of Emirates Team New Zealand put it in perspective as he struggled to take in just what he and the team had achieved, saying: "It’s a pretty surreal feeling, it's still definitely sinking in. In the America's Cup you’re all ready for a long battle but to be able to get it done today in just beautiful sailing conditions with a little bit of shift in it and just so many people cheering us on, was amazing.”
Talking about the race, and particularly where they let INEOS Britannia come back into it at the mid-way point, Burling commented: “It will be interesting to go back and review a couple parts of the race, it felt like we had the boat going really good but couldn't buy a shift at times. We got a relatively even start, they were quite close, so we just decided to get out to the right that we really liked but yeah really pleased the way we just continued to improve through the week, the boat was feeling awesome today and it was a real team effort.”
Reflecting on what it felt as a team to win the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup, Burling added: "Just incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished. The America's Cup has got to be one of the hardest sporting trophies in the world to win. You’ve got to have so many parts come together to make it all work and now having done that three times in a row, it’s incredibly special.”
Peter Burling also added a mention to Ben Ainslie and the INEOS Britannia team saying: “All credit to Ben and INEOS Britannia, I think they put together an incredible challenge, they pushed us the whole way, obviously we got a good jump on the leaderboard but every race felt like a real battle and they were amazing challengers.”
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Kevin Shoebridge, Chief Operating Officer for Emirates Team New Zealand very much saw it as a team effort all round, saying: “It’s an amazing feeling. I'm just so thrilled that it played out like it did today. It's been a tough couple of months, today made it all worth it. It has been a fantastic team effort from day one and I think that was shown in the way we performed today.”
Reflecting on the huge contribution that INEOS Britannia made to the event, Shoebridge added: “We have got a really close relationship with Ben and his team. They are great competitors, had a great boat and it has been fantastic to have them in the competition. We just got the better of them this time, but it wasn't easy – it was tough. So great respect to them for their campaign.”
Sir Ben Ainslie, understandably disappointed, reflected on a remarkable campaign for the British saying: “Mixed emotions of course, first of all I’ve got to say credit to Emirates Team New Zealand, an amazing achievement for that organisation and for our team to get into the America's Cup itself was a huge achievement and we've been on quite a journey for the last 10 years, and especially the last three years.
"Ultimately to fall short at the final hurdle is always tough, but we know that we've been up against one of the best if not ‘the’ best teams in the history of the Cup. We have to take that on the chin, and I think that the team have done a brilliant job to develop through this campaign, through this series and as one very plucky Brit said, it’s the courage to continue that counts, so that's what we're up for.”
Looking to the future, as well as reflecting on the support the team has received in Barcelona, Ainslie added: “We can't say enough about the support we've had here and back over in the UK, it has been unbelievable. I've never experienced anything like it and it has made a huge difference to the team, a great motivator and a great driver. As for the future of the team, we set out to win the Cup, we got close and we’re getting closer every time.
"To my mind when you set out to achieve a target, you’ve got to get there so we continue, we keep going and keep taking this organisation forward. Every time we do it we get more efficient, we learn more about the technical approaches, we learn more from our competitors, and I think we've got a great group of people and we can take it to the next level.”
Emirates Team New Zealand defended the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in style and accepted the trophy with class and grace officially at the main stage of the Race Village this evening. The future of the event will be announced in “due course,” according to Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup Event and Emirates Team New Zealand, with the tradition being for a challenge to be issued as soon as the winning boat crosses the finish line of the last race.