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It was the four stars of the New Zealand flag that shone the brightest after the first day of action competing for the world’s oldest trophy as the Emirates-sponsored Kiwi yacht took the opening two races in the America’s Cup.
Old Glory was looking rather forlorn hanging from the San Francisco Bridge as it was the Kiwi’s that sailed first past the golden gates.
The America’s Cup is often dubbed F1 on water as the fastest yacht race, yet how close are the similarities?
The competition has a long history of the richest men in the world throwing money at their machines to make them faster, hoping to claim the auld jug. It’s only in its 34th edition as there is no set timeframe within which it has to be held, flexibility that has driven the whims and egos of some powerful men in history including Forbes, Vanderbilt and Lipton.
Legend has it that the original race, watched by Queen Victoria, was a winner-takes-all race pitting a privately-funded and heavily-modified vessel, The America, from the far side of the Atlantic, against 14 of the best ships Britain could muster.
In the latest version of an event, first raced around the Isle of White in 1851, the host team is backed by the world’s fifth richest man (second richest CEO) and founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison. He is joined by other billionaires, Patrizio Bertilli (the Prada CEO backing Italy’s Luna Rossa) and Torbjorn Tornqvist (the Swedish oil magnate backing Artemis).
Indeed the only team without a rich benefactor is the New Zealand entry, which is backed by the government.
Continuing the F1 analogy there is also controversy aplenty – this year’s event surpasses even the 2010 edition.
Notwithstanding the decision to race newly-designed yachts that cost in the region of $100m to build and operate, in the process reducing the field from 15 boats to just four, Oracle has been found guilty of illegal modifications resulting in the harshest penalties in the 162-year history of the event.
The fine of $250k and banning of three crew members is probably lighter than the deduction of two points – the equivalent of two race wins – meaning New Zealand have to win seven races compared to 11 by Oracle.
Onshore there were even accusations of broken promises from the American camp to repair San Francisco’s piers and build new boathouses. These were levelled at Ellison’s Event Authority leaving the city itself to cover the cost of waterfront upgrades.
Under the rules of the event the previous winner is allowed to choose the venue, format and even rules of the next event and this is how the event ended up being raced in Ellison’s backyard, San Francisco.
In 2010 the Golden Gate Yacht Club defeated Team Alinghi (Ernesto Bertarelli’s team) in a race that was actually a one-off match, a Deed of Gift race, between the two, the battle on water being the end of lengthy courtroom fighting.
As such, in a throw-back to the original race, the standard rules did not apply meaning two of the largest yachts the world had ever seen raced, BMW Oracle’s won the race and tipped the scales with a mast measuring 223ft, meaning it could not fit under the Golden Gate Bridge!
In the process, Australian Jimmy Spithill, became the youngest winning skipper in the history of the event, aged 30.
There’s no denying that this event is spectacular. The newly-designed catamarans are the pinnacle of what is currently humanly possible to sail.
For example, agreement was reached to ban the motorised winching that was required to lift the sails on the 2010 behemoths.
The newly-designed twin-hull AC72’s were specifically tailored to corresponded with the maximum effort humanly possible over a 30-minute race on a manual winching mechanism.
The ‘junior’ race series aimed at whetting the appetite, named the America’s Cup World Series involving smaller 45’s, has proved popular with crowds flocking to watch absorbing racing by world-class sailors – along with numerous crashes!
However, it is the costs that split the racing fraternity. Typically there are approximately 15 teams that compete.
This year witnessed only four with one of them, Artemis, unable to reach the start following a catastrophic crash that resulted in the death of British Olympian, Andrew Simpson.
The original challenger of record, Mascalzone Latino, withdrew in 2011 citing costs as the main factor while British sailing fanatic, Keith Mills, one of the organisers of the Olympic Games, withdrew, due to the dangers involved.
Following the death of Simpson an urgent review was undertaken with numerous safety enhancements recommended, some of which will revolutionise the sport, such as individual breathing apparatus and the wearing of body armour.
This 34th edition is not without intrigue. Oracle is led by a Kiwi, four-time America’s Cup winner, Russell Coutts, who controversially left the team he led to victory in 1995 and 2000 to join Alinghi, defeating his former teammates in the process.
The Kiwis qualified for the final having defeated the Italians in the Louis Vuitton Cup in a result that should come as no surprise given the vanquished were racing in an old yacht owned by the victors!
In-shore sailing’s premier event commenced on Saturday as the Team New Zealand catamaran won the first race by 36 seconds and followed this with a more emphatic winning margin of 52 seconds. Needless to say, the first result was not allowed to stand until the umpires had reviewed – and rejected – a complaint from Spithill (who had lost compatriot Joey Newton overboard shortly before) that he had been impeded.
The following day, sailing past Alcatraz, Team New Zealand took no prisoners, gaining an increasing advantage with every tack, as they built their lead with victory in the third race. However, in the fourth, Spithill helmed his best race and delivered America’s first point of the series.
