EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND DELIVER A STRONG DAY 2 PERFORMANCE
It was a successful day of racing for both Emirates Team New Zealand crews in Cagliari today. Despite forecasts predicting 17–20 knots and choppy conditions, the Bay of Angels delivered a lighter and more tactical Race Day 2 at the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Sardinia.
The breeze steadily dropped from the first to last race and so did the jib sizes on board the AC40s. The wind dipped below 10 knots at times for the second day of racing. What continued from yesterday was the arm wrestle racing with each and every position and point hard earned for all teams.
For the Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth crew, their focus was on maintaining their subtle consistency, while for Nathan Outteridge’s team, it was about precision and making amends for the single mistake in yesterday's final race. They came out of the blocks firing in Race 1, battling toe to toe with Luna Rossa all the way around the course, eventually taking a 2 second win, with Jake Pye’s Women & Youth team coming in a comfortable 3rd position.
In perhaps the biggest drama of the day at the start of the second race, the Kiwi Women & Youth crew on starboard tack,with Jake Pye on the port helm having to take split second evasive action to avoid Tudor Team Alinghi on port tack with only inches shy of a collision. The result avoided a collision but parked the Women & Youth team dead in the water as Alinghi sailed off with the fleet. The umpires eventually penalised the Swiss, but the damage was done for Pye and the crew had an uphill battle from the back of the fleet. For Nathan Outteridge, Seb Menzies, Andy Maloney, and Iain Jensen, it was a mid-fleet fight for every place in a very tricky breeze, coming down to another dramatic finish with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place boats just two seconds apart. Emirates Team New Zealand snuck into 3rd place, with the Women & Youth team of Jake Pye, Erica Dawson, Josh Armit, and Serena Woodall finishing in 6th.
Race 3 was a race of finesse with the wind dropping to just 7-8 knots and a familiar battle between Emirates Team New Zealand and the two Luna Rossa boats trading positions in the fickle breeze and changing shifts. Emirates Team New Zealand led around the final mark, but was overtaken on the final downwind run by the Luna Rossa Women & Youth team to take second place and finished the day with a 1st, 3rd, and 2nd. For the Women & Youth Team, they crossed the finish line in 5th position to end the day in 4th position overall.
Quote from Nathan Outteridge / after Race 4
Emirates Team New Zealand (skipper and helm)
“It was a tough battle. It was really tricky out there. There were a few gusts and lulls, and more up and down compared to yesterday. Luna Rossa kept us on our toes, and it was nice to keep chipping away. On that last downwind of the first race, we had a couple of close exchanges. It was good to get them on the finish line. We are aware that we have to keep the focus in every race because we saw what happened yesterday.”
Quote from Seb Menzies
Emirates Team New Zealand (helm)
“The racing is epic. Nothing that I have done beats AC40 racing and it is so tight and so close. We didn't expect the breeze to die like this. We got to race on all three jib sizes, which was pretty fun. A few good races and we just got a bit stuck in a couple of moments where we didn't get in the right spot, but it was a good day all in all. I think we are pretty happy.
A couple of good battles with the Italian teams. It seems to be a bit of a theme. We are having a lot of battles with those guys. It's good to go through the processes with the four of us and go through the communication and experience racing, which is really cool.”
Quote from Andy Maloney
Emirates Team New Zealand (trimmer)
“It was pretty dynamic. We got the full range of conditions today. And it was a great tactical battle out there in every race. That's what's so enjoyable about these races–that it really comes down to positioning, execution and tactics, which was really fun.”
Quote from Serena Woodall
Emirates Team New Zealand Women’s & Youth Team (trimmer)
“The second start had a pretty close call with Alinghi, we were coming off the boat end on starboard, and they were trying to do a port start. It got a bit too close for comfort there and that kind of set us off on the back foot for that start, which is a bit of a shame. But we managed to get ourselves back a few places, which was good.
We haven't done that many hours in the boat, so every day is new. We see the conditions and adjust to that and try to learn as much as we can and take forward through the rest of the campaign. The racing has been awesome and it's really cool to have a big variety of races.”