A DAY OF WAITING AND ARM WRESTLING TO OPEN THE NAPLES PRELIMINARY REGATTA FOR EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND
The intensity of early morning thunderstorms was eventually matched by the intensity of racing on the water today in Naples, testing the full fleet across a tricky course on the Bay of Naples. The race committee faced an uphill battle to get competition underway in light, challenging conditions, compounded by a residual chop and an initial northeasterly breeze fighting a soft thermal southerly sea breeze.
The anticipation grew among the more than 20,000 spectators along the lungomare, where the America's Cup Race Village is located on Naples' waterfront as well as the countless more fans watching from the streets and houses on the hills of Chiaia, Vomero, and Posillipo. After two abandoned attempts and an extended delay, the gradient wind finally built late in the day to unleash high-speed AC40 action, with the first start getting underway at 4:40 pm local time.
In the opening race, Emirates Team New Zealand's senior boat, helmed by Nathan Outteridge, executed a sharp start on the right and tacked off across the course, locking into an immediate duel with ARC Team USA up the first beat. Outteridge rounded the top mark in second place, but tricky downwind transitions proved costly as the team lost positions through the middle of the fleet to cross the line in fifth. Meanwhile, the Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth crew were left parked off the start line in soft air, yet demonstrated strong resilience to fight their way back through the fleet into a seventh-place finish on a demanding opening run where both Kiwi entries worked hard to maximise boat speed.
In Race 2, the drama escalated immediately at the start when the French team La Roche-Posay Racing Team capsized right off the start line. Among the rest of the fleet an intense arm wrestle ensued up a shifty first leg. The contest developed into a tight mid-fleet dogfight, highlighted by another tit-for-tat scrap between Outteridge and ARC Team USA throughout the course. Behind them, the Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth squad mounted a tenacious defence of their third place position, fighting to keep their bow in clear air against a pursuing Italian Women & Youth crew. As the breeze freshened, Outteridge and crew made their move up the fleet on the second bottom mark rounding, carving past three boats to get back to 4th place, their sights set on a stern of the the Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth team, who they passed in the final stage of the race capped off a strong comeback. The Kiwi teams finished 3rd and 4th, respectively.
Emirates Team New Zealand senior team finished the day in second position overall behind Luna Rossa, with the Women & Youth team just three points behind in 6th=.
With the cobwebs blown out and valuable lessons banked from an unpredictable opening day, both Kiwi crews will look to carry their late-afternoon momentum into the next 48 hours of racing. What is clear from two tough races, is to make the Match Race Final on Sunday—as always—consistency will be key.
QUOTES FROM THE SAILORS
Nathan Outteridge, Skipper Emirates Team New Zealand:
“It was a tricky first day here in Naples. We've been talking so much about how good the weather is and how reliable the breeze is. But today didn't want to play ball. Eventually, the breeze came in from the land and we had a nice nor'easter come in quite windy and shifty.
It was pretty hard just trying to work out the wind range and direction because it had come in so late in the day. We probably lost quite a few places over the two races by not capitalising on the gusts downwind which were really difficult to spot. Really, really tight battles amongst the group and we got a little bit bounced around in most of our races but the guys did a great job.”
“It was definitely a day for fighting. And it wasn't our cleanest day. But we're focusing on pushing through those hard moments. I was really proud of the guys as they kept at it. We had a few tough moments, especially in that first race. And tomorrow, the goal is to go out, have a cleaner day, and avoid the traffic.”
Jake Pye, Skipper Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth team:
“What an exciting day it turned into after a pretty slow start. The race committee tried their best to get us racing. We had to abandon two races due to lack of wind, but both Kiwi boats were in the mix and pushing the front. Later on, the wind filled in from the northeast and turned into a beautiful 15 to 20 knots breeze with some exciting racing.”
“The hardest part was to switch from marginal foiling conditions to then straight into top-end, fresh conditions. Changing jibs and getting into the new mindset with doing 20 knots more of boat speeds than we had been doing all day. In the final race, we hung in there towards the front, but had one poor manoeuvre, and Nath and the crew just got around us. It was epic racing. We were glad to be able to put it all together and execute a pretty good race in that one.”
Watch all the racing live or catch up later via replay on the official America’s Cup YouTube channel.
For live TV coverage, check your local broadcaster for availability in your region. New Zealand fans can also watch the racing live or on replay on TVNZ:
HOW TO WATCH THE PRELIMINARY REGATTA NAPLES
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