America’s Cup: Marching Toward the Match

As the competition leading up to the 35th America’s Cup Match completes its second week of racing, the mastery of the AC Class boat continues to rise for each team. While a faster boat historically wins the America’s Cup, this edition could foil that record.

If a slower boat wins the start and doesn’t falter in the maneuvers, the short 20-minute races may not always be long enough to overcome a mistake. The other wild card is the wild winds of Bermuda. Having Mother Nature as your “seventh crew” could be a huge.

The noise beyond the competition has been politically charged as the two dominant parties compete for supremacy. Central to this debate is the America’s Cup, which the ruling party has invested heavily in to restore the island’s economy. But if the event fails to deliver the forecasted benefit, heads will roll with turmoil to follow. More on this here.

As for the racing, here’s the recap:

June 9: After Emirates Team New Zealand had yesterday derailed Sir Ben Ainslie and his Land Rove BAR team’s desire to bring the America’s Cup back to Britain, the other Semi-Final Match saw Artemis Racing complete their comeback to defeat SoftBank Team Japan. After being down 1-3, Artemis Racing rolled through four straight wins to advance to the Challenger Finals. Full story and video here.

June 10: The best of nine race Challenger Finals pitted the only two teams with previous America’s Cup campaign experience, showing that this game is a long shot for newbies. Both Emirates Team New Zealand and Artemis Racing sailed nearly flawlessly to split the first two races, with the third race proving to be another slugfest until Artemis Racing skipper Nathan Outteridge slipped off the boat. Full story and video here.

June 11: The second day of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Finals provided the opportunity for Peter Burling’s Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) to close out the series, looking to parlay their two wins from yesterday to win the ‘first to five’ match. With squalls disrupting the forecast and daggerfoil decisions, it was an exciting day with the Kiwis trading blows with Nathan Outteridge’s Artemis Racing (SWE). And not unlike yesterday, the final race proved to be the most exciting. Full story and video here.

June 12: Somehow and some way, the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Finals will end on this day. Lighter winds are forecast, with either the Kiwis or Swedes advancing to meet Defender Oracle Team USA in the best of 13 America’s Cup Match to begin on June 17.

Mea Culpa: The Brits have revealed how their eventual failure was suspected as far back as last summer when problems started surfacing. Full story here.

Sidelines: While the French and British teams are analyzing why their campaigns failed, the Japanese have shifted their attention to helping Defender Oracle Team USA retain the Cup. These two teams have been in co-hoots since the Japanese submitted their entry, and it was likely part of this pact for them to pair up again. Full story and video here.

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