That was not what Ben Ainslie and his Ineos Britannia team imagined on the first day of the America’s Cup duel. Just minutes before the start of Race 1, the temperature display for one of the batteries on board showed temperatures that were too high. Ainslie explained: “Unfortunately one of our batteries decided to melt just before take off. That doesn’t happen often. In general, these lithium batteries are quite reliable.”
A battery problem costs time
It wasn’t this one. Ainslie said: “We had to get her off the boat in a hurry. But it didn’t burn and there was no smoke either. You would have already seen that. But you can’t take risks.” Ainslie didn’t want to explain in detail exactly how the battery was removed from a board. But: “That cost us time and that’s why we were late diving in, ” he first explained the evening after the opening of the America’s Cup.
The team responded well and “didn’t panic”. “We managed to put together a decent start,” said the Chief Executive, skipper and helmsman of the team. Replacing a battery, Ainslie says, takes no more than three to five minutes, but it was needed “unfortunately at the wrong time.” “We noticed it when we were about to leave the support boat to take off,” said the 47-year-old.
The first day of the 37th game for the America’s Cup started unexpectedly under cloudy skies. Light winds affected the course and forced race director Ian Murray to postpone the start. It was not until 2:50 pm on October 12 that the first shot was fired in the cup duel between “Taihoro” of New Zealand and “Britannia”. And until the cloud cover partially opened, more wind came in with winds between eleven and 13 knots, but it remained punchy and shifting.
America’s Cup defenders rule the boot
The determined Kiwis then cruised to a clean sweep from start to finish thanks to successful positioning and textbook manoeuvres. “Taihoro” finished 41 seconds ahead of “Britannia”. At the start of the second race, Ben Ainslie and his co-driver Dylan Fletcher were accordingly more lively in the pre-start stage, but could not score as successfully as they did in the Louis Vuitton Cup final against “Luna Rossa”.
Instead, it was the people of New Zealand who decided the action again – this time fighting for the right side. At the start signal they were the ones to turn right and sail towards the right hand course barrier. Series leadership changes made the following stage of the race very exciting and gave British fans new hope.
But then the preliminary decision was made on the third downwind part of the course, which this time had a total of eight parts. Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge kept “Britannia” “captured” on the right side of the course with the fresh wind coming from the left. When they finally got 28 seconds ahead, they gave up.
When you get a good start and you’re in the lead, it makes life a little bit easier.” Peter Burling
The Kiwis, who were unstoppable that day, cruised to a 2-0 lead with picture-perfect tackles and flawless jibes with perfect flight control. Faster top speed obviously helped the America’s Cup defenders in these conditions. It was not enough that day that the British were able to record small gains several times before the wind.
“The fight in Hell” for the America’s Cup?
“Taihoro” reached the finish line with a lead of 27 seconds and satisfied Kiwis. Peter Burling described the speed advantages of the New Zealand foil, saying: “Today the winds were so shifty. The pursuit boat had a lot to do and sometimes suffered heavy losses as a result. We have experienced this a few times. But I’m sure we’ll have a hell of a fight from now on.”
Asked by YACHT online what role “Taihoro’s” speed potential played that day, Peter Burling said: “Speed always plays a huge role in the America’s Cup. Today was probably the hardest day to measure speed. Because of the swell, the strength of the wind and rotation created a picture that was constantly changing. But I’m very happy with our performance.” The way he said it sounded quite happy.
As the wind picks up, which is not initially expected in Barcelona for races 3 and 4 on Sunday, is he expecting tough pre-start attacks from Ainslie and Co.? A smile and then one word: “Yes.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to stay on board
Ben Ainslie, who was beaten twice at the start, was hoping for better results and chances this afternoon. At first, the British media, who were now reporting in large numbers from Barcelona, reacted somewhat soberly to the two victories. On the other hand, the Daily Telegraph newspaper had reported that Ineos Britannia prop Sir Jim Ratcliffe is committed to another joint campaign regardless of the outcome of the historic duel with New Zealand, although the team could seek additional outside support.
I believe we can take a race out of them.” Ben Ainslie
Ben Ainslie was not depressed on Saturday afternoon, open and aggressive. “I still think it will be a close race. It was tougher today than it looked at times. I think we have already shown as a team that we are quite resilient. It was good for us to have a chance to read the Kiwis out there today. I’m sure we’ll learn from it.”
Ainslie said he was as confident as he was the day before that his team could still win. Ainslie said: “We knew it would be tough. But nothing has changed: we have to win seven races before they do. I still believe we can do it.” Was he able to identify any weaknesses in the New Zealanders? “Not really today. She had two great races. His performance was good, his pace was good. They found the pressure to be good for the most part and they did the maneuvers well.”
Ainslie then went on to say: “We were close a few times in the second race today. It didn’t take much for things to go the other way around. It’s easy to look at both wins and hold on to the gap, but I think it’s closer than that.”
Louis Vuitton 37th game in the America’s Cup, race 1:
Louis Vuitton 37th game in the America’s Cup, race 2: