MORNING BRIEFING - DAY 2

The second was to highlight just how evenly matched the two teams are in one set of conditions. And while that knowledge from two races helps to answer some of the questions that have been doing the rounds, the data does little to predict the outcome of today’s scheduled races.
Whichever weather model you look at, one thing is clear, Day 2 of the 36th America’s Cup is going to be tricky with light winds at the bottom of the acceptable wind range for racing as a change in the weather settles over the Hauraki Gulf.
According to regatta director Iain Murray the forecast shows a variety of conditions with 2-7knots of breeze from the northeast. He has decided to use course area E for today’s racing in the hope that, ‘the breeze will funnel down through the channel as it did on Wednesday.’
With another large spectator fleet expected, consideration was also given to ensuring that the race course could be aligned to the conditions should they fill in.
He also reiterated the weather conditions and time limits that will be in place saying, “The lower limit is an average of 6.5 knots measured for five minutes between 9-4 minutes before the start. Should we get a race away, when it comes to time limits a boat needs to complete the first leg in 12 minutes, after that the deadline for the completed race is 45 minutes.”
Such light conditions will mean that foiling could be tricky and make staying on the foils a crucial part of the game. This in turn influences tactics and strategy, particularly in the pre-start where teams may seek to force each other off their foils, but without splashing down themselves. At times we have seen teams consider this tactic as presenting too high a risk and have chosen to avoid engaging with their opponents instead.

Until now, light conditions have been considered to favour the Italians, yet it has been a long time since we have seen the Kiwis race in light weather. A great deal of water has passed under the bridge since then and plenty has changed. But what we do know is that the defenders have been out training in very light winds and have been seen using a new code zero sail, presumably to cater for precisely this eventuality.
But even if this sail was declared as part of their armoury, we don’t know for sure when they would use it. The issue of hoisting and dropping the sail brings another aspect of crew work and we’ve seen little evidence of this which has suggested that the sail would be used for the final leg to the finish, a set and forget option.
But would it? Is the home team playing their cards close to their chests on this one? Could this be a weapon for other legs of the course, or even in the pre-start?
As always, there are plenty of unanswered questions as we go into another day of America’s Cup racing, but this time the main focus starts with the weather.