PRADA ACWS AUCKLAND RACE 6 SUMMARY
Emirates Team New Zealand win race 6 against INEOS TEAM UK
Start: 1550
Port: Emirates Team New Zealand
Starboard: INEOS TEAM UK
Course: 6
Axis: 001
Length: 1.82nm
Current: 0.8 knots at 050
Wind speed 12-15kt
Winner Emirates Team New Zealand 1:32
There were early signs of some boat on boat action in the pre-start as INEOS TEAM UK (GBR) attempted to pin a penalty on Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) seconds before the start. The move didn’t work, despite a protest by the British team, but it provided a burst of action in the opening stages of this race.
The breeze had shifted to the left forcing both boats to start on port tack and resulting in a drag race up the first part of the beat.
The Kiwis were first out to the righthand boundary and came back at INEOS TEAM UK as they tacked onto starboard. Sir Ben Ainslie matched the tack, well to leeward and with a decent lateral separation between the two there was little in the way of engagement and more in the way of covering tacks. But just as Emirates Team New Zealand were settling into the makings of a healthy lead, drama as the home team came perilously close to hitting the glass fibre 900kg windward mark in a mis-communication between helmsman Peter Burling and tactician Glenn Ashby who was positioned to leeward and talking him into the rounding.
“No lower, no lower, no lower….listen to me…”, shouted Ashby at Burling as he called the windward mark rounding. “…sorry”, came the clipped reply. A near miss that could have been catastrophic.
Meanwhile, INEOS TEAM UK took the lefthand mark and rounded cleanly to trail by 20 sec. By the bottom mark the Kiwis lead had increased to 30 sec.
On the next lap, the drama came when Emirates Team New Zealand fluffed a gybe in their approach to the bottom gate as the rudder appeared to stall. The boat performed a high speed wheelie. Smart thinking by the crew saw the jib eased quickly and the windward foil raised as Burling headed downwind to avoid a capsize. They managed to recover and rounded the mark cleanly, but it had cost them 5 sec shaving their lead from 45 to 40 seconds.
The third and final lap delivered no more in the way of dramas and saw the Kiwis extend their lead to 1:32 by the finish.