America's Cup: New Zealanders assert, French retreat
In Barcelona, the first chapter of the America's Cup allowed us to see the strengths and weaknesses of each side.
The defender is unbeatable
Unsurprisingly, we saw a New Zealand defender already ready: the New Zealanders are fast all the time and at all speeds but they are not immune: in fact, during the first duel of the day, the AC75 dominated the silver jug holders. “America Magic” with its very special design and “cyclists” in an extended position.
“Maybe not everyone shows everything in this kind of preliminary regatta,” says Thierry Fouchier. The only French sailor to have won the America’s Cup, with the Americans in 2010, believes the defender still has more under his belt. Moreover, in the final, the duo of Peter Burling and Nathan Outridge immediately put the record straight, narrowly beating the Italians Luna Rossa, who were penalized three times.
Delabier: “It wasn't far off.”
In the Catalan race, we saw a spectacle with AC75s piloted by top-level crews. These 22-metre monohulls, weighing six tonnes, lacking a central keel and flying thanks to huge foils, are very complex machines: they are capable of flying at 35 knots downwind and more than 45 knots downwind with winds of only 8 to 10 knots. During the qualifying period, which lasted between 20 and 25 minutes, the Swiss, Italians, French and Americans had problems during the regattas.
On the French side, the stages leading up to the start were a real problem: on Sunday, against the English, the Delapierre-Piponnet duo was penalized from the start, starting a little late, before putting in a good run. After being beaten by 48 seconds by Ben Ainslie's team, the Blues ended the competition with a successful run. “It wasn't far,” said a Vannes resident after crossing the finish line. In the end, the Orient Express Racing team lost four games, and only managed one win after the Americans retired.
Not much, but these initial regattas, which, let us remember, were not of any importance, allowed everyone to measure themselves, and to measure each other. From Thursday, August 29, the Louis Vuitton Cup rounds will begin: there, all the matches will be counted…
Results of the matches of the fourth and final day
New Zealand – United States: 0 – 1 (28 inches difference)
Italy – Switzerland: 1 – 0 (48 inches difference)
France – England: 0 – 1 (48 inches difference)
the end: New Zealand – Italy: 1 – 0 (34 inches difference)
Final ranking:
1. New Zealand (4 wins, 0 losses) 4 points
2. Italy (4 wins, 1 loss) 4 points
3. USA (3 wins, 2 losses) 3 points
4. England (2 wins, 3 losses) 2 points
5. Switzerland (1 win, 4 losses) 1 point
6. France (1 win, 4 losses) 1 point
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Quentin Delapierre: “We are in the process but it is clear that it is not enough: does that mean that we are not in a good position for August 29 (editor’s note: start date of the Louis Vuitton Cup)? I don’t think so, we have huge potential. This Sunday, we took the wrong direction, we are less powerful compared to the English. I think that with the same arm, it is not the same race. The goal is to race from start to finish without making any mistakes. We are lucky to have the boat and the speed to do that, so on the 29th, we will have to be very precise. We are far from giving up. In these first regattas, we have learned a lot of things against opponents who have sailed more than us. There is a bit of frustration because sometimes we were not far from doing great things and we did not manage to achieve it.”