Yahoo Finance The comeback starts here: Ineos Team UK victory keeps Prada Cup alive
It is not over yet. Ineos Team UK still have a mountain to climb if they are to rescue this Prada Cup final and advance to next month’s 36th America’s Cup match against New Zealand. But they are off the mark.
Victory in the second of Saturday's two races in Auckland means Sir Ben Ainslie’s team stopped the rot and made it 5-1 to rivals Luna Rossa in the first-to-seven showdown.
The British challengers are still on the brink. It could be all done and dusted on Sunday should they lose both races. But as Ainslie said afterwards: “Momentum is everything in sport”. And like a football team scoring with the last kick before half-time, having been 5-0 down, Ineos now have that faint glimmer of hope.
This felt like a significant win. Bigger than just the one point on the board. For one thing, it proved that Ineos are capable of winning races in light airs. The 8-10 knots of wind sweeping across Course E yesterday — the “Back Paddock” as it is known locally — could hardly have been more perfect for the Italians had Jimmy Spithill conjured the conditions himself.
Luna Rossa have proved they have the superior boat in light breezes and their Australian co-helm enjoys nothing more than, in his own words, keeping his foot his opponents’ throat. He did exactly that in the first race of the day.
Ineos had starboard entry, following their rivals into the start box. And it looked as if the British boat was in a strong position as the two challengers turned for the line. Ineos were to windward with Luna Rossa potentially a little early.
The Italians had, in fact, nailed it. Managing to sail a high, slow mode upwind — a manoeuvre they have apparently been practising this week — they cut Britannia off as both boats tried to take the right end of the line, with the right side of the course favoured.
Ineos made a desperate lunge at the last minute, with both boats OCS [early over the line] and picking up penalties, which were neutralised.
But as they came back for the first cross, with Britannia on starboard tack and marginally ahead, the race umpires, urged by Spithill, ruled that Ineos had gained an unfair advantage from their start and handed them a second penalty.
It took them a while to drop the required 50m behind Luna Rossa, with an exasperated Ainslie heard asking chief umpire Richard Slater “We’re behind, Richard! What do you want us to do, mate?” But once they did drop back, it was all over. From 15 seconds at the first gate, the gap had grown to 1min 20sec, more than a kilometre on the water, by the finish.
Ainslie was clearly frustrated by the incident at the start but insisted he had no regrets. “It was pretty tight,” he admitted. “We wanted the right-hand side for the pressure, knowing we’re struggling for straight-line performance. It was worth taking the risk. I would do the same thing again.”
After the war of words over Luna Rossa’s refusal to push back the racing on account of the local Covid-19 lockdown, with Ainslie accusing the Italians of “Machiavellian” behaviour and suggesting they were particularly keen to race given the light forecast, there was a definite niggle in the air before race six.
Ineos could not afford to lose another start, and this time they didn’t. With the breeze stiffening by a knot or two, Ineos positioned themselves to leeward and despite some aggressive tactics from Luna Rossa, managed to stay slightly ahead over the line as both boats headed out to the left side of the course.
Luna Rossa tacked off early, heading out to the right side and setting up a dramatic first cross. Ineos managed to pull off a classic lee-bow tack to stay slightly ahead and then stayed ahead from then on, Luna Rossa repeatedly probing their defences, waiting in vain for an error. Ineos eventually winning by 14 seconds.
And so to Sunday, with Ineos needing at least one win to keep the series going. It is going to be incredibly nervous stuff, with more light winds forecast. But Ainslie’s team have now proved they can win in these conditions, even with a slight performance disadvantage (Britannia had to sail with the largest jib available on their boat yesterday while Luna Rossa opted for the J2). If they can get through Sunday, things could get very interesting. “Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are all 15-knots plus,” noted grinder Freddie Carr. “So let’s get through tomorrow and get them in the breeze, man.”
“We obviously want more breeze,” Ainslie agreed. “It seems to be that in 13 knots and above the boats are pretty even, but beneath that we struggle. That is the challenge. But this team will not give up. We’ve got ourselves off the mark now and that momentum is key. As we know, in sport momentum is everything.”
