Emirates Team New Zealand notches fourth point in Louis Vuitton Cup / America’s Cup

Emirates Team New Zealand today scored its fourth point in four races of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America’s Cup Challenger Series.

Skipper Dean Barker and the Kiwi crew sailed the course unopposed because its scheduled opponent, Artemis Racing, is still assembling its AC72. Yesterday, the Swedish team said it hopes to be on the water by next weekend.
About today’s race:

• Emirates Team New Zealand sailed the five-leg America’s Cup course
• Course length: 9.89 nautical miles
• Elapsed time: 25 minutes, 56 seconds
• Total distance sailed: 11.44 nautical miles
• Average speed: 26.52 knots (30.5 mph)
• Top speed: 40.62 knots (46.7 mph) on the final reaching leg to the finish
• Wind speed: average 15.78 knots; peak gust 19.7 knots

Quotes from Rob Waddell, grinder for Emirates Team New Zealand:

• On the day’s race: “It’s always a good day to bring the boat in and not have anything major happen to it. It’s a fast and exciting boat, but there’s risk there. You have to make sure everything runs smoothly, and we’re looking forward to getting more racing under our belt.”
• On his position grinding on Pedestal 2: “We named our crewmembers based on the pedestal, but we quite like names like ‘freestyler’ and things like that. So we might have to get more inventive than ‘Pedestal 2.’ Where I stand on Pedestal 2 is more in the aft end of the boat so I tend to be more tied up with wing trim. But you end up going throughout boat. I think a skill of the crew is knowing what to prioritize and what’s important and when to do it.”
• Waddell won a gold medal in the single sculls in the 2000 Olympics, and he commented on the physical exertion compared to grinding on an AC72: “They’re both physical. The new AC72’s a really physical boat. It’s equally demanding as anything I’ve done in a single scull. I guess the difference is that in the scull you’re doing a 7-minute sustained push. You don’t really stop in the 30 or 40 minutes of racing the AC72, but it’s very loaded, very heavy and lots of it. You come off wishing you were fitter, stronger, faster, but you do what you can.”

Quotes from David Carr, grinder for Luna Rossa Challenge, guest commentator on the host broadcast:

• “Difference between a foiling jibe and non-foiling jibe is about 100 meters.”
• “Perfect foiling height is about one-half meter above the water.” 

The schedule ahead:

• Tuesday, July 16, Artemis Racing vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
• Thursday, July 18, Artemis Racing vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
• Saturday, July 20, Luna Rossa Challenge vs. Artemis Racing
• Sunday, July 21, Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Luna Rossa Challenge

-Sean McNeill