Italy’s Luna Rossa yesterday showed defending champions Team New Zealand that predictions of an America’s Cup walkover were premature, as the opening day of racing ended with honors even.
Team New Zealand easily won the first of two races contested in Auckland on day one of the regatta, only for Luna Rossa, widely written off in the lead-up, to bounce back and claim the second.
Team New Zealand cruised to victory in the first race by 31 seconds, before Luna Rossa held off a late charge to snatch the second by seven seconds.
Photo: Reuters
The Italian syndicate’s cohelmsman Jimmy Spithill was jubilant at the 1-1 scoreline in the best-of-13 competition and eager for racing to resume tomorrow.
“We followed our plan, kept it calm and the boat did the rest of the work,” the Australian said.
“It’s great to be competitive. I can’t wait mate, bring it on,” he added.
Team New Zealand’s helmsman Peter Burling, who steered the New Zealanders to victory in the last regatta in the Bahamas in 2017, blamed a lack of practice for the hosts’ poor start in the second race.
“We definitely looked a little bit rusty on that last one — it’s no secret we haven’t raced for a little while,” he said. “One mistake and your life’s pretty hard for the rest of the race.”
The Kiwi syndicate entered as the short-priced favorite with bookmakers and some pundits predicting a 7-0 whitewash in their favor, even though they had not raced competitively since warm-up events in late December last year.
Luna Rossa were match-hardened after brushing aside rival challengers American Magic and Ineos Team UK for the right to race Team New Zealand for yachting’s most prestigious trophy.
In the first race, Team New Zealand gained an edge during the pre-start after aggressive maneuvering from Burling, sparking cheers from spectators watching at the Auckland waterfront.
The New Zealanders went around the first mark 14 seconds ahead of Luna Rossa, and extended their advantage to 31 seconds by the finish.
Luna Rossa cohelmsman Francesco Bruni said that the Italians did not perform well enough at the start, but they made amends in the second race, taking a 13-second lead on the first leg.
They appeared to take control of the race after a poorly executed tack by Team New Zealand, but the Kiwis stormed back.
They slashed Luna Rossa’s lead from 12 seconds to five, but the Italians desperately held on. Far from the one-sided affair tipped by the experts, Bruni said that the regatta is poised to be a closely contested battle.
“The performance of the boats seems to be pretty close, so there are exciting times ahead,” he said. “They’re not going to just stand back and watch; they’ll fight hard and we’ll fight hard — it’s going to be a great America’s Cup.”
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