34th America's Cup - Race 11
by Magnus Smith 19 Sep 2013 00:24 BST
18 September 2013
Wednesday 18th September was day 8 of the 34th America's Cup and San Francisco saw race 11 - postponed from the previous day - fall to the Kiwis. Dean Barker was all set for a repeat performance in race 12, and was literally seconds from winning the start, when the building wind and ebb tide caused alarm bells to ring with race officials, and the start was called off.
Emirates Team New Zealand has moved to match point
Dean Barker, Ray Davies and their team held the lead throughout race 11, winning the start to give a 3 second advantage at the first mark, later extending this to 18 seconds, and finally crossing the line 15 seconds ahead of ORACLE TEAM USA.
The conditions in the bay were approx. 17 knots wind against 2kts ebb tide; both boats were hitting 37 knots up the first beat and seemed very well matched in terms of speed. Later analysis showed the American AC72 was sailing slightly slower but picking a shorter distance; a choice that was not enough to pay off.
Race 11 Performance Data
- Course: 5 Legs/10.16 nautical miles
- Elapsed Time: ETNZ – 23:41, OTUSA – 23:56
- Delta: ETNZ +:15
- Total distance sailed: ETNZ – 11.7 NM, OTUSA – 11.5 NM
- Average Speed: ETNZ – 29.88 knots (34 mph), OTUSA – 29.04 knots (33 mph)
- Top Speed: ETNZ – 44.57 knots (51 mph), OTUSA – 42.70 knots (49 mph)
- Windspeed: Average – 15.4 knots, Peak – 18.0 knots
- Number of Tacks/Jibes: ETNZ – 10/6, OTUSA – 10/8
First few seconds of race 12 look great for New Zealand
With the ebb building to 3 knots, and chop increasing, the rules about safe racing conditions were being thoroughly studied. The usual wind limit of 21 knots maximum had been adjusted to 19.9 knots due to the tidal strength increase. Once the start gun fires, the rules become a little more lenient...but we were only 30 seconds from this point when the call came through to call off the start.
Emirates Team New Zealand were in position to lead ORACLE TEAM USA off the line, and indeed both boats did sail the first few minutes of the leg, indicating what might have been. A protest that was only just being shouted out would apparently have been green-flagged by the judges giving New Zealand a beautiful beginning to the race. It was not to be.
Hopes were high for the race to be promptly restarted, but the wind kept hitting the limits, and the clocks were ticking. During the wait, the New Zealand crew were seen to break out the repair tape and several crew members crawled between the wing end plate and trampoline. Who knows if they were relieved to be sent ashore in the end, rather than race with damaged equipment?
Race 12 will now be run on Thursday and Emirates Team New Zealand needs only one more victory to win the America’s Cup. If required, race 13 will be run directly after, but the usual pattern of building breeze in the bay means this is not guaranteed.
Standings after day 8, race 11: (first to 9 points wins)
- Emirates Team New Zealand – 8
- ORACLE TEAM USA – 1
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