Jun 26
It took just 23 minutes this afternoon for Emirates Team New Zealand to win the 35th Americas Cup meaning they will take the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in world sport back to New Zealand for the first time since 2000.
Ever since Jimmy Spithill and the large contingent of Team Oracle landed in Bermuda over 2 years ago they have talked of bringing the Americas Cup back to the islands of Bermuda if the USA team retain the trophy. The crew, designers, engineers, boat builders, administrators, and a whole range of specialists and back room staff and their families have integrated themselves very well into the fabric of the island.
Without any doubt they have been given every assistance, been allowed to cut corners and slipped rules and legalizations have been amended but, and some locals will argue the opposite, most will belive that Team Oracle has been good for this island, no more so than their inspirational leader Spithill.
This was not the close and exciting Americas Cup Final everyone was hoping for. At least so far. It was men against boys, Chelsea v Charlton. In fact even that analogy doesn’t do justice to how dominate Team Emirates New Zealand were over Team Oracle this past weekend.
Four races, two Saturday, two Sunday, and four comprehensive wins for the Kiwi challengers. Where Jimmy Spithill and Team Oracle go now, who knows.
Spithill and Team Oracle came back once before, big, four years ago in San Francisco, and the only crumb of comfort for the Aussie skipper is that the point they won from winning the qualifiers here, means they trail 3-0 and not 4-0, but Team Oracle is in a hole and four more wins for Peter Burling and his crew means that Emirates will snuffle the oldest trophy in world sports, put in it’s own Louis Vuitton case and ship it back to the Southern Hemisphere.
On Monday in hardly any wind Emirates Team New Zealand finally saw off Team Artemis’ valiant challenge and won the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger series and a sizeable looking trophy but importantly won the right to go up against the Americas Cup defenders Team Oracle USA, in what will be a repeat of that remarkable final 4 years ago.
After Sunday the Kiwis led the Swedes by 4-2 and required just one more win on Monday. In the first race Artemis appeared to have the edge, but as the wind dropped to a slight breeze both boats became almost stationary in the middle of the Great Sound and when the time limit to finish the race was reached, that race was abandoned.
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So what is happening in the Americas Cup you ask. Well the BBC are covering it quite extensively and it is live on BT Sport as well as NBC Sports. However as you asked I will update you.
Today begins the Challenger Play-Off’s Final, a best of 9 series of races that come Monday will give us the challenger to the defenders Team Oracle.
I spent little time at my desk this week and a lot of time up at the Americas Cup Village in Royal Dockyard, and saw some immense racing in some intense weather conditions.
Tuesday we had our first considerable rainfall for months and the Village resembled a huge wet t-shirt contest as thousands of people watched what five time Olympian Sir Ben Ainslie called “the most exciting, exhilarating day of sailing I’ve ever been involved in”.
No not another ode to Yann or a post on Patrick Bauer’s potential move back to Germany, but more on the Americas Cup which continues to be the talk of the island.
Saturday saw the end of the Round Robin Americas Cup Qualifiers which meant that the French team had to exit the competition. Groupama Team France and Jose Mourinho look-a-like Franck Cammas over acheived and made a lot of friends during their stay here but after eight defeats but two suprising wins, they finished bottom of the 1st Round standings and will play no further part in the 35th Americas Cup. Although Cammas has said the team will stay and provide practice competition for the now idle Team Oracle.
Considered to be the biggest challengers to Team Oracle, Team New Zealand came within one win of taking the America’s Cup home in 2013. After blasting their way through the Challengers’ elimination series, and after leading by a mile in the Final challenge the Kiwi’s finished on the wrong side of one of the greatest comebacks in all of sport.
Now under Glenn Ashby they are out to avenge their infamous capitulation. Based in Auckland, Team New Zealand has become a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the America’s Cup in 1995 and 2000. In doing this, they became the first team from a country outside the United States to win and successfully defend the America’s Cup.
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