The home court advantage is more than just an idle phrase.
While I can't say it applies to every sport in the world, it
does seem to fit most. So when the home team doesn't win you
have to wonder if they are up to the challenge. So far, for a
series in which it appears the boats are even in speed, we
have seen what I can only describe as extreme sailing.
Due to the long weekend in the US, I was able to watch
live the second and third races of the America's Cup yacht
race (and parts of the first race on tape) being held in the
beautiful waters of New Zealand. As of this writing, with the
fourth race scheduled for this afternoon, Hawai'i time, the
Swiss Alinghi (see their site here) team is
leading three to zero, needing to win only two of the last
six races to win the series. Or to put it another way,
Team New Zealand (see their site here) needs
to win five of the next six to win - something no team in the
history of the cup has done.
The first twelve minutes of race one looked like it was
the start of an exciting series. Neither boat appeared to
have a commanding speed difference which means tactics,
experience, readiness, and a bit of luck could decide the
series.
Unfortunately for the NZ boat, they seemed to be in short
supply of all of the above. For some strange reason, they ran
their boat heeled so far over that water constantly entered
the boat. So much so that they could not pump it out as fast
as it was coming in. Why they felt they should angle their
deck so much is unanswered, but the result was several tons
of water acting as dead weight.
This extra weight, in combination with stiff 20kt winds
caused the high-tech carbon fiber boom (the horizontal spar
that holds the bottom of the mainsail) to exceed its design
specifications and snap like a toothpick. Four minutes later,
at sixteen minutes into the race, with the mainsail now
dangerously full of air and straining under the force, the
titanium tack ring that holds the bottom forward corner of
the genoa (a large sail, overlapping the mast) to the deck
exploded into pieces. The Kiwi crew tried valiantly to rig up
something to keep the boat in the game but it was for naught.
Nine minutes later, at 25 minutes into race one, despite the
courageous efforts of the crew, the Kiwis retired, something
not done in an America's Cup race since 1920.
Race two was fought in much different conditions. The race
was postponed seven times, waiting for the wind to pick up.
Once under way, the light 10-kt winds seemed to favor the
home team, especially on the first downwind leg where they
powered back from being 4-boat lengths behind to three ahead.
In sailing this is just not done and could only reflect a
wind shift that favored the Kiwis. The question is was this
luck or superior strategy and seamenship?
Nothing much happened until the final beat where
Alinghi decided to force the issue and begin a
tacking duel unequaled in the series. A total of 66 tacks
were performed by the boats, a new record. But through it
all, New Zealand not only held off the Swiss, but increased
their lead. This clearly showed the superior boat speed,
handling, and seamenship that the Kiwis are justly proud
of.
And yet. And yet in the final leg to the finish, after
rounding the final mark, Alinghi's decision to jibe
set around the windward mark, versus Team New
Zealand's bear away and then jibe, may have been the
difference. Their respective decisions allowed
Alinghi to get inside to the right where the wind
was stronger. Even though the Swiss were behind at this
point, they ever so slowly moved closer and closer to the
Kiwis and eventually blocked the wind from their sails. The
New Zealanders then slowed and were not able to catch up in
time to get past to retake the lead.
Race three proved the old adage that it is possible to
catch up with the leading boat, but getting past them is
another thing. From the start, where Alinghi's
afterguard was able to position their boat to the right side
of the course, where the wind was forecasted to be stronger,
the Swiss led the race. While New Zealand was able to nibble
away at that lead over the length of the race, things only
got interesting near the last mark.
At that point, there was about one boat-length between the
two. But after rounding the mark, the Kiwis made a mental
mistake and showed their apparent lack of experience. The
crew was set for one type of jibe set, but their skipper
called for a switch to another very late in the turn. This
caught the crew unprepared and resulted in them having
trouble getting the spinnaker pole hooked up once on the run.
With the finish line a mere three miles (~4.8km) away, the
Kiwis were not able to recover sufficiently and Swiss won
pulling away.
I don't know how the series will end but I wonder if the
Kiwis have the faster boat, while the Swiss have the more
experienced skipper, tactician, and crew.
Aloha!