Ocean Racing Magazine - #5 - October & November 2007 - (Page 64)

TACTICS WHYthe New Zealanders lost the America’s Cup doing the rounds in Valencia before the Cup that the SUI 100 was much faster. The kiwis gave the impression they never really believed in their own boat: it was not enough to keep the opponent in check, they had to go out and try to crush them, and that is when the mistakes were made. While this popular idea that SUI 100 being a flying machine came from a media campaign orchestrated by the Swiss, the effects probably went way beyond what they were hoping for! It must be said that the New Zealand crew were particularly brilliant throughout the Louis Vuitton Cup, but made some bad choices and minor mistakes during the seven America’s Cup races. • The consequence of the previous defeat: We must not forget the painful memory of the dramatic defeat in 2003 in the way the New Zealanders tackled their revenge match. There was a lot to bear as they started these races and the pressure was well and truly on them. • The impact of the idea that was by Marc Bouet Technical advisor with the French Sailing Federation in charge of match racing, world and European champion on various Olympic class boats, helmsman and tactician for several French syndicates in the America’s Cup and consultant for the French TV station Canal+ in Valencia, Marc Bouët explains to Ocean Racing the whys and wherefores of the Kiwi defeat. His technical analysis is clear: the New Zealanders could have won. EQUAL AT THE START After 4 matches, the two teams were on equal footing: • the two Swiss wins in matches 1 and 4 were clear: a wise tactical choice to keep left in the first match and a better start in the fourth. • the two New Zealand wins resulted strangely enough from mistakes made by the Swiss. In fact, the score after 4 matches could easily have been 4-0 for Switzerland. Kiwi tactician, who set them on the wrong trajectory at the leeward gate: 2 gybes in the three lengths and the spinnaker got stuck. The Swiss regained the advantage. They then gave up control as they approached the finish: the lateral separation between the two reached an amazing 1304 metres with the wind from astern. A slight change in wind direction allowed the kiwis to get in front again and to win. By then, we had already seen 3 changes in position in 4 matches, while more than 90% of the races are won by the boat that passes the first mark in the lead! NZL condemned themselves to affirming their genius and therefore made mistakes THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR Je trouve au moins deux raisons à ces erreurs : Match 5 A spinnaker that blew out destroyed the lead the New Zealanders had after getting off to a good start downwind of the Swiss, which was to be the only major technical incident in this Cup. Match 7 : Alinghi’s dial down with NZL almost doing half a circle. This is the action that led to the fatal penalty, and which is far from clear. Match 2 Brad Butterworth made the same mistake as Torben Grael (Luna Rossa against ENZ in the Louis Vuitton Cup final) by turning downwind of ENZ, who overtook the Swiss in the second upwind stretch. Dis tan ce : 5 3m Match 6 This match clearly showed in my opinion that the speed upwind of NZL 92 was equivalent to that of SUI 100 with maybe even an advantage in bearing. A lateral separation of 113 metres separated them at the start. 11 minutes later, this gap was cut to 33 metres and the Swiss had to turn and offered a first advantage to NZL. Bad choices were made by the New Zealanders at the leeward gate: They left the right hand side EMIRATES TNZ ALINGHI Match 3 Having grabbed a huge advantage of 1 minute and 23 seconds by the first mark, there was a gigantic mistake by Terry Hutchinson, the 12.8 kts 136° 01 : 02 : 04 N

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ocean Racing Magazine - #5 - October & November 2007

Edito
Contents
What they said
News
Portfolio
America's Cup - One Cup or two?
Jules Verne Trophy - Cammas, down to 48 days ?
Personality - Missing Fosset
Mini - Thirty years of innovations
Transat Jacques Vabre
Portrait - Lemonchois, quietly and discreetly
Barcelona World Race - Duos around the world
TP 52 - Where the stars shine
Figaro - Desjoyeaux not so alone
Trial - Sun Fast 3200
Tactics - Why the New Zealanders lost the America’s Cup
Fasnet Race
Lab
Portrait - Andrew Pindar
Fifty years ago - The Admiral’s Cup - offshore racing
Equipment
New products
Opinion

Ocean Racing Magazine - #5 - October & November 2007

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