Team New Zealand has retained the America鈥檚 Cup, beating Italian challenger Luna Rossa 7-3 in the 36th match for sailing鈥檚 oldest trophy.
The defender came into the sixth day of racing Wednesday at match point, with a 6-3 lead in the best-of-13 race series. It won the 10th race by 46 seconds in a shifty north-easterly breeze to complete its defense of the famous Auld Mug.
Team New Zealand crossed the finish line just after 5 p.m. local time in Auckland to a cacophony of horns and sirens from more than 1,000 spectator boats and the cheers of tens of thousands of fans who watched from vantage points ashore in COVID-free New Zealand.
Spectators thronged the downtown Viaduct Harbor to watch Team New Zealand return from the racecourse and later saw the crew lift the America鈥檚 Cup, the 170-year-old silver trophy which has long attracted the world鈥檚 best sailors.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had messages from everyone from the Prime Minister to high school kids,鈥� helmsman Peter Burling said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just blown away by being able to achieve what we have as a group and win another America鈥檚 Cup.鈥�
The victory was New Zealand鈥檚 fourth in an America鈥檚 Cup match after triumphs in 1995, 2000 and 2017, and its second successful defense. The Kiwis had a 5-0 win over Luna Rossa on the same waters 20 years ago. Italy is yet to win the America鈥檚 Cup.
Luna Rossa was a gallant challenger and chivalrous runner-up. After congratulating Team New Zealand, helmsman Francesco Bruni said Luna Rossa had answered its doubters.
鈥淚 think we proved to the world that we can do it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been hard luck the last couple of days but definitely we鈥檝e done a fantastic job as a team.鈥�
With its nation on tenterhooks, Team New Zealand sailed a faultless race Wednesday on a racecourse full of shifts and pitfalls to win the match at its first opportunity.
Disadvantaged at the start by starboard entry, it sailed flawlessly in the pre-start to win the right side of the course which was favored early as the wind tipped 15 degrees to the right.
After twice crossing in front of Luna Rossa, the Kiwis headed to the left and rounded the first mark 7 seconds ahead. Team New Zealand headed back to the left at the top of the first run but the race closed up in lighter wind at the bottom of the course.
Halfway through the six-leg race New Zealand was 27 seconds ahead. Rounding the last mark it led by 49 seconds and, with no sign of tension on the New Zealand boat, the race was all but over.
In retrospect, the early reports that Team New Zealand had the faster boat seem to have been borne out.
The New Zealanders had stressed speed in the design process, coming up with a flat and aerodynamic hull and smaller foils which create less drag.
Luna Rossa had taken a different approach, going for larger foils for more stability and maneuverability.
Those contrasting design approaches were evident in the two races on each of the first three days of the match, when the teams traded wins to 3-3.
Observers began to doubt New Zealand鈥檚 speed advantage but speed on its own isn鈥檛 decisive. On the short and narrow courses of this America鈥檚 Cup, the races were being won by the boat that won the start. Like a slow person on an escalator, the leading boat could stick out its elbows and prevent the boat behind from overtaking.
That also was due in part to the wind effects of the massive sails. When racing in close proximity, the leading boat casts a huge wind shadow over the trailing boat: helsman Peter Burling described it as taking a chunk out of the wind.
That changed in the seventh race when Team New Zealand pulled off a pass for the first time in the series. Luna Rossa had been expert in protecting its leads but in the seventh race it gave Team New Zealand separation and the defender, sailing free, was able to bring its speed edge to bear.
The eighth race is the one for which this match will be long remembered. Again, it began close with Luna Rossa in front and Team New Zealand trying to pass. The defender, quick downwind, looked likely to roll past Luna Rossa on the fourth leg. Instead, it gybed in Luna Rossa鈥檚 wind shadow, lost speed and fell off its foils.
Luna Rossa sailed to a lead of more than 4 minutes but, after trying to tack in a dying breeze, also came off the foils. Team New Zealand rose up, regained speed and sailed past, from a four-minute deficit to a four-minute lead.
New Zealand broke the deadlock and took a 5-3 lead.
The ninth race on Tuesday was the closest of the match. Luna Rossa led again but by only one second at the first gate and by no more than nine seconds around the next three marks. But it split from Team New Zealand at the leeward mark, headed to the left side of the course and the New Zealanders showed speed again to sail past.
Eventually it may be regretted that all races in the match were sailed in light winds and the full potential of these amazing boats wasn鈥檛 seen.
But there were no regrets for Team New Zealand as St. Patrick鈥檚 Day 2021 became a date of importance in the history of the America鈥檚 Cup.
