He has won four gold medals in Olympic Games. It doesn’t stop a bad day. The America’s Cup sailing in Barcelona this afternoon experienced a clash of the titans. On the one hand, Emirates New Zealand captain Peter Burling is considered the best sailor of today. Sir Ben Ainslie, on the other hand, is a four-time Olympic champion and a living legend of rowing. The first taught the second lesson. Things that can only be seen at the America’s Cup.
Pete Burling has “ironed” Ben Ainslie into the starting line-up
One of the basic principles in this tournament format is that whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins. If you get it wrong early on, you’re practically out of the game. On the second day of the preliminary regatta, in a brilliant manoeuvre, Pete Burling – who had focused his training especially on the start – edged out his rival. The wind prevented it. With a gale, he slowed his boat until he covered the English, and was in a difficult position to start again and come forward and overwhelm them. As a result, the English team, deprived of free air, stopped flying over the water and became paralyzed. A few seconds passed before fresh air pushed Inios back, but it was too late.
British Ben Ainslie, known in the marine environment for his awkwardness in tense moments, did not want to go into details of the failure. “We tried something different and it didn’t work,” he commented, not referring to his rival, Pete Burling.
In today’s other star clash, the Italians won against the Americans, who have given good feelings so far. The script is the same: start right. In this case, the move was made by James Spittle, nicknamed Pitbull, the head of Luna Rosa Prada Pirelli. The Australian, who has been in the America’s Cup for more than two decades, has given Tom Slingsby a lesson early on. With an aggressive strategy, he drove the Americans out before they could get to the front. The American Magic, who have shown great speed in the past, were unable to recover the deficit and the Italians scored.
“We’re very happy,” Cecco Bruni said after the win. “It was my fault,” admitted US captain Tom Slingsby.
It is too late to draw conclusions at this stage of the tournament. But it is clear that New Zealand, the current winner of the Cup and the Italians of the Luna Rosa Prada Pirelli (after another day’s breakdown) have presented the best credentials so far. If it’s true that technology is decisive on these boats, the difference this afternoon is obvious: the human factor. and skills of sailors.
The French withdrew due to technical problems in the last race
The French withdrew due to technical problems in the last race. Forecasts for Sunday point to easterly winds, which could cause waves of up to nearly a metre. Let’s wait and see how the boats will perform at this stage. Everything can change again.
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