October 12, 2024 • 8 mins
Team New Zealand feel constant communication and consensus decision-making helped forge a perfect start to their America's Cup defence.
The Kiwis hold a 2-nil lead over Ineos Britannia after the first day's racing in tough conditions off Barcelona.
NZ Herald sports journalist Chris Reive joined Piney to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
But to the America's Cup, we Go and Team New
Zealand have made a sizzling start to the defense of
the old Mugan Barcelona a two nil lead in the
first to seven series against Ineos Britannia. After a delay
of almost an hour waiting for the win to build
up the key, He's dominated the first race and light
shifty conditions to win by forty one seconds. A rather
(00:33):
more tense battle in race to the team's trading the
lead before teen, New Zealand found a good win shift
on legue five to kick on. In a game that
is somewhat so like a chess match, it is check
mate to Emirates Team New Zealand's They lead the cut
now two racists to nil Tonell. There are two more
(00:55):
races scheduled overnight tonight. The New Zealand Herald's Chris Reeve
is covering the Cup for US in Barcelona. You can
read his reports and analysis at ENZ Herald dot co
dot nzy joins us now, Chris, I read one of
your pieces that suggested Anios had a problem with their
battery just before the start of the first race. Is
(01:15):
that right?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yeah, there was a little bit of an issue going on.
I talked to one of the Aniosk guys after racing,
Todany couldn't really tell me what was going on there,
but it sounded like they switched out one of their
batteries which are power the foils. So I'm not really
sure what the issue was, but it did look like
it sort of slowed them down a little bit getting
(01:38):
into that starting box for the first race and really
set them on the back foot to basically straight off
the bat.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So, Kevin, how important the starts and the prestart is.
Was it obvious that that gave Team New Zealand an
advantage in Race one?
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yeah? Absolutely. The starts have been something that have been
talked about basically all week leading into this and into
this Cup match. Just getting off the start line quick,
with pace and sort of in the right direction is
vital to winning these races. The team who leads after
the first leg is quite often the one who comes
(02:16):
out winning the race and start as a big part
of that Team New Zealand getting the jump there. I
was talking to Andy Maloney, one of their trimmers after
the racing, and he felt like that start was one
of the best they've had all would get us. So
that's a great sign for a team who who haven't
had a race in about a month to come out
and hit the ground running like they did.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Absolutely, And I think that was one of the big
questions Chris wasn't it was how would Team usit On
be having not raced competitively for the best part of
a month. Did they look like a team that had
just been watching on and not racing?
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Now it looked like a team who just have been racing.
I mean, they looked great out there today. It wasn't
an easy day either. The wind was sort of all
over the place. It was lights and then it sort
of built into the afternoon, but it was still very
patchy and they had to work really hard to sort
of put the pieces together to make a good complete race.
(03:13):
And we saw that in the second race that they
were able to do that. I think it was the
fifth leg, the second to last up wind, that they
really started putting the putting the pieces together and built
a good lead in that one. And what really impressed
me about them today was the coms on board, Like
I said it was a tough day and they were
really just kind of talking it out, and that's a
(03:35):
big part of these boats now that you've got helmsmen
on both sides, so they really only see one side
of the course each So it was really interesting to
listen to that and just how sort of detailed they
go into these things.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Across the two races, were you able to tell who's
faster upwind and who's faster downwind?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Yeah, it's hard to say after one day of racing.
I think I would like to see them in well,
I guess a couple more races or different conditions to
see sort of what the paye looked like. But today
it was very clear that Emerates to New Zealand were
faster upwind and any of Us Britannia were faster downwind.
(04:16):
Downwind has been a big strength of the Bricks throughout
the campaign, so that wasn't a big surprise, but it'll
be interesting to see how if that changes in the
next few races over the coming days.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
So by the sounds of things, the second race was
a lot closer, just a twenty seven second winning margin
at the end. No lead changes in the first race.
Chris were there lead changes in the second.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, there were. There were kind of in the first
two or three legs. It was a really really close match.
Racing that first leg was great. The media center, we're
all quite tense watching that because just those crosses were
so close you didn't really know who was going to
have the lead by the first gate. Ultimately, Team New
(05:01):
Zealand did get that to get us quite a slim
lead at the first gate and went on to win.
But yeah, it's good to see some lead changes because
I know some people might be a little bit skeptical
after seeing some races earlier in the campaign where you know,
there weren't a lot of lead changes. So actually seeing
that and seeing that just how competitive these two boats
(05:23):
are alongside one another, it's it bodes well for the
coming week.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, well, Team New Zealand will be very happy, obviously,
having banked two race wins, they just need to get
to seven. Did you see enough though from Anyos Britannia
to suggest that this won't just be seven nil?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah, I think they'll. They'll make Team New Zealand work
for it. In saying that Team New Zealand could still
win this one seven nil, I mean that's not out
of the question at all. Like the second race today,
Inos Britannia probably could have won that had they been
the team to at us put those shifts together. So
it can come down to one or two decisions these races,
(06:01):
so you know, make one rock move and you lose
the race. It's that that type.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
You mentioned the conditions a couple of times. Can you
just expand on them though, Chrius, the nature of the
en course conditions that greeted these two teams today.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah, we're kind of the reverse of what we were
told to expect. So we were told that the wind
would sort of be good for good for racing around
sort of two in the afternoon here, which is when
things were meant to start. That didn't happen. There was
a delay of about fifty minutes as the wind built,
and yeah, like I said before, and when the wind
(06:38):
did build, it was like it was probably a decent breeze,
sort of toward the lower end of the limit still
but just a little bit better in certain areas of
the course. And the sea state of course they get
out here doesn't really help these things in a little
bit of lump on the on the surface gives them
(07:00):
something else they have to sort of factor into all
their decision making. So there's a lot going on out
there that these guys have to take into consideration when
they're prepping their prepping their boats for the conditions.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And there are two more races scheduled tomorrow, So have
you seen the forecast? What's the likelihood of getting those underway?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yeah, fans back at home getting up to watching the racing,
they probably want to probably want to make a strong
pot of coffee for the morning. It's not looking good
at the moment. We're expecting very very light whens. You know,
maybe that'll change overnight and they get a little bit
more breeze than they're expecting. But yeah, I don't know
(07:42):
how confident they are about getting two races done tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
All right, we'll wait and see on that. And now,
with Team New Zealand actually racing competitively, is it obvious
that there's a bit of support for Team New Zealand
on short.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, there's a lot of kiwis in town.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Man.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
We went down to the dock out this morning and
there were thousands of people down there just lining the
lining the waterfront to the boat peel out. That's been
something that's I guess grown over the last few days
since I've been here, that there's a sort of noticeable
influx of Kiwis have made their way down here, and
you see all the ten New Zealand kit down on
(08:20):
the waterfront. There's definitely plenty of support down here.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Good to hear Chris, thanks for starting up for us. Mate,
get some sleep and we'll look forward to day two
of the America's Cup match tomorrow. That's Chris Reeve from
the New Zealand Herald. He's in Barcelona covering the America's
Cup match for us. Read him at enzid Herald dot
co dot NZ. All the analysis and other bits and
pieces there for you as well. So to nil to New.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Zealand for more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine. Listen
live to News Talk zed B weekends from midday or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
But to the America's Cup, we Go and Team New
Zealand have made a sizzling start to the defense of
the old Mugan Barcelona a two nil lead in the
first to seven series against Ineos Britannia. After a delay
of almost an hour waiting for the win to build
up the key, He's dominated the first race and light
shifty conditions to win by forty one seconds. A rather
(00:33):
more tense battle in race to the team's trading the
lead before teen, New Zealand found a good win shift
on legue five to kick on. In a game that
is somewhat so like a chess match, it is check
mate to Emirates Team New Zealand's They lead the cut
now two racists to nil Tonell. There are two more
(00:55):
races scheduled overnight tonight. The New Zealand Herald's Chris Reeve
is covering the Cup for US in Barcelona. You can
read his reports and analysis at ENZ Herald dot co
dot nzy joins us now, Chris, I read one of
your pieces that suggested Anios had a problem with their
battery just before the start of the first race. Is
(01:15):
that right?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yeah, there was a little bit of an issue going on.
I talked to one of the Aniosk guys after racing,
Todany couldn't really tell me what was going on there,
but it sounded like they switched out one of their
batteries which are power the foils. So I'm not really
sure what the issue was, but it did look like
it sort of slowed them down a little bit getting
(01:38):
into that starting box for the first race and really
set them on the back foot to basically straight off
the bat.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So, Kevin, how important the starts and the prestart is.
Was it obvious that that gave Team New Zealand an
advantage in Race one?
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yeah? Absolutely. The starts have been something that have been
talked about basically all week leading into this and into
this Cup match. Just getting off the start line quick,
with pace and sort of in the right direction is
vital to winning these races. The team who leads after
the first leg is quite often the one who comes
(02:16):
out winning the race and start as a big part
of that Team New Zealand getting the jump there. I
was talking to Andy Maloney, one of their trimmers after
the racing, and he felt like that start was one
of the best they've had all would get us. So
that's a great sign for a team who who haven't
had a race in about a month to come out
and hit the ground running like they did.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Absolutely, And I think that was one of the big
questions Chris wasn't it was how would Team usit On
be having not raced competitively for the best part of
a month. Did they look like a team that had
just been watching on and not racing?
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Now it looked like a team who just have been racing.
I mean, they looked great out there today. It wasn't
an easy day either. The wind was sort of all
over the place. It was lights and then it sort
of built into the afternoon, but it was still very
patchy and they had to work really hard to sort
of put the pieces together to make a good complete race.
(03:13):
And we saw that in the second race that they
were able to do that. I think it was the
fifth leg, the second to last up wind, that they
really started putting the putting the pieces together and built
a good lead in that one. And what really impressed
me about them today was the coms on board, Like
I said it was a tough day and they were
really just kind of talking it out, and that's a
(03:35):
big part of these boats now that you've got helmsmen
on both sides, so they really only see one side
of the course each So it was really interesting to
listen to that and just how sort of detailed they
go into these things.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Across the two races, were you able to tell who's
faster upwind and who's faster downwind?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Yeah, it's hard to say after one day of racing.
I think I would like to see them in well,
I guess a couple more races or different conditions to
see sort of what the paye looked like. But today
it was very clear that Emerates to New Zealand were
faster upwind and any of Us Britannia were faster downwind.
(04:16):
Downwind has been a big strength of the Bricks throughout
the campaign, so that wasn't a big surprise, but it'll
be interesting to see how if that changes in the
next few races over the coming days.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
So by the sounds of things, the second race was
a lot closer, just a twenty seven second winning margin
at the end. No lead changes in the first race.
Chris were there lead changes in the second.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, there were. There were kind of in the first
two or three legs. It was a really really close match.
Racing that first leg was great. The media center, we're
all quite tense watching that because just those crosses were
so close you didn't really know who was going to
have the lead by the first gate. Ultimately, Team New
(05:01):
Zealand did get that to get us quite a slim
lead at the first gate and went on to win.
But yeah, it's good to see some lead changes because
I know some people might be a little bit skeptical
after seeing some races earlier in the campaign where you know,
there weren't a lot of lead changes. So actually seeing
that and seeing that just how competitive these two boats
(05:23):
are alongside one another, it's it bodes well for the
coming week.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, well, Team New Zealand will be very happy, obviously,
having banked two race wins, they just need to get
to seven. Did you see enough though from Anyos Britannia
to suggest that this won't just be seven nil?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah, I think they'll. They'll make Team New Zealand work
for it. In saying that Team New Zealand could still
win this one seven nil, I mean that's not out
of the question at all. Like the second race today,
Inos Britannia probably could have won that had they been
the team to at us put those shifts together. So
it can come down to one or two decisions these races,
(06:01):
so you know, make one rock move and you lose
the race. It's that that type.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
You mentioned the conditions a couple of times. Can you
just expand on them though, Chrius, the nature of the
en course conditions that greeted these two teams today.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah, we're kind of the reverse of what we were
told to expect. So we were told that the wind
would sort of be good for good for racing around
sort of two in the afternoon here, which is when
things were meant to start. That didn't happen. There was
a delay of about fifty minutes as the wind built,
and yeah, like I said before, and when the wind
(06:38):
did build, it was like it was probably a decent breeze,
sort of toward the lower end of the limit still
but just a little bit better in certain areas of
the course. And the sea state of course they get
out here doesn't really help these things in a little
bit of lump on the on the surface gives them
(07:00):
something else they have to sort of factor into all
their decision making. So there's a lot going on out
there that these guys have to take into consideration when
they're prepping their prepping their boats for the conditions.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And there are two more races scheduled tomorrow, So have
you seen the forecast? What's the likelihood of getting those underway?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yeah, fans back at home getting up to watching the racing,
they probably want to probably want to make a strong
pot of coffee for the morning. It's not looking good
at the moment. We're expecting very very light whens. You know,
maybe that'll change overnight and they get a little bit
more breeze than they're expecting. But yeah, I don't know
(07:42):
how confident they are about getting two races done tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
All right, we'll wait and see on that. And now,
with Team New Zealand actually racing competitively, is it obvious
that there's a bit of support for Team New Zealand
on short.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, there's a lot of kiwis in town.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Man.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
We went down to the dock out this morning and
there were thousands of people down there just lining the
lining the waterfront to the boat peel out. That's been
something that's I guess grown over the last few days
since I've been here, that there's a sort of noticeable
influx of Kiwis have made their way down here, and
you see all the ten New Zealand kit down on
(08:20):
the waterfront. There's definitely plenty of support down here.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Good to hear Chris, thanks for starting up for us. Mate,
get some sleep and we'll look forward to day two
of the America's Cup match tomorrow. That's Chris Reeve from
the New Zealand Herald. He's in Barcelona covering the America's
Cup match for us. Read him at enzid Herald dot
co dot NZ. All the analysis and other bits and
pieces there for you as well. So to nil to New.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Zealand for more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine. Listen
live to News Talk zed B weekends from midday or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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