When Winning Isn’t Everything….
Just as with all events, you can only control the controllables and there are a few things that happened whilst we were in the middle of the Inaugural Women’s America’s Cup which were wholly out of our control that had a huge impact on our event. The fleet was split into two groups, those who represented 6 America’s Cup Challengers and 6 Invited Teams representing countries from around the World. In order to increase access to the event, the invited teams did not need to purchase a boat, and on the days that our group wasn’t racing, the invited teams used the boats from the America’s Cup Challenger teams. In principle this is fine as the race window was long enough and the fleet would always be split into two groups for qualifying so in theory only 6 boats would ever be on the water at the same time. In practice however, the reality was very different. The AC40 is an incredibly technical boat with electronics and hydraulics far above any basic knowledge that I have. They need to be meticulously maintained as we had discovered throughout our training period up in Badalona.
Following our first day of racing, we were feeling pretty confident with how we were racing and knew there was more to come by ironing out some key errors from day 1. The next day was to be the Invited teams group qualifying races. The wind was offshore so pan flat seas but gusty conditions and we were scheduled to race in the afternoon after the conclusion of the other groups’ racing. We arrived down at our base to see a live feed of this happening…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfItS42k8fE
I think we knew that our boat was unlikely to get through the day unscathed but what actually happened was far worse than we could have imagined and planned for. Following several near capsizes (something we had avoided for 6 months in training and generally results in some electronic failures due to water ingress), the nut holding the main foil in place came undone which lead to the starboard foil arm becoming loose in the boat, sending carbon fibre flying around the inside of the hull and writing off the boat for the rest of the event. As the schedule stood, we had about 2 hours before we were meant to be racing and we had just seen our boat be destroyed on the water.
A fluster of hurried phone calls in both hushed and raised tones led to the delivery of news that our fleet racing would be postponed by 48 hours to allow for necessary repairs to include the complete refit of the Emirates Team New Zealand spare boat which hadn’t been in the water for 3 months! If we ever needed an example of what can be achieved when their backs are against the wall, this was it! We were lucky enough to be sheltered from most of the stress by our amazing coaching team who took it on their shoulders to make sure we were in the best shape possible to race when it came to it.
Because of the delay, the race schedule became compressed into one day and we were scheduled to complete 8 races in one day with 4 to finish our qualifying round and progress to the semi-finals. It was a light wind start to the day and just getting away from the start line was a challenge in itself with a large swell rolling in from the South East. Slowly the breeze built and after a few abandoned races we completed our qualifying series and made it through to the Semis again, leading the pack.
Following qualifying, the top three boats from each group made it through to the semi finals where we would race 4 more races to determine who would race in the match race final.
By this point, the sun was beginning to set and we still had 4 more races to complete, no problem when the races are just 20 minutes long! It ended up coming down to the last race where we heard from our coach that only the Spanish could knock us out of the final if they won the race and we finished either 5th or 6th. The race didn’t get off to a good start with the Spanish leading from the starboard end of the line and 3 boats, including us picking up an early start penalty at the pin end meaning we had to restart through the line. The pressure was on and I felt so excited to see how we could rise to it, I felt every second of the race and really used every experience I’ve had in my sailing career to channel into execution during that race. The wind was dropping and the boat was getting harder and harder to keep on the foils around the course. We found some space and clear air and managed to keep our cool, stay up on the foils and catch up to 3rd meaning that we had made it through to the first ever Women’s America’s Cup Final! Watch Race 4 Semi Finals here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QH4t6o_23E&t=213s
Elation turned to determination as we were informed that instead of the final being scheduled for Sunday, it would be brought forward to Saturday and it was now sunset on Friday so no time to celebrate.
The morning of the final was rainy and damp which was a change from the past few weeks of heat and sea breezes. The boat park was empty with now, only two teams left in the competition. Our race was scheduled to be in between the first two America’s Cup Matches between ETNZ and Ineos Britannia. From the harbour we could see the number of specators heading out on the water to watch was far higher than any of the previous days of either the AC40 or AC75 racing. This was a moment in history, never before had there been such a large on water audience for a womens match race. We left the dock to continue with our routines just as we had the other days. There were strict rules about when we could detach from our chase boat and we were held whilst the course was re laid for us. Once we had the signal that we could begin sailing, we saw that we had just 7 minutes until our start. We were about a minute out from the centre of the course so this mean absolutely no time for pre race checks, we were straight in. We had been monitoring the wind and sea state whilst watching the AC75 race before us but this was our first time actually sheeting on and sailing. Our pre-start approach was ok and we used the time on port and starboard to get in synch with the conditions. We opted for a windward start and came off the line just a few boat lengths above Luna Rossa. From there it was a drag race to the left hand boundary. They were slightly faster which meant that when we both tacked over, they had a small advantage.
All of the previous days, we had been racing in conditions with up to a 40 degree shift range which is very significant. One of my roles on board was to call the shift number to help Hannah on the starboard helm choose our strategy. Shifts mean options and within this race, the shift range ended up being 5 degrees which made it incredibly difficult to create an opportunity to overtake. We kept the pressure on and stayed on their heels all the way round the course, trying to force them into a mistake that we could capitalise on. I thought that our moment had come just before the finish when we were sailing on starboard and Luna Rossa dug the bows in during a gybe, slowing them down. They recovered really well and crossed in front of us to take the win by just 8 seconds at the finish line. It was a really impressive performance by the Italian team who did not falter under pressure and had been really impressive throughout the series. Watch the Final Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhAaxZeFZpM&t=1295s
Finishing Runners up at the Inaugural Women’s America’s Cup fell short of our absolute goal but does that mean that we can’t be proud of our performance? I stand resolutely in my opinion that this event was an opportunity to demonstrate the quality and calibre of female sailors that are out there and we absolutely did that. There is no shame in coming second, the Italian’s were better on the day and deserved to take the win but as always in womens sailing, we don’t just represent ourselves and the team and event sponsors, we are all advocates for womens sailing, which can sometimes feel like a burden but on that day it truly felt like the biggest privilege. I will always remember this event and be grateful that I was able to be part of it because winning is great but it isn’t everything!
