America’s Cup Grand Final: Team New Zealand battles 173 years of history | Sport

While all the teams battled, Team New Zealand watched. This happened during the Louis Vuitton Cup final between Luna Rossa (Italy) and Ineos Britannia (UK) a week ago. The pretenders to the throne fought among themselves to get a good gust of air, fearing to lose flight; and Team New Zealand, impressive defender At the same time, he swam at a distance in order to analyze the actions of his possible opponents from a distance. Uncover his secrets while keeping your own.

Outside the gates of the grand final against Ineos Britannia, which starts this Saturday (14:10 / Teledeporte and Esport 3), Team New Zealand has become a team of half-truths. Everyone knows he is the favorite to retain the title, but no one knows his true potential. Instead, having spent the last few weeks waiting to meet his rival in correspond finally he was able to analyze the British team while designing his own boat. And he knows that the British team’s progress towards the potential of the Mercedes Formula 1 team has been very noticeable: despite the doubts it showed in the first regattas (it lost a flight in light winds), it continued to show high reliability in all racing scenarios .

kiwi At Barcelona, ​​getting to know your opponents closely is a priority. As the defending champion, he arrived with the Catalan version qualified directly for the final match, but made a rule change (champions write the rules for the subsequent version) to compete in the initial rounds, without his regattas affecting the classification. . In this way, they understood the reaction of their boat in the competition (the champion usually competes only in the final) and discovered the behavior of their opponents on the water in a decision that caused disagreement among the other teams. . They competed twice against each opponent, and when the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals began, they brought the curtain down until they opened it again this Saturday in the final. During this time, the New Zealand team has devoted itself to developing its boat and analyzing other teams: and what better way than to go to training at the same time as their opponents to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

“Both boats will go very fast,” says Peter Birling, the team’s helmsman and icon, a few hours before meeting Ineos Britannia, the top contender. Burling and his comrades publicly expect a close finish, but have faith in planned improvements to some of the boat’s accessories. foil (

fins that raise boats) are included in the last round. “Team New Zealand are the favourites,” admits Ben Ainslie, Ineos Britannia helmsman. “Over these weeks he was able to tune his boat and analyze his opponents. It was they, not us, who were able to obtain all the performance data; but we will compete until the end.” The final is played in the best of 13 races: whoever scores seven will be crowned America’s Cup champion.

The America’s Cup final will be historic no matter who wins. Team New Zealand are aiming to become the first team in history to win three titles in a row, while Ineos Britannia are aiming to return the trophy to the United Kingdom for the first time since it was first played on the Isle of Wight in 1851. Barcelona will be a before and after event. for one of the two finalists.

This appointment was the culmination of a project by Ainsl, the great British captain. When asked why he has been promoting a sailing team for 12 years, which spends tens of millions of euros every year and which still accumulates disappointment after disappointment, he fixes his gaze on his interlocutor. “Britain has a great maritime history,” he replies. “And the America’s Cup is the only thing we are missing. That’s why I’m on this team.”

An all-time Laser class winner, four-time Olympian and world leader in sailing, Ainslie competes in competitions he discovered through Team New Zealand (he was part of the team as part of the Valencia prep cycle). 2007) and that he won with Team Oracle in 2013. “We have a very important sporting and maritime heritage. We have always missed this trophy and we are competing against incredible defenders. But we have nothing to lose and everything to win.”