Kiwis Pull Off America’s Cup Hat Trick
As quickly as INEOS Britannia’s AC75 foiling monohull improved against ETNZ, it was of little consequence, as they weren’t able to land much of a punch. The Kiwis lifted the Cup for a third time in a row to complete the Three-Peat, or is it a Three-Pete (Burling)? Just like being in Barcelona with its historic, recognizable sights and landmarks, the 37th America’s Cup and each of the races seemed to be over as soon as they began, as Emirates Team New Zealand defended the America’s Cup for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron 7-2 over INEOS Britannia. Barcelona was a perfect host city, and the odds seem to be in their favor to play that role again! The Royal Yacht Squadron will return as Challenger of Record and a new Protocol will be on the way in the coming days.
The final race was set in motion after a slight delay by regatta director Iain Murray, when Melanie Robert’s voice rang out, announcing, “We have met the wind limit and this race is live.” With 7–11 knots and a flat sea state, INEOS was aggressive in the pre-start, hitting the line at speed. But to no avail as Taihoro picked up pressure almost immediately and the lead multiplied from there to a comfortable but insurmountable margin.
The Brits brought it back to nip at the Kiwis’ heels, but passing lanes were nonexistent as ETNZ controlled the course, covering when necessary and sailing for speed when needed, as they flew away with the Auld Mug once again.
For INEOS Britannia, the writing looked to be on the wall, but the never-say-die attitude that has been carefully cultivated within the team came to the fore, and on the second windward leg, a rare miscalculation on the pressure from the Kiwis opened the door for the British to stage a comeback.
A dead-heat rounding set up a potentially fascinating downwind, as it was neck and neck at the final gate as the teams split in a final act of desperation by the British, but the Kiwis quickly jibed off the right boundary to fly down the course before a final jibe on a port layline to angle into the finish line and the history books.
After ETNZ crossed the finish line 37 seconds ahead of INEOS, the New Zealand flag was hoisted above a banner in Catalan, “Moltes Gràcies Barcelona.”
Louis Vuitton leadership was welcomed onboard Taihoro as the Kiwis showered them and themselves in celebration with Moët & Chandon champagne.
It was madness as hundreds of spectator boats of all shapes and sizes surrounded the ETNZ base while Taihoro was towed back to Port Vell, where the Māori Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei once again greeted the arrival of the emerald-green and ocean-blue AC 75 at the dock.
“It’s a pretty surreal feeling; it’s still definitely sinking in. In the America’s Cup you’re all ready for a long battle, but to be able to get it done today, in just beautiful sailing conditions with a little bit of shift in it and just so many people cheering us on, was amazing,” ETNZ co-helm Peter Burling said.
“Just incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished. The America’s Cup has got to be one of the hardest sporting trophies in the world to win,” Burling continued. “You’ve got to have so many parts come together to make it all work, and now having done that three times in a row, it’s incredibly special.
“All credit to Ben and INEOS Britannia; I think they put together an incredible challenge. They pushed us the whole way,” Burling said. “Mixed emotions of course. First of all I’ve got to say credit to ETNZ, an amazing achievement for that organization, and for our team to get into the America’s Cup itself was a huge achievement, and we’ve been on quite a journey for the last 10 years, and especially the last three years,”
“Ultimately to fall short at the final hurdle is always tough, but we know that we’ve been up against one of the best, if not the best, teams in the history of the Cup,” said Sir Ben Ainslie, CEO and skipper of INEOS. “We have to take that on the chin, and I think that the team have done a brilliant job to develop through this campaign, through this series, and as one very plucky Brit said, it’s the courage to continue that counts, so that’s what we’re up for.”
Conventional wisdom says we are looking at a short cycle for the 38th AC, possibly in 2027 and hopefully back in Barcelona, but Valencia has been whispered to be in the mix. We’ll see!
The Jessica Cup Enjoys a Beautiful Weekend Short on Breeze
It wasn’t the best day for sailing, but it was a great day to be on the water and shooting photos. Photographer Scott Wall went out to crew with Bill Belmont aboard his Farallon Clipper Credit for the Jessica Cup race held on Saturday. They floated around with the classic boat fleet for most of the afternoon with a strong ebb and no wind. Unfortunately Credit had to withdraw just before the winds came through the Gate.
Not to be deterred, Scott sent photos of the waiting game and shots of some of the fleet from the St. Francis YC race deck as they raced in the building breeze.
It was a classic fall weekend for classic boat racing, with comfortable temperatures, flat water, no fog and no breeze. For sailors ready to take it easy, the fall is perfect time to sail the Bay.
Despite the minimal breeze, boats did race and finish. You can see the Jessica Cup results here.
Free Vessel Check with Every Haul Out San Francisco Boatworks
Free vessel health check and new in-house rigging shop — it’s all happening at San Francisco Boatworks.
Linda Elias Memorial Women’s One-Design Challenge
The Linda Elias Memorial Women’s One-Design Challenge sailed out of Long Beach on October 12–13, with check-in, practice racing, and a party on Friday the 11th. Ten all-female teams — the most entries in recent years — took to the racecourse to vie for the trophy. Long Beach Sailing Foundation’s matched fleet of Catalina 37 one-design monohulls provided the platform for seven races.
Teams came from as close as Long Beach Yacht Club (the hosting club) and Long Beach Sailing Foundation, and from as far away as Sloop Tavern YC (in Seattle) and Hawaii YC (in Honolulu). Additional teams hailed from California YC, Del Rey YC and the Women’s Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay in Marina del Rey; San Diego YC and Southwestern YC in San Diego; and St. Francis YC in San Francisco. A guest PRO (principal race officer), Becky Ashburn from SDYC, umpired the fleet-race regatta.
Sailing for Hawaii YC, Allie Tsai and her crew of Katie Pettibone, Megan Thomson, Nora Harris, Patricia Bazan, Beth Winton, Tatiana Mimbella, Tammy Fowles, Julia Jaynes, Jennifer Simonsis, Sam T. and Holly Davis topped the 10-boat fleet with 25 points. With a score of 28, Elizabeth Weiler’s StFYC crew came in second. Derby White’s California YC team, with three first-place races, was just one point behind to take third.
An accomplished sailor, Linda Elias raced in several Transpacs, one Pacific Cup, and numerous regattas in Southern California. She won LBYC’s Women’s One-Design Championship 1992, 1994 and 1996. Elias passed away in 2003 at the age of 52 from ovarian cancer. You can read her obituary in the Los Angeles Times here.
Because Bigger Is Always Better When Building Superyachts
International Boating Industry magazine recently revealed that Dykstra Naval Architects of Amsterdam, Australia’s One2three Naval Architects in Sydney, and Echo Yachts in Western Australia (W.A.) have begun construction on the world’s largest cruising catamaran, the ASC57. The 187-ft catamaran will be built at the Australian Marine Complex, W.A., the state’s key shipbuilding and sustainment industrial precinct located just south of the city of Perth, and will, naturally, feature luxury accommodations along with an enormous collection of water toys and a helicopter landing pad. And because bigger is better, this boat is three feet larger than the catamaran superyacht MY Charley 2, architected and structurally designed by One2three Naval Architects and delivered in 2023.
The catamaran’s twin DynaRig sail system was pioneered by Tom Perkins on his megayacht Maltese Falcon, which first sailed into San Francisco Bay in 2008. The design is said to feature hydrodynamic efficient aluminum hulls, full sail-powered propulsion, power regeneration and deployment options, and eco-friendly performance advantages.
This boat will feature around 1,660 sq m of sail — that’s over 17,000 sq ft. We’ll have to wait and see if it too will sail under the Golden Gate Bridge
Updates on the boat are expected to be released throughout its construction.
Will Someone Find My Message in a Bottle?
Though we probably haven’t all done it, surely we’ve all at least thought about casting a message in a bottle out to sea. The idea, both romantic and questionable, has been played out in books and movies for decades. Sometimes the story ends with a shot of the bottle rolling onto a distant shore, leaving us to wonder if it will ever be found, and by whom. Other times the bottle finds its way into the hands of a surprised beachcomber who then pries it open to discover the message inside. A group of beach-cleaning hikers from Townsville, Australia, had the latter experience when they found a discarded bottle among the flotsam and jetsam littering the high-tide line.
“On our walk at Chunda Bay last night, the hikers were collecting rubbish when keen-eyed Jeff found a message in a bottle. It was very well sealed — the lid certainly was a challenge to get open,” the hikers wrote on their Facebook page Townsville Hike and Explore.
The note, rolled up and secured with a hair tie, opened with, “Dear Reader, we wrote this note because we heard so many stories about doing this.” Signed in July 2016 by Savannah, Kate, and Janice, it said the girls were leaving Fiji that morning, and asked the finder to please contact them at a Sunnyvale, California, address. Eight years later, they no longer lived at that address and the Townsville hikers reached out to news and social media platforms to try to find them.
The tactic worked, and the note, together with newspaper clippings of the find and photos of the hikers, was sent back to its authors, Savannah, Kate, and Janice.
Update:
After publishing this story we were reminded of the bottled notes created at the Farewell Party for Latitude managing editor Andy Turpin, now editor-at-large aboard his boat Little Wing. At the party we put farewell notes into the bottles and corked them up. Some took them along as they cruised off into the distance, some dropped them in the ebbing tide in S.F. Bay.
Has anyone found our messages in bottles?
