The sun was shining down on the San Francisco bay with 15 knot winds, perfect conditions for the Louis Vuitton (LV) Cup Finals racing against Prada Luna Rossa.
As an official supplier of Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ), keen yachting fans from the Tait team gathered eagerly at the ETNZ base for an exciting day on the water, supporting the team from a spectator boat. Here’s a first-hand account of the exciting race that we witnessed.
- From the shore, we proudly watched the ETNZ crew head to the pre-start box for Race 4 of the LV Cup Finals.
- And they’re off! ETNZ start Race 4 with an advantage, windward of Prada Luna Russa.
- With scenic San Francisco in the background we watched Emirates Team New Zealand fly around the first mark, gaining 250 meters over Team Luna Rossa on the downwind leg.
The latest generation of America’s Cup boats use a fixed wing instead of a mainsail. With wings reaching 131.2 feet tall and an average speed of 27 knots, these boats skim across the bay at a breathtaking pace. We can surely appreciate the physical and safety trials that the teams experience during the race.
Here is a shot of the ETNZ AC72 boat ‘hydrofoiling’. The foils which are made out of carbon fibre and with enough speed, lift the weight of the boat out of the water, reducing the surface contact and giving the boat a turbo charge with an immediate velocity increase of 10-15%.
ETNZ fly down the course to win the race and gain another point in pursuit to win the LV Cup!
Several helicopters swooping down on the boats provide live camera feeds of the race.
- The support crew were out in force. Go ETNZ!
- After two hard races, the boats sail past to greet their fans on the shore. We can even hear the cheering from the spectator boat.
- It takes a team of 35 crew and a crane to carefully lift the boat out of the water and onto the shore.
- The winner of the day is returned carefully to the ETNZ tent for the night before practice and more racing continues over the following days.
We were thrilled to see Team New Zealand win the Louis Vuitton Cup and now go 3-1 up against Oracle Team USA in the America’s Cup finals.
Congratulations ETNZ! We are proud to provide you with our latest P25 digital portable radios and be part of your world-class effort to win the America’s Cup and wish you all the best for the remaining 13 races.
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