The New Zealand team held the Copa America on Wednesday, fleeing their Italian opponent Luna Rossa to claim the biggest sailing prize in their home waters, near Auckland.
The victory was the second in a row for a union representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, and the fourth win in the finals since 1995 for a team from New Zealand.
It also marked the second consecutive victory for the New Zealand team’s 30-year helmsman, Peter Burling, who added another title to a curriculum that already includes nine world championships and Olympic gold and silver medals.
“It means the world to us and the team,” said Burling, quoted after the race on Radio New Zealand, the national public broadcaster.
New Zealand’s decisive victory came two days after taking advantage of the momentum in a fierce competition, exploiting its speed advantage to obtain consecutive victories on Monday. He won again on Tuesday and Wednesday, when he was the first to add seven wins. The final result of the competition was 7-3.
The kiwi victory ended one of the most unusual editions of the America’s Cup, which was played for the first time in 1851. This year’s races took place without the large crowd of visiting spectators, many of whom were kept away by strict coronavirus restrictions that had effectively closed New Zealand’s borders to non-citizens. The race schedule also had to be modified several times to accommodate strict – and changeable – blocking rules that sometimes forced competition delays.
The participants were also different from everyone who preceded them. This year’s America’s Cup was contested by a new class of boats: elegant 75-foot monohulls that – when lifted from the water and riding on the waves in their spider-like foils – were capable of reaching speeds of up to 60 miles an hour. The boats did not cut through the water, but slid over it. And none did it better than Team New Zealand.
“Deservedly champions,” said Jimmy Spithill, Luna Rossa’s helmsman, of his opponents after the series ended on Wednesday, according to Radio New Zealand.
In the first six races of the finals, the mantra was simple: win the start, win the race. In each of these races, the team that crossed the starting line was also the first to reach the finish line. The race without drama showed the teams’ skills and the accuracy of their boats, but it also led to an undesirable accusation: the final was boring.
That changed on Monday. Taking advantage of the shifting winds and releasing the speed that many suspected had not yet been fully demonstrated, the New Zealand Team left behind to win consecutive races, breaking the tie and giving the team a 5-3 advantage. The Kiwis added up to a fourth consecutive victory on Tuesday, and suddenly the prize for years of planning and millions of dollars in investments seemed close enough to be achieved.
“This team has been in this position before,” said Burling, after reaching a victory out of the seven that New Zealand needed to claim the trophy. “We just want to continue to improve, move on and we are very excited about another race.”
Light winds forced the teams to withdraw from the second race on Tuesday, when New Zealand looked set to seal its triumph, but that only delayed what many saw as the inevitable. Even as Luna Rossa mourned another “painful” defeat on Tuesday, her co-helmsman Francesco Bruni found no shortcomings in his team’s performance.
The New Zealand team, he seemed to be saying, had simply been faster.
“I think we had a fantastic race, honestly,” said Bruni. “No regrets.”
Mike Ives contributed reports.