Aussies made the news of the day in the UniCredit Youth America's Cup
by Andoo Team Australia 21 Sep 19:55 PDT
17-26 September 2024
The energy was high for the Andoo Team Australia dock off for their second day of the UniCredit Youth America's Cup with the "battle of the fans" in full flight. Check our socials for some of the action on the dock with family, friends and fans getting rowdy and on the water where racing got edgy.
The breeze was in early, as was the call from race management for the smallest headsail, the J3 jibs - an early indication of the exciting racing in store. Skipper Cole Tapper with co helm Jack Ferguson and trimmers Max Paul and Tom Needham taking to the water today.
Andoo Team Australia showed their starting strength in the first race of the day, the second of the series, and were even with the Artemis Swedish Racing off the line. An untidy manoeuvre saw the team come off the foils and find themselves in last place.
From there they fought back, managing the boat beautifully and sailed through the fleet. From at one point 500 metres behind, the Aussies took the race win, from the Swedish.
Andoo Team Australia had another textbook start in race three, clearly leading off the line. The team again had a difficult manoeuvre that saw them drop well back from the lead. The rest of the race was damage control, eventually taking a hard-fought fourth place.
Race four saw a much tighter start, with the team managing the fleet well on the first leg to round the first mark with a clear lead. In a tough position at the final top mark, the team sailed a beautiful downwind, topping 40 knots of boat speed, to overtake the Canadian and German teams to finish in third place.
In race five, Andoo Team Australia and Artemis Swedish Racing were again battling for the lead on the first upwind leg. The Australian's executed their manoeuvres well to extend out of the first tack into the top mark and halfway down the next leg. A big splashdown saw the Swedish take the lead into the bottom mark.
They made gains on the next upwind leg, rounding the final top mark ahead by six seconds, once again setting up a drag race to the finish with the Swedes. The Aussies had a splashdown to windward of Artemis Swedish Challenge who took the win, and Andoo Team Australia remained in a comfortable second even with their fall off the foils.
The race committee elected to make the most of the good breeze and run a fifth race for the day. Andoo Team Australia had a massive pitchpole about 90 seconds before the start. With a boat full of water, their race was on just to make it to the start line within the time limit.
With that first box ticked, and with no wind gear after it was broken off the bow in the crash, the team was sailing blind for the entire race. An inspiring, clean sail from all four on board saw them work their way to a strong third place finish to move into second overall.
Andoo Team Australia are four points clear of third placed Sail Team BCN. With the top three positions qualifying for the semi-final series, Australia is in a strong position with just two qualifying races, currently scheduled tomorrow afternoon Barcelona time.
Skipper Tapper reflected at his media call that it was a privilege to be out racing the AC40s and they were really excited to be going out tomorrow with a full reset for a new day.
Jack Ferguson fielded plenty of questions about having his Bolle googles shield swept off his head in the pitch pole and squinting to see his way through the race which also lost onboard data - so it was back to old school sailing for an impressive result that excited the team.
Current overall positions can be found here. (Please note all America's Cup results are listed here, please ensure you select the Unicredit Youth America's Cup tab)
Andoo Team Australia is next scheduled to race on Sunday 22 September with two races. The full schedule is here.
Racing is being broadcast on Fox Sports and Kayo Freebies in Australia and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) will be hosting some watch parties you can check on their website.
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