34th America's Cup - Race 14
by Mark Jardine 22 Sep 2013 22:16 UTC
22 September 2013
Race 14 of the 34th America's Cup was a true battle of the tacticians. A near-level start led to a luff by ORACLE TEAM USA, taking mark 1 out of the equation and giving the Americans the option as to when to make the bear away.
The US boat looked really slippery downwind and pulled out a 250 metre lead on the run. Then, out of nowhere, Emirates Team New Zealand came right back into it on the beat, only for ORACLE TEAM USA to choose to make 2 tacks going into the windward mark to get the side of the run that they wanted. It was a master stroke by Ben Ainslie which shot the Americans out into a 700 metre lead. Surely there was no coming back for the Kiwis... but pressure was king and the race course was full of holes.
Emirates Team New Zealand got right back onto the tail of the Americans, only to gybe into a hole of their own and give the initiative back to ORACLE TEAM USA.
Ben Ainslie once again nailed the lay-line into the final buoy and the Americans went on to win by 23 seconds.
The score now stands at 8-4 in favour of Emirates Team New Zealand (8-6 in races before ORACLE TEAM USA's 2 race penalty). Stand by for race 15...
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