In 2013, the America’s Cup took on a global appeal as never before, with Oracle Team USA staging a miracle comeback to win 9-8 over Emirates Team New Zealand. Few will recall that the American syndicate were forced to start the Match with two penalty points because of a rules infraction in qualifying, meaning they had to win 11 races to successfully defend the Cup.

Losing the first three races significantly increased the odds before Sir Ben Ainslie, who subsequently has led a gallant attempt on the 2017 vintage in Bermuda with Land Rover BAR, joined Oracle as tactician and helped to change their luck. In the build-up to a repeat of that final between Oracle and Emirates Team New Zealand, The Royal Gazette presents a rerun of the contest that presented the drama of sport at its finest.

Day 10: Sept 20

Day ten brought the lightest winds seen in the 34th America’s Cup. The start of the first race was pushed back by five minutes, owing to the need to shift one of the marks on the start line. Oracle had the better start in the eight-knot winds and luffed Team New Zealand at the reach mark. The first downward leg was very different from the rest of the racing, as neither boat was able to get up on its foils. Aotearoa appeared to be the stronger boat in the light breeze and rounded the leeward gate 1min 42sec ahead of the Americans. The Kiwi boat continued to extend their lead during the third leg and the main concern turned to whether they would be able to cross the finish line within the 40-minute race limit. Unfortunately for them, despite being ahead by more than 1,000 metres in winds of between seven and 11 knots near the end of the fourth leg, with 90 per cent of the race complete, the time expired forcing the abandonment of the race.

The resail of race 13 began at 2.33pm in 12 knots of wind. Jimmy Spithill tried to hook Dean Barker during the pre-start to gain advantage, but Barker managed to prevent Oracle from gaining the overlap. Team New Zealand led over the line, and took a three-second lead around the reach mark. The pivotal moment of the race came towards the end of the second leg. Team New Zealand were slightly ahead and tried to cross in front of Oracle, who had the starboard tack advantage. Spithill had to evade the Kiwi boat, and gained a penalty for the infraction. With the boats still close heading into the leeward gate, Barker fluffed his lines, and Aotearoa ended up being forced to gybe twice in quick succession. Oracle sped away to begin the third leg, leaving the Kiwis almost dead in the water. That was effectively the race and Oracle confirmed their third point by 1:24 at the finish. The New Zealanders’ largest defeat of the Cup to date brought the score to 8-3.

Day 11: Sept 21

It had rained earlier in the day, with wind from the south, about 90 degrees from the desirable direction, at the time day 11 racing was scheduled to get under way. The race committee pushed the start back several times hoping that the wind would turn enough to allow racing. This did not happen by the start cut-off time, and weather again forced postponement of the day’s racing.

Day 12: Sept 22

Racing on the September 22 brought the America’s Cup into its third week, equalling the previous longest regatta in Cup history, the 31st America’s Cup. A whale was also spotted in San Francisco Bay, bringing enough of a concern that it was tracked to ensure it would not affect racing.

Race 14 was another end-to-end win by Oracle. Starting in the leeward position, Spithill again luffed Barker hard substantially past the reach mark. This set up a strong lead for the first downwind beat. On the upwind leg, Team New Zealand were able to close, and at one point had to dip under the American boat. They could not press the advantage, however, and Oracle led well around the top mark. Team New Zealand once again closed right up to the American boat about halfway down the fourth leg, but could not make the pass. Oracle closed out the win by 23 seconds to bring the score to 8-4.

Team New Zealand led off the line for race 15, but the leeward position of the Oracle Team USA boat allowed them to round the reach mark first. A huge downwind leg from the American boat led to them rounding the leeward gate one minute ahead of the Kiwis. They did not give up and were able to cut Oracle’s lead in half by the windward gate, but were unable to make up the rest of the gap. Oracle had their best day on the water yet, winning both races to bring the score to 8-5.

Day 13: Sept 23

The start of race 16 was delayed for 30 minutes while the race committee waited for the wind to increase. Emirates Team New Zealand took the leeward position at the start line, but Oracle Team USA got on to their foils and sailed over on top of the Kiwis to lead by five seconds at the reach mark. At the second mark, the New Zealand team were 13 seconds behind Oracle and, after a tacking duel upwind to the third mark, Oracle were able to get the wind advantage for the downwind leg. Oracle sailed conservatively downwind, gaining a 21-second lead for the fourth mark, which they extended to 33 seconds by finish line. Oracle stayed alive at 8-6 and trimmed the Kiwis’ lead to only two points. It was their fifth straight win.

The earlier delay meant no second race for the day, as it would have exceeded the cut-off of 2.40pm.

Day 14: Sept 24

Race 17 included two penalties at the start against Emirates Team New Zealand. During the pre-start, Barker made his move too early, allowing Spithill to hook him. Oracle then took full advantage of their windward-leeward right of way, forcing Barker to try and stay out of the way. Because of the extremely low boat speed at the time, Team New Zealand were unable and there was contact between the two AC72s, drawing a second penalty against the Kiwis. By the time the penalties had been completed, Oracle had accelerated away to find themselves up by 18 seconds at the reach mark. Oracle built this to a 29-second lead to leeward gate, although this was trimmed to 19 seconds at the end of the third leg. Oracle went on to win by 27 seconds and cut Team New Zealand’s lead to 8-7.

“We’re not going to stop, we’re going to keep going all the way to the end,” Spithill said. “We really want this. You can sense it on board.” Barker called this defeat “an absolute shocker”, as he ended in “a really dead spot”.

In race 18, the Kiwis led at the start and up to the first mark. They set the speed record of the series, reaching 47.57 knots as they rounded the mark to lead by five seconds. They kept the lead during the first downwind run, but Oracle got ahead at the first crossing on the upwind leg after the Kiwis made a poor tack. Team New Zealand had starboard-tack advantage and the lead at the time, but did not properly cover Oracle. The American boat was up on the foils and powered past the Kiwis. Oracle went on to lead by 57 seconds at the windward gate and kept the lead for the rest of race, winning by 54 seconds. This result tied the series 8–8 and forced a winner-take-all race. Spithill called this win “very impressive” and said “it gives us a lot of confidence going into tomorrow”, adding that Wednesday will be “the most exciting day in the history of our lives. We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else”.

Day 15: Sept 25

The final day of the 34th America’s Cup brought only the third winner-takes-all match in Cup history — previous such matches had occurred in 1920 and 1983. Barker and Spithill have also both moved into the top five all-time America’s Cup skippers during this regatta.

Team New Zealand had port-entry advantage and were able to convert this into the leeward position at the start line and a lead around the reach mark. Oracle had a moment where both bows dipped into the water, slowing them to open some separation between the two boats.

The first downwind leg led to both boats foiling at about 40 knots, at times well within 100 metres of each other. Team New Zealand took the lead into the upwind third leg, but were unable to hold it. Oracle once again showed their upwind foiling ability and were able to pass with ease. Team New Zealand and Barker refused to give up, but in the absence of any mistakes from Oracle, they confirmed their victory 9–8 by 44 seconds on the line to the cheers of the crowd.

At the press conference after the race, Barker said his team was feeling “pretty smashed, they are feeling it pretty bad”.