Even in my amateur dinghy racing days, crewing top-of-the fleet boats, it was clear that skippers knew the way their opponents thought in a tight spot. Although the margins were tighter and the occasional collision happened, it was safer to push the limits against peer opposition than against inexperienced skippers.
You see the same in all sports, more and more intensely as you climb the ladder, and the upsets tend to come when top-level opponents are new to one another. Each is looking to dominate the other psychologically at every move.
In sailing boats, match racing is the ultimate test of a mix of tactics, split-second decision making, and psychology. In dinghies, it’s frenetic fun – in bigger boats, it can be frightening.
This clash between Ben Ainslie and Russell Coutts in the 2009 Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, held in New Zealand, didn’t do any damage. Ainslie’s Team Origin got the best of the start, but was forced to retire when a jib bolt rope came adrift. An exciting start to a match of the Titans.
