This is an analysis of the 2013 Louis Vuitton final in August 2013 in San Francisco. The two teams were Emirates-New Zealand and Luna Rossa-Italy. This analysis shows that the New Zealand crew were far superior sailors. And, the New Zealand boat was far faster. This match up was really uncompetitive as the Kiwis turned out so dominant. But, it was an interesting experiment in how to sail and race AC-72 catamarans.

1. 1
How the 2013 Louis Vuitton
Cup was won
Gaetan Lion
San Francisco August 2013

2. 2
Introduction
In August 2013, two teams Emirates-New
Zealand and Luna Rossa-Italy competed in a
best of 13 series. New Zealand won 7-1. They
only lost one race due to a mechanical failure.
The match up was plagued by mechanical
failures affecting both teams.
However, 5 races were unaffected by such
troubles (Race 4 to Race 8).
Analyzing those five races confirm two things:
1) the New Zealand boat was much faster;
2) the New Zealand team sailed much better.

3. 3
Two metrics
We concentrate our analysis on two metrics:
1) The avg. Boat speed/Wind speed multiple. If the wind
clocks at 10 miles per hour and the boat goes at 20
mph. This multiple is 2. Obviously, boat speed is a
key advantage. You want this multiple to be as high
as possible;
2) Sailing efficiency. This equals sailed distance/Course
distance. A figure of 200% would indicate a boat
sailed twice as long a path as the course distance.
You want this number to be as low as possible and as
close to 100% as possible.

4. 4
Sailing Efficiency
Average
wind speed Sailing Efficiency
in knots NZ Italy NZ advantage
Race 4 14 113.0% 114.9% -1.7%
Race 5 13 113.0% 114.9% -1.7%
Race 6 14 112.6% 115.5% -2.5%
Race 7 18 111.2% 112.2% -0.9%
Race 8 11.5 116.0% 119.9% -3.3%
The New Zealand team (NZ) sailed much better in all different wind
speed ranges (from very slow at 11 knots to close to the wind speed cap
at 18 knots).
This translated into an advantage of 1 to 3%. Given that the races were
typically around 25 minutes long. If the two teams had the exact same
boats, the NZ team would win by a range of 15 to 45 seconds because of
more efficient sailing (shorter sailed distance).
The only way the Italian team could overcome this handicap is by having
a boat that is 1 to 3% faster than the NZ one.

5. 5
Sailing Efficiency vs Wind speed
Wind speed vs Sailing efficiency
111%
112%
113%
114%
115%
116%
117%
118%
119%
120%
10 12.5 15 17.5 20
Average wind speed in knots
Sailingefficiency(distance
sailed/coursedistance
NZ
IT
Same info as shown on previous slide. NZ is far superior and invariably
much closer to the ideal figure of 100% (sailing exactly the same distance
as the course which is impossible).

6. 6
Boat/Wind Speed Multiple
Average
wind speed Speed multiple
in knots NZ Italy NZ advantage
Race 4 14 1.92 1.81 6.5%
Race 5 13 2.19 2.10 4.2%
Race 6 14 1.77 1.71 3.8%
Race 7 18 1.62 1.52 7.1%
Race 8 11.5 1.85 1.74 6.1%
Regardless of wind speed conditions, NZ’s boat was faster
than the Italian one (from 4% to 7% faster). Assuming both
teams would have identical sailing performance, the faster NZ
boat would translate into wins ranging from 1 minute to 1
minute and 45 seconds. Those are huge win margins on a
course that takes typically around 25 minutes.

7. 7
Boat/Wind Speed Multiple scatter plot
Wind speed vs Boat speed/Wind speed multiple
1.50
1.75
2.00
2.25
10 12.5 15 17.5 20
Average wind speed in knots
Avgboatspeed/Avg.windspeed
multiple
NZ
IT
Same info as previous slide, but shown visually.

8. 8
Combining Sailing Efficiency
& Boat Speed
New Zealand Time Savings
Combined Combined
Sailing eff. Boat speed Calculated Actual
Race 4 -1.7% -6.1% -7.8% -8.0%
Race 5 -1.7% -4.0% -5.8% -5.7%
Race 6 -2.5% -3.7% -6.2% -6.5%
Race 7 -0.9% -6.6% -7.5% -7.7%
Race 8 -3.3% -5.8% -9.0% -9.0%
As shown, New Zealand won all 5 races by huge margins
representing from 5.7% to 9% of the elapsed time. That
would be like winning a 100 meter running race by between
57/100th to 9/10th of a second (ridiculous winning margin).

9. 9
Combining Sailing Efficiency
& Boat Speed scatter plot
Boat speed/Wind speed multiple vs Sailing efficiency
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
2.4
110% 112% 114% 116% 118% 120% 122%
Sailing efficiency
Boatspeed/Windspeedmultiple
NZ
IT
The optimal quadrant is the upper left one. And, NZ has
always a better optimized position close to this quadrant.

10. 10
Weighing NZ crew vs boat
performance
Boat Crew
Race 4 78.2% 21.8%
Race 5 70.3% 29.7%
Race 6 59.5% 40.5%
Race 7 88.4% 11.6%
Race 8 64.0% 36.0%
Average 72.1% 27.9%
In average, the NZ team won because of superior boat
speed (72%) and because of superior sailing efficiency or
crew (28%).

11. 11
Conclusion
• The final of the 2013 Louis Vuitton cup
was not competitive. The NZ team wiped
out the Italian one on all counts;
• Nevertheless, it was a very interesting
experiment in sailing AC 72 catamarans at
peak speeds up to 47 knots or 54 mph!