Day 8 09/09/24 – British lead into Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals as France bow out in style
It was a day of tie-breaks and heartbreaks as the Round Robin stage of the Louis Vuitton Cup drew to a close. For INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record, it was unbridled joy as they secured the top spot in the Challenger standings after a dramatic race-off with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, whilst for Orient Express Racing Team, the late Challenger from France, unfortunately their regatta is over after a loss to the British.
With so many permutations at the start of the day, all eyes were on the winds in Barcelona as a building southerly thermal filtered up the Mediterranean and produced just enough to get racing underway. From the very start, INEOS Britannia looked sharp with Sir Ben Ainslie’s team dispatching the French, and thus closing down immediately one of the day’s permutations, after a runaway race where Orient Express Racing Team did their level best to come back into late on. The British showed composure to cross the line after six legs with a 71-second winning delta.
Speaking afterwards, a deflated Quentin Delapierre, the outstanding skipper and sailing figurehead for the French team, took the defeat well and in perspective, saying: “I do think that what we built together with the sponsors and with the whole of the team is getting stronger and stronger, and for sure the ambition is to come back. But if we come back, we will need to come back stronger and faster. I think we were missing a bit of an edge in this competition and also some practice in the pre-start and the close calls. Overall, I think what we achieved together is pretty significant but unfortunately, we were not able to get inside the semis. We built things together. We worked hard on it. We were in the mix, so it is an achievement but not enough. Hopefully we will be back.”
Following France’s defeat, the remaining semi-final spot was secured for Alinghi Red Bull Racing who took on the then overall leaders, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, with the odds seemingly stacked in the Italians’ favour, based on previous performances.
However, just ahead of the start, Luna Rossa sailed outside the far-left boundary with a technical issue, unable to lower their starboard (right) board, and were disqualified by the Race Committee. Alinghi Red Bull Racing started cleanly and were immediately awarded the win, but the knock-on effect was a tie in the standings at the top, requiring a race-off between the Italians and the British.
Silvio Arrivabene, the co-General Manager of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, spoke afterwards and summed up the feeling in the team about their safe passage to the semi-finals, saying: “Well, it’s certainly a relief of course, but now I think it’s a new chapter and we have five days away, new weather conditions, we have the ability to perhaps do some improvements on the boat and how we sail the boat. It’s a relief but we’re looking ahead, very focused but very energised.”
Ahead of the match of the day (the race-off), Emirates Team New Zealand executed a dominant performance against NYYC American Magic who brought in Lucas Calabrese on the port helm today. After a fall off the foils in the pre-start, and a further fall off again on the penultimate leg of the course by the Americans, the Defenders sailed off to a flattering two minutes and 37 seconds victory and finished the Round Robin stage of the Louis Vuitton Cup topping the overall six-team standings (with their results included). The next time we will see Emirates Team New Zealand racing will be in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match on October 12 and all eyes will be on the technology they may deploy in the coming weeks.
Speaking afterwards, Nathan Outteridge, port helm on ‘Taihoro’ teased when asked about what’s coming saying: “Hopefully you won’t be able to spot the difference, but yes, now we’ve got some upgrades coming to the boat which should be ready to start testing later this week. Obviously without being able to do any racing, we can’t really do much more race practice now, so it will all be internal simulator stuff. Hopefully there is a bit of performance still on the table still with the boat – which you’ll have to keep your eye out for.”
Terry Hutchinson, Skipper and President of Sailing Operations for NYYC American Magic was clearly bemused at the team’s performance on the water and spoke of the momentum in the team and how they can regain their form, saying: “I think we always kind of operate the mindset of strengths and weaknesses, so we’ve got to have a good hard look at ourselves and understand where we don’t think we’re strong and how we can just reset the baseline there.
“The boat has pace, all the boats have their moments, so we have to just continue to identify ours. I’m confident that we have the right piece of equipment, confident that we have great people, where I get a little bit rattled is seeing so many positive signs and then steps back backwards or lateral steps, and how to stop that. It’s a difficult sport and everybody’s good, so we have to sail within ourselves, race within ourselves, and identify the times we’re doing things well and conversely when we’re not.”
With palpable tension in the air, the race-off for top spot between INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli for the top spot in the standings going into next weekend’s Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Fnals was a thriller, sailed in marginal conditions just above the wind-limit with both boats avoiding each other’s wing-wash in the pre-start dance. Ben Ainslie brought Britannia into the starboard end of the line bang on the starting gun to control both the windward position and starboard advantage and never looked back. Gaining on almost every leg of the course to record the British team’s second win in as many races against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, it was a dominant performance and a serious marker of intent for the rest of the tournament.
Speaking dockside, a clearly delighted Ainslie spoke on behalf of the whole INEOS Britannia set-up saying: “It’s another great step forward for the team. We had a really good day the other day in some breeze, so to up the performance in the lighter stuff is an area where we’ve been struggling a little bit, and the team have been doing a really good job trying to figure that out, the set-up of the boat and how we’re sailing and operating it. It feels like we’ve got some really good momentum and I’m delighted for the whole team again – not just us as sailors but the shore team, the designers and engineers, both here and back in the UK – so a big day for the team.”
Orient Express Racing Team bowed out with grace and style from the Louis Vuitton Cup today and will be sorely missed. What the team have achieved in a very short time is nothing short of miraculous and speaking afterwards Bruno Dubois, co-Chief Executive (with Stefan Kandler) gave a vision for the future saying: “I think overall we have done a good job. Stephan and I put this campaign together in a short time and I think in the end we were quite competitive. We’ve done some good things with this campaign, but we need more time, more money, more everything. The good news is that the team will stay together with a few projects we’re going to work on to make sure the sailors, the technical team, everybody, will stay together. We have the base, we have the boat, so we are not starting from zero.”
Kandler further added: “We started from scratch, we caught up, but not enough. So, it’s really disappointing, but at the same time I’m very proud of the team and the great effort we all put into it. We are building a platform for the future, for sure. We know we have fantastic technology to work on for future campaigns, if as planned the boat keeps on going in the America’s Cup. We are a sponsored team. We have no big private backer, so it is important for our sponsors to know where the Cup is going next. They were happy to come to Barcelona to support a young team. They know we are a good team with lots of potential, but we need to wait for the winner to decide when and where. The America’s Cup is the hardest sporting trophy in the world to win. I’m proud of what the guys did on the water. It’s a super complex boat and yeah, I hope we’ll be there in the next one.”
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli helmsman Francesco Bruni really captured the sympathetic mood amongst the other teams at the news of the departure of the French saying: “I am super sorry for them because they did a late campaign in a very good way. I think they made some very good decisions – taking the design package from New Zealand and not trying to take any shortcuts. On the water they were difficult, not easy at all to race against. I’m really hoping to see them back again in the America’s Cup in the future.”
Peter Burling, skipper for Emirates Team New Zealand, further added: “Incredibly sad to lose the French today, I felt they were on such a steep trajectory and learning so quickly and it’s pretty impressive to see how close they got to taking a few more wins. I guess it’s a reminder of ‘sport’ when you see a really good team like them getting knocked out early, but the level is so high, you’ve got to be right on top of your game.”
American Magic skipper Tom Slingsby also paid tribute – in a typically pragmatic way: “The French have been amazing and, honestly from a competitive standpoint I’m happy they’re eliminated now, because of their projection. They’re improving so quickly and it’s good for the rest of the Challengers that we got them out early because you wouldn’t want to be facing him in a couple of weeks time. Hats off to them, with the limited training and the limited budget, to be able to put together such a very competitive and impressive campaign.”
As the Round Robin stage concludes and Emirates Team New Zealand – who finnished atop the overall standings – make their exit, for the remaining four Challengers the Louis Vuitton Cup now moves on to the semi-final stage.
For INEOS Britannia, by finishing top amongst the Challengers, they now hold all the aces and can select both their opponent and the side of entry for their first race. Who they pick, be it the Italians, Americans or Swiss, they can be sure of a blockbuster battle where the first to win five races will secure a spot in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final.
08/09/24 – Racing abandoned due to unstable and dynamic weather on day 8 of the Louis Vuitton Cup
Barcelona saw some dynamic and fast-moving conditions today with a northerly airflow switching east but ushering in significant rain showers and the ever-present threat of thunderstorms coming off the hills to the north of the city. With the risk of lightning coming across the designated racecourse of the Louis Vuitton Cup, shortly before 1330 CET, Race Director Iain Murray took the sensible course of action in instructing the yachts to cease sailing and return immediately to harbour.
The precautionary move on the part of the Race Director was fully respected by all the teams with further instructions that the Race Committee would be monitoring the situation with the intention of starting racing later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, at 1610 the decision was taken to cancel racing for the day with the wind just not settling, despite the storm clouds clearing, and the boats, who had re-set up along the Barcelona waterfront, towed back to harbour.
The morning was not without drama for the French team however, who suffered a nosedive during practice and were forced to return to their base to repair unspecified structural damage. A sterling effort ensued by the Shore Team and with minutes to go before a scheduled start against INEOS Britannia, the AC75 was fast-towed to the racecourse. The wind Gods played in their favour however, and the subsequent delays allowed them to get race-prepared but the ultimate cancellation of today’s racing will give the shore team more time to repair any damage incurred.
We now look to Monday when the Race Committee will attempt to conclude the closing day of the Round Robin stage of the Louis Vuitton Cup. For Orient Express Racing Team, who will take on the hard-charging INEOS Britannia in the first race on Monday, the deal is simple. Win and they have every chance of forcing a play-off against Alinghi Red Bull Racing. Lose and they are eliminated from the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup.
For the Swiss, who will face a dangerous Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli after their first Challenger defeat on Saturday to the British, they are in for a tricky battle but will know their fate (or exactly what they need to do) with their race being the second on the race schedule behind ‘Le Crunch.’ If the French secure a win, then it’s maximum pressure on Alinghi Red Bull Racing who would need a win against the Italians to avoid a winner-takes-all race-off.
Meanwhile at the top of the standings, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INEOS Britannia could be locked in a tie for first place if the British win against France and the Italians lose to the Swiss. That also would force a play-off for the top spot in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals with the winner getting a significant advantage in being able to select both their opponent and the side of the starting line entry in the opening match.
Whoever tops the standings at the end of the Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin stage will announce their selection of opponent at the pre-semi-final Press Conference scheduled for Friday September 13 at 1100 CET.
For shoreside spectators in Barcelona, Monday is going to be a raceday not to miss. The free-to-enter Race Village and Fanzones at the Plaça del Mar and Bogatell will be open from midday for fans of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup to secure the best viewing spots and settle down for an afternoon of pure high-octane AC75 entertainment. Barcelona truly is the epicentre of the yachting world right now.
A defining day to come tomorrow with variables aplenty at both the top and bottom of the Louis Vuitton Cup fleet. This is going to be fascinating.
Day 7 07/09/24 – Ineos Britannia signal their intent in the Louis Vuitton Cup
Conditions were pitch-perfect in Barcelona for the seventh day of the Louis Vuitton Cup, with the wind clocking round to the south-south-west and delivering a breeze that topped out at 17 knots and an off-axis swell – challenging conditions that saw the big sailing names perform. It was a highly significant day for INEOS Britannia who showed every ounce of their potential, scoring first a win against Alinghi Red Bull Racing and then inflicting the first Challenger defeat on Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with a clinical display of pace, power and racecraft from Sir Ben Ainslie’s team.
Barcelona was simply stunning with the backdrop of the city and the ongoing Puig Vela Clàssica Regatta plus the magnificent sight of the 3,770-ton displacement, four-masted Juan Sebastián Elcano naval training vessel – one of the iconic ships of the Spanish Navy. Shoreside the free-to-enter Race Village in the heart of the Port Vell and the Fanzones out at Bogatell and Plaça del Mar were packed with spectators enjoying the late summer sun and the outstanding facilities to make watching the Louis Vuitton Cup, a real pleasure.
On the water, the racing was scintillating from start to finish as the breeze filled and afforded some of the best racing seen so far in the Louis Vuitton Cup. INEOS Britannia showed all of their potential in the breeze with an initial commanding win over Alinghi Red Bull Racing early in the afternoon, whilst Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli stayed ruthlessly determined and edged a close race with NYYC American Magic.
The showdown of the day, though, was INEOS Britannia against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, where the British dominated right from the start and negated the high-mode that the Italians can deploy to such devastating effect on initial drag race off the start line. Having navigated this trap and seizing the lead, the British never looked back, although a small nosedive on a gybe exit on the final downwind leg to the finish was a reminder of the fine margins between success and failure in these AC75s. INEOS Britannia survived and slapped a 25 second defeat onto Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to secure their passage to the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Ben Ainslie, skipper of INEOS Britannia, was delighted with the team’s performance saying: “It’s a great day for the team, we all know the America’s Cup is a bit of a battle to try and get the maximum performance out of these boats and for whatever reason we haven’t really done a great job of that so far, but today in those conditions we set the boat up well and showed what it’s capable of. We haven’t really raced that much in that sort of swell and breeze strength but it certainly felt like we got it hooked up in that stuff and it was going well. We did a nice job on that right hand side and if you’ve got a bit of extra speed, it makes the tactics look pretty good and we’ve got to keep looking to find those gains and take each day at a time.”
Jimmy Spithill, starboard helm for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli was sanguine about the team’s first loss against a Challenger but gave praise to the British team, saying: “They had good performance today – we were impressed. I think we’re going to see the whole fleet have strong points, everyone’s going to have their pros and cons in various conditions and yes those guys looked good today.”
As the current leaders amongst the Challengers, Jimmy was asked who they might pick to race in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final but would give nothing away saying: “I don’t know how the math works at the moment. Obviously we’re through, but I think for now we will just go out and try to win tomorrow and then we can weigh up the options for the semis.”
For the Swiss and French meanwhile, it was a tough day at the office for both teams and they remain locked in battle for the final semi-final spot but with the Swiss holding a slender one-point advantage. Orient Express Racing Team came in with high hopes today of securing a win against NYYC American Magic and, despite it being close right to the finish, it was the Americans who recorded the win, leaving Quentin Delapierre knowing that it’s do-or-die tomorrow in their race against INEOS Britannia: “I honestly think it was our best race so far, for two reasons: that was the first time we sailed the boat in those conditions, and the first time we took a start (started a race) in those conditions. We didn’t have any unforced errors or big mistakes so it’s really encouraging. I hope it’s not too late. Hopefully tomorrow will be a great day for us and we will be able to push hard on the Brits. I think tomorrow will be lighter, which is quite good news for us.”
NYYC American Magic secured their berth in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals with their win against the French, but Tom Slingsby knows there’s plenty of development and technique work to be done before the knock-out stage, saying: “Really it’s consistency with us, our manoeuvre consistency needs work, some manoeuvres are as good as anyone and then we have some bad ones and it gets quite tough to sail tactically when you don’t know what you’re going to do in the manoeuvre. You want to tack on them, but then there’s the thought that the more you throw at them, the closer you are to a bad one. But if we can chip away at some small things we can make some big improvements. I think we sailed pretty well against Luna Rossa, but then in the next race against the French we were quite wobbly.”
Talking about a possible Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final against INEOS Britannia, Slingsby set the scene saying: “They are getting better and the way they came at us yesterday when we had a nice lead and were able to chip away at us, and then what they did today to Luna Rossa, that’s really impressive. Their rate of improvement has been a little higher than us recently, but we’ve still got time, and we’ll try to get on a roll because we know we can beat them. They’ve improved but we’ve got to improve quicker.”
Succumbing to the loss against the British and then a second loss to Emirates Team New Zealand today, Alinghi Red Bull Racing looked to be struggling for horsepower in the breeze and waves. Maxime Bachelin, port helm took a modicum of positives away from both races but knows that it will be a tricky final race against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli tomorrow saying: “It was quite a tough day for us. We were expecting a better performance from us in the waves, so we are a bit disappointed I would say. Tomorrow is just one match, and we will go for it and try to win this one as we can see that Luna Rossa is beatable.”
Andy Maloney, trimmer on Emirates Team New Zealand, commented about their uncustomary ragged start but clinical race execution thereafter against the Swiss, saying: “We didn’t get off to the best start and I think that was probably our biggest mistake in the race. It was tricky conditions to sail the boat and great practice for us out there in that stuff, that’s really what we need to work on. Everyone’s got great boats and great packages, so we know it’s going to be a lot about the pre-start and that first exchange off the line, trying to predict the first shift, who’s going to win on the first interaction – that’s going to be a lot of the race so we’re really focusing on that. Today we didn’t quite nail that, but we will go back and look to see how we could have done better.”
If the schedule is completed, Sunday’s racing will see the final spot in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final secured. It’s a straight deal – Orient Express Racing Team must beat INEOS Britannia to draw level with Alinghi Red Bull Racing. For the Swiss, they will guarantee their spot if they beat Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli but will face a race-off if the French finish tied on points.
Do or die. This is it.
Day 6 04/09/24 – Swiss score vital win on day six of the Louis Vuitton Cup
After yesterday’s cancellation of racing due to inclement weather, the Louis Vuitton Cup schedule got right back on track with five races completed in a shifting 6-10 knot thermal southerly breeze that challenged the sailors. The big story of the day was Alinghi Red Bull Racing – a team that at their own admission has had a ‘reset’ – scoring their second win of the regatta to now move off the bottom-step in the rankings with the very real prospect of a safe passage through to the semi-final stage.
In their race today against NYYC American Magic, the Swiss were sublime. Capitalising on some uncharacteristic manoeuvre execution errors, and a penalty in the pre-start awarded against the Americans, Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed a super-clean race, showing pace and bravery to never be headed after the start. Such was the confidence in their speed, the Swiss were able to use every ounce of their tactical and wind-spotting nous to dominate, in a textbook match-race.
Arnaud Psarofaghis came ashore looking relieved and utterly focussed on the upcoming races to close out this stage of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Talking about the day, a smiling Arnaud said: “I think today was the combination of everything that we know to do and have learnt. It was really tricky conditions, and to be honest just before the start it was marginal. We were not on the right jib and then just before the start a new line of pressure came down and we actually got caught with the boat kind of jumping out of the water in a massive puff. We managed to get it back and start on time and then from there we got a bit lucky with American Magic getting a penalty at the entry. The wind was really shifting and strange and the guys did a fantastic job onboard just putting us in the right spot in the breeze. The boys on the bikes were amazing, we could have tacked 20 more times, so it was pretty good. We really managed the race and it’s good to get that point on the board and we still want to go for more wins.”
Asked what’s changed in the team, Arnaud commented on the building confidence, saying; “There’s a feeling that we can just sail the boat and put it where we need to. I think we just need to be confident in what we do and just go for it, and we saw today, anyone can win a race.”
A very different set of emotions emanated from the NYYC American Magic camp with Paul Goodison clearly not happy with the performance on the water, despite the narrow win against INEOS Britannia, saying: “It literally feels like I’ve done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. I feel like we had the seven bells knocked out of us, but the good news is that we got another point on the board and we got plenty of lessons that we can take from today to move forward. But it’s been a frustrating day, we weren’t manoeuvring as well as we normally do, and the worst bit is that we couldn’t quite put our finger on how to fix it. We stayed out a little bit afterwards and collected some more data and it’s going to be a long night sifting through that to try and figure out what was different today. We just have to take those lessons and move forward.”
Elsewhere, there were professional performances from Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with the Kiwis scoring an impressive win over INEOS Britannia and a not-all-their-own way win against Orient Express Racing Team –despite a considerable winning margin in the end. For Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli it was a swift and accurate dispatch of Orient Express Racing Team, in the Italian’s only race of the day, with the French finishing just over a minute behind.
Francesco Bruni, port side helm of Luna Rossa, very much kept his game-face on, saying: “It was very tricky. The French are not slow, especially in the lighter winds, and it was not a surprise. We try to be to very critical of our performances. We want to get better and better and we know that in the America’s Cup this phase is the most important one to how fast you are and to grow, so it’s a never-ending story for us. We keep looking at all the mistakes we did, because we did some mistakes today, and we don’t want to do the same mistake twice.”
After two run-away wins today by large deltas, Emirates Team New Zealand enjoyed a comfortable day on the water. For Nathan Outteridge, port helm on ‘Taihoro’ it’s about looking to the end of this second Round Robin in the Louis Vuitton Cup and the team stepping away from competition until the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match in October, as he explained: “A few races to go here and then we’re back into a bit of a development round with some bits and pieces coming online, so for us it’s all about getting on top of our racecraft, our starting and making sure we’re racing the boat really well. We’ve got the weekend to finish off now, then into a development phase for a few more weeks and watching to see how the Challenger racing goes. We saw today some fantastic races among the other teams, and I think Alinghi Red Bull Racing did a great job against American Magic when the opportunity presented there, so it shows that any of the teams can win if they get a good start and get going.”
For INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record it was a tough day out after losing a very close battle with NYYC American Magic that effectively came down to the last gybe on the course, and a heavy defeat to Emirates Team New Zealand who were ruthless in their execution.
Sir Ben Ainslie put a brave but realistic face on the performances today saying: “It’s hard to come off the water after getting two losses – nobody likes that. But, at the same time, we have to take the positives from these races and for sure we’re getting closer to some other teams in performance in these light airs and in certain areas where we’ve been struggling a little bit. Certainly, coming back against the Americans was strong for us and we are kicking ourselves about that finish where it was a hard call on which side to defend and then making a tough job of that last gybe into the finish. We will go and look and analyse all of that and there will no doubt be some good learnings, but for me it feels like we are, in general, progressing the right way.”
Down at the bottom of the table on points, Orient Express Racing Team are facing an ever-increasing uphill battle for survival but Quentin Delapierre, the enigmatic skipper of the team is eyeing the weekend’s racing and the matches against INEOS Britannia and NYYC American Magic as key, saying: “Nothing is done yet, there are plenty of things to do on Saturday and Sunday. There’s a lot of things that we have to fix to be in a winning mindset on Saturday but if Alinghi Red Bull Racing is able to beat American Magic then we are able to do that. I just want to be in a strong mindset on Saturday to be able to beat American Magic and equalise, after that on Sunday against the British, everything would be possible.”
After completing the scheduled five races today, the Louis Vuitton Cup will pause on Friday ahead of an exciting crescendo to conclude the second Round Robin over the weekend. There are another five races on the card for Saturday and a scheduled three races on Sunday as Barcelona welcomes the world to this ‘jewel in the sun.’
The forecast looks good for both days and for sure, the free-to-enter Race Village and Fanzones will be buzzing with an electric atmosphere, whilst on the water it’s a pure battle for survival as one team goes home on Sunday with their Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup dream over. The hardest competition in international sports to win is a cruel sporting cauldon.
04/09/24 – Incoming storm front cancels day six of the Louis Vuitton Cup
After yesterday’s inclement weather that saw the abandonment of the second race of the day between Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton Cup second Round Robin, unfortunately it’s more of the same today in Barcelona.
The beginning of September is very much a transition period in the weather, so Mediterranean storms are commonplace, and with winds reportedly gusting up to 50 knots offshore on the Balearic Islands and a front moving towards Barcelona, the Race Committee made the call to abandon all racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup for today. An updated schedule for racing will be issued in due course.
Yesterday’s racing will live long in the memories of America’s Cup fans after the dramatic lightning strike just a few hundred metres ahead of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, with the team on the final leg of their race and headed to the finish.
Immediately that race was abandoned and the AC75s, with full carbon masts and hulls, headed initially into the spectator fleet before fast-towing back to their bases in the Port Vell. Rapid work from the Chase Boat teams, everyone made it back safely.
In addition to the cancellation of racing at the Louis Vuitton Cup today, the decision was also taken to close the Official Race Village on the Moll de la Fusta and all Fanzones due to the forecast for heavy rain squalls and the possibility of thunder and lightning around the Barcelona area.
Day 5 03/09/24 – Thunderbolts and lighting as Swiss score crucial win
Rain clouds coming off the mountains to the north of Barcelona produced some challenging and dynamic conditions with enormous shifts in the wind on day one of the Louis Vuitton Cup second Round Robin – the stage of the Challenger Selection Series where every race really matters. It’s ultra-serious from here on in with the immutable fact that for one team on Sunday, if everything goes to schedule, their Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup dream ends and they are eliminated. A harsh reality.
Tension was palpable at dock-out with flag-waving supporters sending off their teams with unbridled enthusiasm ahead of some high-pressure racing – none more so than in the opening race of the day between Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Orient Express Racing Team. The Swiss, winless from Round Robin 1, were imperious from the start, building a massive lead and capitalising on a French mistake that saw them off the foils on the first upwind leg.
The Swiss never looked back, offering no passing lanes or ways back in for Orient Express Racing Team and sailed smoothly over six legs to secure a morale-boosting win that could be absolutely vital at the end of this regatta in the case of an undecided tie-break. Win number one for Alinghi Red Bull Racing – and right at the moment when it mattered most.
An elated and relieved Maxime Bachelin, helmsman of Alinghi Red Bull Racing came ashore, praising his team saying: “It’s a great way for us to start for the week. I think we did it quite well, we like these shifty conditions and heavy wind, so I think we did what we really wanted to do. We were quite down last week after the results, now it’s a good reset and we’re very happy with the performance of the team on the boat-handling and, as well, the speed looks way better than what it was in the past, so we are very happy.”
For the French it was a hard loss to take but Quentin Delapierre, the skipper and sailing figurehead of the campaign, still sees a way forward saying: “We had a technical issue, which is quite unfortunate, and we were just fighting with the boat in the starting box and also really struggling in the first tack. We didn’t lose this match fairly. It is what it is. This is the Cup, it’s part of the game and honestly, the confidence is still really high. We know that we will improve again during this week, we can win all the matches, so we just have to stay really positive. Everything is possible this week.”
These two teams are now fighting it out for a crucial spot in the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final with all to play for in the coming days. Two other teams that are enjoying a tight battle, came head-to head in the second race of the day with Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli facing off in a fascinating encounter. There doesn’t appear much to choose between these two other than racecraft and boat positioning, which today Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni nailed to perfection onboard Luna Rossa right at the start.
Gassing the Kiwis in the final approaches to the line and forcing them into a low-speed tack that saw Emirates Team New Zealand off the foils, gave full advantage to Luna Rossa, who survived a nervy sky-rocket broach on a tack exit to lead at every mark. Drama, however, ensued on the final downwind to the finish with the weather deteriorating and rumbles of thunder heard close by, when a lightning strike was spotted hitting the water just a few hundred metres ahead of Luna Rossa on their way to the finishing line.
Sensibly the Race Committee called an almost immediate halt to racing, awarding the win to Luna Rossa whilst Emirates Team New Zealand was scored a DSQ for going far outside the boundary as they headed off the racecourse in an effort to avoid the incoming weather. Both boats dropped sails immediately and fast-towed back to the Port Vell.
Jimmy Spithill, skipper of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli was full of praise for his cyclor team who he credited with delivering the power that enabled them to start like they did against the Kiwis, saying: “All credit to the boys on the bikes. That start required all the oil we had and will probably ever use. To be able to do that is a real sign of strength. It’s good to get one up against them, we’ve had a few great races, and the boys were really able to out-muscle them today and that that’s the main goal. I’ve seen all the hard work our cyclors have been putting in, and when they get going, they’re like a bunch of wild animals, it’s frightening actually – they’ve definitely broken a few bikes! It’s just another great race against the Kiwis, we expect nothing less when we’re going against those guys and unfortunately for us that’ll be the last one for a while but let’s see what happens in the rest of the rounds now against the Challengers.”
Speaking afterwards about the pre-start and how Luna Rossa got the jump, Peter Burling, skipper of Emirates Team New Zealand shouldered the blame saying: “A bit of a mistake on my behalf, just letting them sit a little bit too far forward, and I didn’t think they’d be able to accelerate quite as well as they did, and then we ended up in a really tricky situation once they did get over the top of us. Once you blow off a foil and it’s not got flow attached to it, everything gets really weird and you end up with strange angles. But all in all we were pretty happy with how we set up in the pre-start, we made them do something and we just weren’t able to finish it off, but then really happy with the way we were sailing around the racetrack. It felt like we were coming back into them, but it was so one-sided to the right, that every time we tried to take a bit of a split or create a bit of leverage to the left, we would just evaporate the hard work that we had done and it was really hard to make a pass.”
A dramatic conclusion to an interesting two-race day. The Swiss magnificently handled the pressure and gained considerable momentum in their campaign whilst the Italians have accelerated theirs, at last decisively taking the scalp of the Defenders of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup.
