A day of wildly swinging fortunes on a tricky Barcelona racetrack saw the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia, secure their place in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final with a win over Alinghi Red Bull Racing in the pair's second race of the day. Meanwhile, in the other side of the draw NYYC American Magic kept the American dream alive with two critical wins over Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli that takes their semi-final series to another day with the scoreline now at 4-3 in this first-to-five-points series.
For the British, this is the second consecutive time they have made the Challenger Selection Series Final, the first ‘Louis Vuitton’ Cup Final since 1983, and it was a hard-fought win on a lumpy sea-state in marginal wind conditions that made boat-handling and manoeuvres extremely tough. A first race loss against Alinghi Red Bull Racing, having set the smaller-sized mainsail, exposed ‘Britannia’ as the wind faded to below 5 knots and allowed the Swiss to keep the semi-final alive, and narrow the series scoreline to 4-2.
However, a much-improved performance in the pair's second race of the day saw Sir Ben Ainslie’s team regain their imperious form of earlier in the series to record an 83 second win with ‘Britannia’ looking back to her best and the team sailing at a level that the young Alinghi Red Bull Racing team simply could not match.
The Swiss now exit the competition having brought flair and glamour to the event shoreside, whilst on the water their young sailors put in stellar performances as they climbed a super-steep learning curve, winning friends and admirers all throughout their campaign.
Speaking afterwards, Sir Ben Ainslie, skipper of INEOS Britannia exuded relief having got his British team over the line, saying: “It was a tough final couple of days in the lighter conditions, hats off to Alinghi Red Bull Racing, they really pushed us hard in those lighter conditions and it was a rough day today where the wind was up and down a lot, a nasty sea state. A tough test for all of the teams, but I'm delighted for our team, for all the hard work and effort to get us this point.”
Offering comfort to the departing Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Sir Ben added: “I think they’re a great organisation, and as a team obviously they have an amazing history in the America's Cup with Ernesto Bertarelli and the rest of the team. Now a younger generation, with a young spirit, led by Arnaud (Psarofaghis) is great to see coming through to try and match the history and achievements of the past. I think they’ve got an exciting future in the America’s Cup.”
Maxime Bachelin, port helm, spoke on behalf of all the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Team saying: “Mixed emotions, but very proud with what we achieved as a new team. A lot of different learnings, but as well a bit sad to finish our adventure here. We gained two points in the last two days, and we were hoping to go for it, so a bit sad for that but very happy as well about the performance of the whole team.”
The drama of the day however was in the other semi-final between Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and NYYC American Magic with the Americans starting the day at 4-1 down. However, a win in a curious opening race of the day, where soon after the start the wind dropped to below six knots and saw both boats off the foils in displacement mode – swung the momentum in the American's favour.
With the score at 4-2 now the in the second race of the day the Italian team succumbed to some outstanding prestart sailing from the American team and in particular their starboard helmsman Tom Slingsby who led off the start line.
The race was a classic with lead changes aplenty, and a marvellous advert for both the Louis Vuitton 37thAmerica’s Cup and grand-prix foiling racing, until a dramatic gear failure on the traveller system of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on leg four of the course brought their race to an abrupt end.
There were no injuries onboard and with the Italians focused on securing their boat, NYYC American Magic strode away to complete the final two legs of the course and record their second win of the day. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s shore team will now work through the night to repair the damage in order to be back racing tomorrow.
Jimmy Spithill, skipper of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli was more than confident in his team bouncing back, saying: “This is high-level sport. I mean this is exactly what you expect. You're always going to get a few curveballs that come your way, but champion teams can deal with that, and we've certainly got a champion team. We have a fantastic team ashore and there's no doubt in my mind that we will be back. Man, I’ll make a bet and I'll put the farm on it that we’ll be out there tomorrow.”
Tom Slingsby, the highly experienced helmsman of NYYC American Magic, was measured in his response to the Italian breakdown, saying: “Obviously, it's never the way you want to win, but by the same token, we were out there giving out our best as well – so you don't want to discredit the work of our team. Our thoughts are with Luna Rossa – it sucks to lose a race like that – but look, they have still got the lead, and they can come out tomorrow and finish it off – or we can get out there and win.”
Slingsby also offered warm thoughts on the departure of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, saying: “For me it's been great to see Alinghi back in the competition. Their history in this sport, the way they came and won [the America’s Cup] on their first attempt – I don't think that's ever been done before. Ernesto [Bertarelli] is a great supporter of sailing, and they have run an amazing campaign over there. I know how hard everyone in the Swiss team works. They have been here for a long time in Barcelona, and they have been putting in long days, long hours. So just hats off to their whole team for an amazing campaign – and hopefully we see them again next time.”
Now at 4-3, and with sporting momentum, NYYC American Magic will be keen to capitalise and score a win in the opening race tomorrow at 14:00 CET to take this Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final to a deciding race. All eyes will be on the conditions with lighter winds again potentially in the forecast.
Expect the unexpected in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup – today the unexpected happened.
Prior to tomorrow afternoon's United States vs Italy match up the UniCredit Youth America's Cup Group B Invited Team will get their eight-race qualification series under way with four races scheduled to start at 1030 CET.