Inches and hard yards were fought for in Barcelona today in a classic final race at the Louis Vuitton Cup, and when the dust settled from the on-water fireworks, it was INEOS Britannia that emerged as the top Challenger and secured their place in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match, where they will face the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand, with racing beginning on October 12.
It is over 60 years since Great Britain had a yacht compete for the America’s Cup trophy in the final Match and what INEOS Britannia has achieved here, winning against the vastly experienced challenge of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, cannot be underestimated.
The final scoreline of 7-4 does not reflect just how close this 11-race duel between the top two Challengers really was. Over the first eight races there was nothing to separate the two yachts, but on the final two days of the series, INEOS Britannia found the boat positioning and speed to eke out the smallest of performance advantages that proved enough for them to win three straight races.
Today’s final race was a befitting culmination to the hard-fought, week-long, contest between the British and Italian crews. Barcelona was shimmering in the early autumn sunshine and despite meteorologist’s early pessimistic forecasts of light winds, the ‘Garbi’ south westerly breeze settled in just half an hour before the 1410 scheduled start time, delivering 12-15 knots and flat water – the ultimate speed test conditions for these stunning AC75 foiling monohulls.
At the start, fireworks were expected, but a standard trail-and-lead by Britannia – who had entered from the port end of the line – saw the British in a position to bear away down the line and start cleanly to leeward. The timing accuracy was astonishing, with Britannia starting just four metres behind the line at 40 knots, and they quickly found the positional advantage that forced Luna Rossa to tack away.
A bow-to-bow sprint race to the right boundary saw the Italians gain a boat length back, and with it, snatch tactical positional advantage to come back on the right-of-way starboard tack, triggering an aggressive duel between the two boats, after Britannia tacked smartly on the Italians’ bow – a true signal of intent.
It was the first of many such lee bow and face-slam tacks from the British who were never headed throughout the race, but equally were never more than a few seconds ahead of the hard chasing Luna Rossa crew at any turning mark. Downwind, Luna Rossa somehow negated the inherent speed advantage of the INEOS Britannia – perhaps by way of their choice of a one code larger headsail – and came back at the British time and again, as they searched to capitalise on any small mistake. INEOS Britannia, though, fended off their Italian opponent relentlessly – gybing early around the windward marks to cover and then doggedly defending upwind, never letting their rivals get a sniff of leverage or any chance to close within striking range.
As the ‘Garbi’ conditions have proven throughout this regatta summer, getting to the right and defending has proven profitable, but by the last upwind leg Luna Rossa gambled everything out left – a move that proved decisive. INEOS Britannia picked up pressure in the upper right quadrant, made a boat length or more gain and came around the final windward gate with a nine second advantage and knowing that they were just a handful of gybes from a series victory.
The Italians kept pressing, however, splitting gybes on the final downwind and heading to the right, whilst INEOS Britannia bounced off the left boundary. As the two came back together mid-course, it was the final time that the British would allow a split as they gybed on the Italian line with a lead of just under 200 metres. It was enough to sail to the port layline and gybe before pointing the boat at the finish line for a historic victory.
Finishing with a final delta of 17 seconds INEOS Britannia secured the Louis Vuitton Cup and in scenes of pure delight afterwards the British sailors celebrated a win that has been a long time in the making.
Jean Arnault, Louis Vuitton Watch Director, came aboard Britannia and awarded the gleaming Louis Vuitton Cup trophy to Sir Ben Ainslie before the Moët & Chandon champagne was uncorked and sprayed with abandon.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Team Owner and Chairman of INEOS also stepped aboard to lift the trophy, standing alongside Ainslie and his crew on the foredeck of the British AC75 before the boat was towed to the INEOS Britannia base in the Port Vell where they received a raucous welcome from their cheering fans and shoreteam lining the dockside, as nearby superyachts honked their horns and TV helicopters hovered overhead.
Sir Ben Ainslie, skipper and Team Principal acknowledged the moment, one of the finest in British sporting history, saying: “It’s a huge moment for the team and we knew we were always going to be in for a massive battle against Luna Rossa – so hats off to them, they have been incredible competitors. To get to this point has taken 10 years of hard work so I am incredibly proud of the team.
We have a long relationship with Luna Rossa – with Mr Bertelli, Max (Sirena), Jimmy (Spithill), Checco (Bruni) and the rest of the team – and there is a huge amount of respect there. They have been amazing competitors and they have a huge history in the Cup. I am sure that this is just one chapter in an ongoing battle between our two teams. For now, all I can say is thanks for the competition.”
Jimmy Spithill, starboard helm on Luna Rossa was magnanimous in defeat saying: “I just want to say well done to INEOS Britannia, to Ben [Ainslie] and his team, just an awesome effort. They started that team I think a decade ago, and to bounce back and win having got so close last time when we knocked them out, and then today they were the better team. I thought we had a great boat and it's difficult to really put into words, but all I can do is just thank all of my teammates and clearly congratulate the team for doing such an awesome job.”
Talking about his team and the support they’ve given, Spithill was effusive, saying: “It's really hard to thank them as much as I'd like to. A lot of people don't see just how much effort goes into these campaigns, you see the race and naturally see the athletes but behind the scenes, the shore team, the design team, the engineering teams, I can't think of a time when they’ve got a day off since we’ve been here in Barcelona.
“Every day you come in irrespective of how the day’s gone before, they're all there, everyone's just so positive, first ones there but the last ones to leave. We had multiple times that they all had to work through the night just to allow us to go out there and compete. You've got to be motivated to be in this game, but when you have teammates like that, doing what they do to give the athlete a shot out there, it’s incredible. So just thank you to everyone.”
Dylan Fletcher, the port helm on INEOS Britannia stepped ashore relieved, saying: “It's been a long way to get here, and I'm just feeling pretty proud of the team and the momentum that we've been building. It's always difficult in the America's Cup to get to this point and it's been 60 years since Great Britain was in this position of challenging in an America's Cup final, so yes, really proud of the team and just looking forward to the task ahead.”
Paying tribute to the Italians, Fletcher added: “Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli were an incredible team to race against, and as we saw it came down to the finest of margins between the two teams, it’s testament to these designs of yachts how close it was. It's now going to be interesting going up against the Kiwis, the three-times winners and Defenders, we know that they're very fast and it's going to be quite something to sail against them.”
The Louis Vuitton Cup will be awarded officially to INEOS Britannia at a ceremony in the Race Village along the Moll de la Fusta at 1900 this evening and after a brief period of deserved celebration it will be back to work for the British team, with everything now focusing on taking on the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match beginning Saturday October 12.
What the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series has shown is just how close this latest generation of AC75 yachts have become and just how tight the match-racing can be at speeds unimaginable even a few years ago. Hard yards were won, and in the end the trophy went to the British. The destiny of the oldest trophy in international sport, the America’s Cup is now on the line.