America's Cup: Tension Palpable at the Louis Vuitton Cup Press Conference

There was a serious tone to proceedings at the press conference ahead of the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup – which begins at 1400 CET on Thursday August 29 – with a palpable feeling of tension on the stage where the six assembled helmsmen sat either side of the glistening Louis Vuitton Cup. And rightly so, for the five Challenger teams everything is on the line now, with every race and every point counting – plus the brutal reality that at the end of the upcoming eight-day double Round Robin series, one Challenger will be eliminated.

Sir Ben Ainslie, CEO of the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia, really put it in context and knows that three-and-a-half years of work now comes down to on-water performance, accuracy and execution: “It’s starting to get serious in a hurry. We’re now racing for keeps. We’ve been through the Preliminary Regatta, which was a great opportunity for all the teams to size up against each other, certainly a huge amount of learnings for all the teams, but now each point counts and you’ve got to make it work.”

Tom Slingsby, helmsman for NYYC American Magic, who steered ‘Patriot’ to a morale-boosting final race win against Emirates Team New Zealand, reflected on the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta, but also recognised the jeopardy that all the Challengers now face, saying: “It was really interesting for us to see all the teams, the strengths and weaknesses, and it’s quite interesting to see how you stack up. As for us at American Magic, I think we showed our potential in a couple of races and then in others we fell a bit below that. We’ve got to be realistic; we can’t let that happen when the points count.”

Whilst NYYC American Magic had a significant breakdown when a hydraulic cylinder failed on their rudder rake system, it was Jimmy Spithill, the helmsman of the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli campaign, who made the point that reliability could be a factor for all the teams. “Look, it counts now. There’s no more practice. I think the whole fleet has had a reliability issue at some point, whether through the Preliminary Regatta or through some of the media practice days, so it’s on everyone’s minds. But you have to understand that these boats are literally on the edge. We push these things very, very, hard and they are incredible machines, so it comes part and parcel with the very edge of technology and pushing things hard.”

With Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli seen by some as the leading Challenger at this point by dint of their results and overall performance in the Preliminary Regatta, Spithill was keen to acknowledge just how difficult the racing is set to be from here on, saying: “I think what the Preliminary Regatta showed was that everyone had their moments, everyone went out and won races, but at the same time, there were mistakes through all the teams, and it showed. If you made too many mistakes you will be punished for them, you will lose that race – and everyone has experienced that.”

Arnaud Psarofaghis, helmsman and skipper of the Swiss team Alinghi Red Bull Racing, meanwhile suggested that the Swiss had adopted a slightly different and methodical approach for the Louis Vuitton Cup, saying: “I think we just need to make the cut, and the goal for us is to win as many races as we need to go to the next stage. Mainly just through every race we want to make sure that we take one step forward, to progress and avoid the mistakes we made last week where we had a good game plan but a few mistakes put us on the back foot. This week we are just going to go out there the way we know to sail the boat and just really push hard, and if we manage to make a good start, we can win any race.”

Quentin Delapierre, skipper of France’s Orient Express Racing Team struck an upbeat tone, saying he was realistic about the level where the team is at and what they can achieve. Asked if the team were ‘frustrated’ by results from the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta, he commented: “It's not that frustrating. We know that we didn’t have so much experience around the racetrack, especially on the starts and did not have the opportunity to race against another boat during the campaign. So, the Preliminary Regatta for us was an unbelievable experience to learn as much as we can. On the starts and pre-starts, we learned a lot and we will show it tomorrow. I’m really confident in the team, the challenge is huge for us but many departments inside the team learned a lot and improved their skills during the Preliminary Regatta, so there is a good opportunity for us.”

Summing everything up was Peter Burling, skipper of the Defender of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand, who will compete in the two Round Robin series before exiting to prepare for the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match in October. Burling highlighted the intense nature of the coming two weeks and acknowledged the level of competition, saying: “The Challenger group is the toughest it’s been in a long time in the America’s Cup, we saw some amazing racing during this preliminary series. I think everyone has got strengths and weaknesses and it’s going to be super exciting to see what happens over the next two weeks. Then at the end of this double Round Robin, one of these teams is going home. The level is getting raised to a whole other space and it’s exciting to see what unfolds.”

Prior to today's Louis Vuitton Cup press conference all the six helmsmen took part in a photoshoot with the trophy at the Hospital Sant Pau UNESCO World Heritage Site – one of Barcelona's most iconic locations.

Racing at the Louis Vuitton Cup starts on Thursday August 29 when we will see a blockbuster re-run of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta final between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, in the second race of the day, whilst INEOS Britannia and NYYC American Magic face each other in a fascinating and important race for both teams. Orient Express Racing Team has two races on the opening day, first against Alinghi Red Bull Racing and, in the final race, against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Conditions are expected to be light with the breeze coming in from the east-south-east and a slight sea-state.

There is no room for error. It’s now or never. The Louis Vuitton Cup is about to fire into action, and everything, literally everything, now matters. Stay tuned. This one is all set to be a classic and could well go right down to the wire.