Spain and Great Britain secure last spots in Youth America’s Cup semi-final

It was a day when the brightest youth sailing talent on the planet announced their arrival into the big league after an outstanding day of racing at the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup that saw a total of six races completed in superb Barcelona conditions.

To the delight of the hometown supporters cheering from ashore, Sail Team BCN not only sealed their place in the Semi-Finals but did so in style with an emphatic last race win just when it mattered. This young team, led by the supreme talents of Martin Wizner and Conrad Konitzer, have shown incredible improvements through the regatta, with terrific communications aligned with slick boat handling skills.

The Spanish team joins Swedish Challenge powered by Artemis Technologies and Andoo Team Australia in the Semi-Final as the top three teams – a fair outcome, as these three crews were a class apart throughout their eight-race series, always vying for the lead and showing incremental improvements race after race. How they will fare against the America’s Cup teams remains to be seen but, for certain, they are all excited for the challenge.

Speaking after racing, helmsman Martin Wizner came ashore saying: “We went out there to enjoy the racing, it was a great day today, no big waves, and these boats are designed for that. We went really fast today, we're super happy and today was all about sailing, sailing, sailing. We were all pushing the boat, the fleet was a lot closer and we were able to stick our heads out a bit and race like a normal boat.”

Jaime Framis, the team's starboard trimmer, looked ahead to the Semi-Finals with a sense of realism tinged with hope, saying: “Well, we'd love to go to the Semi-Finals and win. But realistically, we're up against three teams in Group A who have all the knowledge of the big teams in the Cup. They have a lot more hours on the boat than we do, plus they are really, really good sailors. The goal was to get in here, and from this point on it's going to be about enjoying and doing the best we can. One step at a time and we'll welcome whatever comes our way.”

Ludvig Lindqvist, helmsman for the Swedish Challenge who topped the standings, is now eyeing the Semi-Final fleet racing with much interest saying: “It's a new regatta now, I suppose, and you’ve got to go in with confidence. I think we’ve got a bit of homework to do tonight and the key has got to be that we’re on it at the start and then always be fast, – I think that's going to solve a lot of problems.”

Asked how they expect to fare against Italy, USA and GBR in the Semi-Final, Lindqvist responded: “They look very good. We've been racing them during the summer, having a lot of discussions, a lot of races, so I think if we come with good confidence and have a good day we can absolutely be up there.”

Cole Tapper, the fast-rising foiling star for Andoo Team Australia was brimming with confidence ahead of the Semi-Finals and is keen to get racing, saying: “Yeah, I think we can make an upset. The team’s been sailing really well, and I think each day we come out we're better and now our boat-handling is better and that just allows us to race even harder, so I guess we’re right in the mix. We know we're fast and maybe we've been a little bit on the back foot in terms of our manoeuvrability but to be honest, we've gone just so much better throughout this, and we're getting a lot more rock solid. Today we weren't even really thinking about the boat handling, it was more into the racing so that's a very free feeling and it's really exciting.”

The America’s Cup Teams took over the fleet of AC40s after a rapid change-over that involved changing the team branding and swapping in crew corrector weights to keep the boats fully equalised. When racing got underway in 12-14 knots, from the start it was blink-and-you-miss-it action with all the sailors pushing hard and giving no quarter anywhere around the racecourse. Boat handling was paramount and any mistakes through the manoeuvres were brutally punished.

Marco Gradoni and Gianluigi Ugolini, racing for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, confirmed their star billing and ‘favourites’ tag with wins in the day's opening two races that were taken with clinical efficiency. The silky smoothness of their sailing style and their short, sharp comms between helms and trimmers is something that everyone wants to emulate, and they finished the day clear ahead on the leaderboard – despite some uncharacteristic handling errors in the final two races.

Gradoni came ashore and spoke about the laser-focus he and the team are adopting for the Semi-Finals saying: “We’re just chilling, we will see all the guys, we will study what all the guys are able to do, and we will go out just to win races. I think our group was really difficult, and tomorrow we're going to meet three other teams, and we need to discover them, to know what they can do, and then just work on our strengths.” Asked if he was confident, Gradoni added: “You're never confident enough but we don't feel the pressure, I never feel the pressure, but it’s going to be tough, it’s only four races and it's not going to be easy.”

The Italians though were pushed hard by Harry Melges and Kyle Navin, representing NYYC American Magic, and this is a team to watch who are making steady improvements through the regatta. Melges is calm ahead of the Semi-Final saying: “Everything resets tomorrow in the Semi-Finals and just a new day. Obviously, the goal is to come out in the top two and make it to the final. We will be looking at the rewind of the races that we did today, and I think it's just about tying up all the little things, looks like it's going to be breeze more similar to today so we might jump in the simulator and just get a little warmed up before racing.”

Asked about the growing rivalry with Marco Gradoni, Melges responded: “I haven't quite thought of it that way before. This is our first time sailing against each other, but I think it's very exciting and yeah, he's definitely the target at the moment.”

Third place was secured by Athena Pathway from Great Britain, led by Nick Robins, who proved that they could handle the white-hot pressure of the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup. A final race showdown in Race 8, saw the British really show their outright speed and potential when up against Emirates Team New Zealand for the final podium spot and qualification through to the Semi-Finals.

It was nip and tuck all the way around the course between the British and New Zealand crews, while, agonisingly, a technical issue on the first leg forced the French to retire. Robins and his co-helm James Grummett kept it clean and sailed fast, pushing the leader NYYC American Magic all the way to the finish line, eventually finishing second by just a boat length. That was enough to take third in the qualifying series and for British supporters it was another superb day to be a fan in Barcelona.

Speaking afterwards, James Grummett was keeping it grounded with regards approach to the Semi-Finals, saying: “I think we just take every day as we have. We're still learning so much about the racing and the boats, we had a tricky first day that we got to learn a lot and gained on the next day and then today the race was super tight, especially on the start line, so we're still learning from all the interactions. I think tomorrow the whole event starts again it's just one day of racing, so we’ll take what we learnt from all the racing we've done so far, and just put it in to practice tomorrow.”

The Semi-Final of the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup is now confirmed with a fleet made up of the top three teams from Group A (Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, NYYC American Magic, Athena Pathway) and Group B (Swedish Challenge powered by Artemis Technologies, Andoo Team Australia, Sail Team BCN) for a four-race series, scheduled for tomorrow, to decide the top two teams who will progress through to the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup Final.

That race, a one-on-one, winner-takes-all, match race will take place in between the first two races of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final on Thursday September 26 – ensuring maximum publicity for the fast-rising stars of tomorrow’s America’s Cup.

For now though all eyes are on tomorrow's final fleet racing session of the UniCredit Youth America's Cup scheduled for 1400 CET tomorrow Tuesday September 24. The field could not be closer and the action more competitive. Bring it on.