High pressure stakes as Alinghi fly on to the podium in the Women’s America’s Cup

Dreams were both realised and shattered at the Puig Women’s America’s Cup when what was billed today as the final showdown between the America’s Cup representative teams yielded just one light air race and meant the competition will continue tomorrow.

It was a difficult day for both the sailors and Race Committee here in Barcelona as a forecasted southerly thermal breeze failed to materialise after the fleet had docked out early at 1100 CET in the hope of getting two quick-fire races in when the wind settled.

But when the Race Committee’s wind sampling failed time and again to get above the minimum 7.5 knots an initial call was made at 1145 to send the boats back to port to wait for the afternoon breeze. However, almost immediately afterwards a new ‘Gregal’ breeze from the north-east filtered in and the boats were instructed to stay on the racecourse.

With the wind sampling target finally achieved, a race was started that proved to be an on-the-water version of the popular board game ‘Snakes and Ladders.’ Off the start line, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Emirates Team New Zealand looked imperious with the Kiwis coming off strongest and seizing the early lead. Athena Pathway were late to the start but executed a fine game-plan to play the right side of the course and by the first windward gate these three teams were in pole position.

Athena Pathway and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli opted to play the left (looking downwind) side of the run initially and lost out, whilst Emirates Team New Zealand picked up pressure down the right side and streaked into an enormous lead. By the leeward gate, the Race Committee had shortened both the length of the course and the number of legs to finish at the second windward gate and a Kiwi victory looked highly probable.

However, sailing can be a cruel sport at times and as the Kiwi crew approached the leeward gate they fell off the foils and – despite huge efforts from the sailors – never recovered flight again. Sailing on in displacement in increasing desperation, the New Zealand crew could only watch frustratedly as first Athena Pathway and then Alinghi Red Bull Racing came charging down the course and foiled around the leeward gate.

With the fleet having to deal with some tricky swell it was the Swiss who managed it best and first nailed a boundary tack out right before seizing the lead and staying up on their foils almost all the way to the finish. They crossed in displacement over three minutes ahead of Athena Pathway who had recovered from several splashdowns and were able to hold off the fast-charging NYYC American Magic who finished the race in third – their first podium finish of the regatta.

After several hours of waiting for enough wind for fair racing, shortly after 1600 CET the final three races were abandoned and rescheduled for tomorrow morning beginning at 1000 CET.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s win in the only race of the day leap-frogs them into third overall – and above the qualification cut line – ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand who will be rueing a day where they were so close to scoring maximum points. The Kiwis were not the only team that Mother Nature dealt a poor hand to. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli started the day in the top spot with a four point advantage over Athena Pathway, but tonight are tied for first with the British crew.

Speaking afterwards, Nathalie Brugger, skipper of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, was delighted but realistic about the Swiss team’s podium place, saying: “It feels really great to be sitting on the podium tonight but we would be much happier if we can stay there tomorrow. The conditions were really tricky out there for everyone – lots of up and down in the wind and people falling off the foils everywhere.

Asked how the Swiss sailors had managed to hold their nerve and stay on the foils to close out the win, Brugger confessed that she had not fully appreciated they were winning until after the finish. “I thought we were second or third, but we were actually first. But, anyway, we knew how important it was to stay on the foils and we made sure we made our manoeuvres only when we had the speed to do it, not necessarily where and when we wanted to do them. We were in a kind of ‘survival mode’ to stay in the air.”

Tash Bryant, port helm of Athena Pathway, said the British crew had known that racing in today’s conditions would be difficult. “We went into the race with the mindset of ‘let’s just sail our own boat’ and we were trying to make sure we didn’t have an absolute major [disaster]. In the end we were happy with how we performed.”

Asked about the decision to push the final three Qualification Series races back to tomorrow, Bryant said: “We just want fair racing so we are happy to wait for tomorrow to see what that brings – because any more racing this afternoon would have been quite luck-driven, I think. Let’s hope we have some great breeze tomorrow and get some good racing in.”

Reflecting on being tied on points with the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli squad, Bryant said it changed nothing for the British team’s game plan. “We just want to get through this first pool and then be in the top two to be in the match. So we are just going to be taking it race by race from here.”

Likewise, Margherita Porro, port helmswoman on Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, said the tie at the top of the standings was also not a factor for the Italian team. “It changes nothing, because we are focused on improving every day.

"Today the conditions were very hard for us – especially the waves that meant it was not easy at all to sail the boat. Tomorrow we will go out on the water as usual trying to do our best. Hopefully we can get a good night’s sleep tonight as Friday is going to be intense.”

Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Jo Aleh said the Kiwi crew was disappointed to have dropped off the podium after holding a big early lead in today’s race, but, nevertheless, happy to still be able to fight tomorrow to make it through to the Semi Finals.

“That’s the challenge. In these boats and in that wave state it is just super hard to be consistent. To be honest we were surprised for that first lap how well we were going. Before the race it had felt really hard to get the boat going smoothly. So we take a lot of confidence from that first lap and we are looking forward to tomorrow – bring on three more races.

“There are 10 more points available for every race and with the weather here you never really know what it is going to do – so anything is possible. We were worried we would come in and not get another chance, so we are very happy to have everything to go for tomorrow.”

So it’s still very much all to play for in the final Qualification Series of the Puig Women’s America’s Cup for the finest female athletes on the planet competing in what has been a fantastic inaugural event. What cards will be dealt tomorrow, nobody knows, but the pressure is already high and getting higher.