Competition ramps up for Alinghi Red Bull Racing

On the second day of the Final Preliminary Regatta in Barcelona, the Swiss Challenger for the 37th America’s Cup faced their first loss of the competition. In what was a very cleanly sailed match on both sides, NYYC American Magic maintained an early lead to secure the win.

Today was the first time the Swiss and American boats have lined up in their AC75s for the 37th America’s Cup. After a slightly late start for Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the Swiss team were on the back foot and needed any opportunity they could to overtake NYYC American Magic. Both boats sailed cleanly for the length of the race, neither making any mistakes, but with the Americans capitalising on their early advantage to control the course, the Swiss team ultimately could not close the gap, crossing the finish line almost a minute behind.

That now makes one win and one loss for Alinghi Red Bull Racing. Tomorrow it’s a double race day for the Swiss Challengers, once again racing in the first match of the day, this time versus Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia, and later against the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand.

Nicolas Rolaz, Trimmer: “We know that in these conditions, there aren't many passing lanes, and we had to nail the start. Unfortunately, we didn't sail that well in the pre-start, which made our race pretty hard. We got caught pretty high in the box and then went for the push a bit late. They managed to close the committee door, so we didn't get the perfect slingshot. They pulled off a better start than us and forced us to tack. At that point, the race was already almost over.

Tomorrow we'll be a bit more aggressive in our pre-starts and try to change the little details that made us struggle today. And we won’t forget that it's a training regatta. We still have a lot of potential to unlock in the boat, and we'll be even faster tomorrow.”

Paul Jacquot, Cyclor: “We train every day for these kinds of moments but you can never prepare for the real thing. The atmosphere and the enthusiasm that we got on the dock was huge, and then on race day it's always going to be fun no matter what the result is. It's a privilege to be able to sail these boats.

“It was decent conditions today, but as a cyclor, my job is never exactly easy. It’s no stroll in the park! All you can do is be there when you're needed. In our role, obviously we can't win the race for the team but we can definitely lose it. My role is to not lose it.”

Adolfo Carrau, Design Coordinator: “We haven't raced until this week, so we haven't ever compared ourselves against the competition. So now it's a moment to really race, understand the boat, and adjust based on all the information coming in from BoatOne. And of course, we’re also learning about the other boats. Now is the time to really start improving because we have a lot of progress gains to make until the end of the whole competition.”

“Obviously I would prefer to see the boat in front! But we’re working 24 hours a day to make improvements. We already have the performance, and today we’ve seen several things that we can do better, so now we just need to look at the data to see how we can improve. The good thing is, tomorrow is another day, and we still have three more races in this preliminary regatta.”