America's Cup: Alinghi Red Bull Racing put to the test on Day 3

It was an intense day of competition for Alinghi Red Bull Racing with two races, first against the Challenger of Record and later the Defenders. With no wins in the third day of the Preliminary Regatta, the Swiss team is still looking to show their full potential on the racetrack.

In Match 1 of the day, an extremely close start led to an intense drag race between the Swiss and British teams on the first leg. After Britannia crossed behind, BoatOne kept up the pressure, but the British rounded the top mark slightly ahead and managed to maintain their lead until the finish to take the win. Race 2 for Alinghi Red Bull Racing, 80 minutes later, saw an aggressive pre-start from New Zealand which the Swiss managed to hold off. After the teams split off early, the Kiwis were just ahead for the first crossing, forcing BoatOne to tack away for clean air. With the wind dropping to 7 knots, the New Zealand boat broke away and sailed to a comfortable win, protecting their flawless record in the regatta so far.

Now just one day remains in the Preliminary Regatta, with the Swiss team opposite the Italians for their final match, followed by the Grand Final race between the top two ranked teams.

Arnaud Psarofaghis, Skipper: “ Against both teams we knew more or less their game plans, and we could adjust our pre-start sequence accordingly. The wind was a bit up and down, which made for some interesting choices. After the start line in the first race, when we slowed down and pushed the British back to the left, we should have probably been more aggressive and attacked back to put more pressure on them. When they came back, they gained a small advantage on the left, and we ended up bow to bow, unable to defend. From there, the race was more about trying to chase them. But it will be very interesting for us to review it later.

The race against Team New Zealand, particularly the pre-start, went pretty well. We executed the plan we wanted and got the start on the side we aimed for. We could have come out a little faster, but I think it’s a matter of adjusting small details. ”

Thery Schir, Cyclor: “To recover between races, we just tried to stay in the shade, hydrate properly, grab some food, and refuel before the second one. It was actually good to have a proper break, as more than one hour is enough to recover.

The wind dropped in the second race, so for sure against the Kiwis it was more intense and demanding in terms of effort. The slower we go, the longer we have to trim, so it makes it much harder for us in the Power Group. As a cyclor crew, I think we're working super well together. The intensity has increased for sure, but within the range we were expecting, so no big surprise. We’ve seen that it's possible to do two races in a day, so we're quite confident on that side.”

Pietro Sibello, Head Coach: “We’re using this week to make sure that next week we manage the crossovers of the sails well, and see which sails suit different winds. Today the forecast was a bit uncertain in the end, so we decided to go for the biggest sail just before the start of the first race. We were a bit pushed for time, but we gathered very good data for next week.

The good point today was the starting in both matches. The guys really pushed hard to be aggressive and put in place the learning we've been doing these last weeks. As we know, on this race course, the start is pretty key. If you can start in front, then it's quite easy to stay in front. We know where we have to improve and you see what a big team we have behind us. We are working hard to get up there.”