The race begins for Alinghi Red Bull Racing Youth team

Alinghi Red Bull Racing was excited to get racing underway for Day 1 of the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup. Extremely light conditions delayed racing before the wind picked up to reach the upper limit, resulting in only two of the four planned races. Technical issues on their boat kept the Swiss crew from competing in the second race, with the remaining two races postponed to tomorrow morning.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing's Youth squad experienced a thrilling start to the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup, competing in unpredictable conditions they likely had never faced before. Light winds which eventually increased to over 20 knots led to a three-hour delay in racing, allowing only two of the four scheduled races to take place. In challenging, shifty conditions and large swell the Swiss team finished fifth in their first match, and then technical failure on the Swiss boat forced them to drop out of the second. The AC40 boat is one-design, so in the case of technical issues outside of the team’s control, which also happened for the French team, four points are awarded. The remaining two races from Day 1 are slated for tomorrow morning, Wednesday 18 September, from 10.30am CET, with the Alinghi Red Bull Racing team continuing the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals in the afternoon opposite Ineos Britannia.

Jann  Schüpbach, Skipper: “Getting to start fleet racing today was really, really exciting, especially with the intense conditions. All boats were pushing hard, and it was quite close, so an absolute blast of a race. We're hoping for the boat to be ready for tomorrow after the technical issues we had, but as a crew, we are ready to give it our best in the morning.

We were out there for quite a long time waiting for the wind. Several times, we had the feeling that the wind was coming, but then it was delayed again. When the wind finally kicked in properly, we started the race a bit on the back foot, but managed to stay within the fleet. We were fighting for the top three spots for two-thirds of the race. Then it was a real rodeo—the waves were increasing fast. We went up to 15 knots of wind by the end, so it was tough sailing.”

Coraline Jonet, Project Manager, Youth & Women’s Teams: “It was finally the first day of racing here in Barcelona. With only one race completed, we can't make a proper assessment just yet as it’s only the beginning. Today’s match was all about boat handling, and in that respect, we gained some ground on the Kiwis and the British in our match. It was really close at the finish, but still ended up in fifth place. Unfortunately, for the second race, we couldn’t race due to a technical issue which the America’s Cup technicians could not fix in time.”