First win for Alinghi Red Bull Racing in Women’s America’s Cup

Only one match was possible in today’s mild conditions, but Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s Women’s squad made it count, navigating the tricky course to beat their opponents. The remaining three races are scheduled for tomorrow to determine the three teams that will qualify for the Final Series of the first-ever Women’s America’s Cup.

The second day of racing for Alinghi Red Bull Racing in the Puig Women’s America’s Cup started slowly, with light winds delaying the action. However, when racing finally began, the Swiss team made an impact on the racetrack. In tricky conditions with marginal winds and a huge swell, the first and only match saw the entire fleet struggling to stay on their foils. The Swiss team seized the opportunity, sailing cleanly and staying flying to take the lead. On the final stretch, they also dropped down but made a quick recovery to fly over the finish line well ahead of the fleet. As the wind faded for the rest of the day, the remaining three races were postponed until tomorrow. Now in the top three of their group, the Swiss team must maintain the position to advance to the next round, where the America’s Cup teams will be joined by the top three Invited Teams. Click here for today’s race results and current standings.

Alexandra Stalder, Helm: “Today was one of the best days of my life. Winning a race in the Cup is something special, so I'm super happy. But we’re not yet confirmed for the next round, so we have to fight for these last points. Tonight is an important night—we have to sleep well and be ready for tomorrow. The conditions are not looking the best these days, so race management will have to try to do everything like they did in today’s race. For sure, it’s going to be a tricky race.”

Laurane Mettraux, Trimmer: “We're used to these unpredictable conditions in Switzerland – that's just part of the waiting game, and we knew this morning that the it might be tricky out there. In today’s race we pulled off some nice manoeuvres to stay on the foils, had good power management, and we manoeuvred to the right spots on the course. We were just chasing the pressure, and maybe we were a bit lucky to be in the right place at the right moment, but we managed it well, which is probably what made the difference. These kinds of races are never easy. I’m sure our heart rate was pretty high, even if we weren’t doing anything physical. So it’s a really cool result for the whole team. It’s always nice to win some races.”

Coraline Jonet, Project Manager, Women’s Team: “Days like this are something you prepare for from the beginning of the programme. You fine-tune on the day itself, but all the work the team have put in over the past weeks and months—that's the result you can see today. For the next races, nothing is set in stone. If the conditions aren’t good enough, then race management can decide to end the Qualification Series and the top three teams will advance. So we’ll see what happens on the water tomorrow.”