Learning the hard way

After an encouraging opening day on Friday, the Swiss challenger struggled to maintain momentum across Saturday’s three fleet races, with penalties, a splashdown and a capsize proving costly in an ultra-competitive AC40 fleet. 

The most significant moment came in Race 5 when the team capsized during a downwind gybe after an aggressive start left the crew with a boat-on-boat penalty and chasing from the back of the fleet. All four sailors were quickly confirmed safe, while the shore and support teams worked rapidly to return the AC40 to racing condition for the day’s final race.

Elsewhere across the fleet, Team New Zealand, Athena Pathway and Luna Rossa Women & Youth crews shared race wins as the leaderboard tightened heading into the final day of racing.

For the Tudor Team Alinghi crew, the focus overnight will be on regrouping, analysing the day’s racing and returning in good spirits for tomorrow’s final races.

Paul Goodison, Skipper and Starboard Helm

“It’s been a tough day. We made some big changes overnight, went back out there today and struggled a lot. The boat wasn’t working quite as it should, so we spent all day trying to problem-solve and make it better. We obviously didn’t sail at our best either, so it’s been a tricky day. But we got a good look at how we operate under pressure as a team. Everybody was trying to problem-solve as best they could, and that’s probably the biggest positive to take from it. We learned a lot about ourselves today, and now we look forward to tomorrow.”

Pietro Sibello, Port Trim

“We knew before coming here that we didn't have many hours on the water as a team, and so we are still proud of how the team is working; everybody is working really hard, especially the shore team; they have been trying to get the most from the boat over these three days.”