In the lead up to the America’s Cup there was plenty of consternation about the potential sea state in Barcelona and its impact on the racing, and while the Louis Vuitton Cup racecourse has been relatively flat through the round-robin races, the swell showed up big time on the penultimate day of the Louis Vuitton Cup’s second round robin races. There was surfing and skidding, and in five breezy action-packed matches, there was plenty to unpack.
The action got started with a do-tell lineup between the undefeated Italians of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Racing and the New York YC’s American Magic with only three wins in the series. With long looping turns in the pre-start and both teams keeping their distance, American Magic led off the start in a strong leeward position, the Italians tacking away. From opposite boundaries, they met again, bow-to-bow, and American Magic took to the low-risk option to duck. First cross to Luna Rossa.
At their next intersection, the American’s had the jump and took advantage of it with a leebow tack that was–in hindsight–a boatlength too early. Luna Rossa easily crabbed to weather and into control, and now American Magic was on the offensive.
With only 14 seconds between them through the first gate—a significant advantage in AC75 racing, and in particular against the Italians—American Magic clawed a sizable piece of the silver boat’s lead on the downwind leg. The delta was down to 3 seconds at the leeward gate, and with a split, the match was afire.
Bow-to-bow again at their next intersection, American Magic had a potential cross but took the safe duck as the swell angle on port tack would have made an offensive tack a high-risk move. When the two boats met again Luna Rossa was in control, but this by barely 50 meters.
American Magic followed the Italians through the next windward gate, and as both teams jibed simultaneously, the American Magic helmsmen struggled to control the boat through the turn and had to turn up to rebuild speed after the jibe. The Italian jibe wasn’t perfect either, but their immediate gain was staggering. Over the span of about 15 seconds there was about 5 knots of boatspeed difference between them, with the Italians progressing straight down the course to an eventual 300-meter lead.
The following legs were a procession as the Italians continued to manhandle their boat in sea state and the Americans at times fighting to keep their low-profile platform behaving. Starboard helmsman Tom Slingby’s frustration was plenty audible over the broadcast feed, as it has been several times during the round robins. There were no such frustrations for Luna Rossa helms Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni who notched another win.
For INEOS Britannia, the woes of the preliminary regatta races of August have been long forgotten, and going into its match against Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the British Challenger of Record was one only point down from Luna Rossa in the standings. With a renewed confidence, INEOS Britannia’s starboard helmsman Ben Ainslie was sharp in the prestart and the British got a jump on Swiss, flicked them off their hip at the left course boundary and that was that. Post-race stats revealed Britannia was a good knot faster all around and the British locked in a critical win.
American Magic and Orient Express lined up for the next match and the Americans owned the race from start, leading the French around the racecourse but still struggling with control of the boat at times, making it an extremely challenging day for Patriot’s trimmers Michael Menninger and Andrew Campbell. The win assured American Magic’s advance to the semifinals and in his post-race interview, Slingsby was relieved to put the day behind him, telling the commentators, “Happy to get through that one.”
Slingsby later acknowledged the challenges in a team statement: “We’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to keep progressing, but we’re really happy to get through that one and move into the semis. There’s a lot of debris in the water—we hooked something up on the rudder, but luckily it popped off. That was a risky one.”
Alinghi Red Bull Racing won the start in its non-points-counting match against Emirates Team New Zealand, but the Kiwis were out front before the first gate perfectly executed a loose cover over the remaining legs for a 38-second win.
In the match of the day, and effectively the critical race of the round robins, INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa met again for a battle between the top two challengers. Britannia took immediate advantage of its starboard entry, setting up high in the pre-start box with enabled the British to be able sail over the top of the Italians in final seconds of the start. With plenty of runway to the pin and a big gap between them, the British started stronger and faster.
Both boats tacked simultaneously at the left-hand boundary, and with an open course and space to breath, port helmsman Dylan Fletcher put the pedal down and put the British in control. There was only 8 seconds between them through the gate with a split, but a loose and uncontrolled rounding for the Italians gave the British even more breathing room. They needed every bit of it, however, as the Italians continued to bite into their lead. Eight seconds again was the delta at the leeward gate, but up the next windward leg the British continued an aggressive cover, bouncing the Italians to the unfavored left side.
One nervous touchdown on the final leg gave the INEOS coaching squad a good scare, but with enough breeze to promptly take off again, INEOS Britannia got its win and guaranteed spot in the semis.
“It’s massive for the whole team to get two wins,” said Ainsle after racing, “and especially the win against Luna Rossa. It’s not just the team on-board but those back at our base and back in the UK, it’s a huge win for everyone. Looking ahead to the next round I think we’ve got plenty of potential, it’s just all about getting the maximum out of the boat and sailing well.”
