Just when spectators and fans thought the Louis Vuitton Cup Final matches were thrilling enough to make for compelling television after Sunday’s races, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INEOS Britannia returned to the waters off Barcelona for racing today on what was supposed to be a reserve day. After getting skunked on Saturday, Race Director Iain Murray and his team no doubt looked at the forecast and seized the opportunity to get back on schedule and deliver two more action-packed races.
With winds averaging just below the upper wind limit of 21 knots, there was no delay and INEOS Britannia wasted no time taking the gloves off in the pre-start as they did the previous day. In this, the fifth match of the Finals, Luna Rossa had a port entry and shot straight to the right side of the starting box with INEOS promptly on the hunt.
In a similar scenario to the previous match, Luna Rossa jibed in the bottom right corner of the start box to take its final approach and INEOS was lying in wait, but this time jibing too far forward to block the Italians from the line. As the British boat sailed over the top of the Italians to claim the leeward position, Luna Rossa’s Jimmy Spithill turned up hard through INEOS’s bad air and lost grip of the rudder. The jib luffed and the silver boat was momentarily off the foils, handing a wire-to-wire win to the British squad which delivered a textbook match racing cover performance from start to finish.
Spithill and his opposite Francesco Bruni shrugged off the day’s first loss and were ready to get right back to the business of keeping the racing entertaining for the spectators. “We are getting famous for it,” Bruni said in his post-race interview with the broadcast team when asked about the team’s penchant for comebacks. “All good.”
Louis Vuitton Cup Match 6: Luna Rossa’s Comeback
And they were all good in the pre-start of Race 6. This time, with INEOS starting with port entry. Luna Rossa went straight to the chase, but INEOS tacked high and circled back. The British went on the chase and aimed at the Italians on starboard. INEOS jibed to windward of Italians, attempting to jump them again, but this time, Spithill turned up early and cleaved plenty of space between the two of them for a fast run to an even start.
INEOS, however, was slightly forward and able to hold a high mode to force the Italians to tack away first. Ainslie soon followed and the two AC75s drag raced to the right boundary matching speed and angle. The Italians, however, had a boatlength advantage to work with and knew they would be strong out of the boundary tack.
As soon as they were on starboard tack and the windward board coming up, Bruni could be heard saying, “definitely a piece.” The British tacked to leeward in a marginally controlling position, but the Italians were already at full pace, sailing faster and higher, and simply sailed over the top of the INEOS, pinning them to leeward and carrying them to the left boundary. At the top of the course, INEOS tacked simultaneously and followed through the first gate only 4 seconds behind.
The Italians were quicker out of the exit, which is where they seem to be making consistent gains in the series, and their lead immediately jumped to 100 meters. Luna Rossa was too quick and flawless for INEOS to make a pass on the run, and a wind shift gave them no option to split.
Still, they kept it close and followed the Italians through next gate only 6 seconds behind. As INEOS had done to them in the first race of the day, the Italians returned the favor, covering INEOS’s every move and bouncing them off the right boundary. There was 12 seconds between them at the next gate, but the British had a tack-and-bear away to the Italians’ straight carry which stretched their lead to 300 meters. With no passing lanes for the British and a flawlessly executed race for the Italians, the 17-second finish delta hardly mattered: the series is now locked at 3-3.
“It was a pity that little mistake in the first race,” Bruni said in his post-race interview. “I think we could have had that point as well.”
When prompted about the Italian team’s comebacks, he said jokingly, “We are going to keep it like that for a good show on TV and then smash them in the end.”
