LVC37: One day remains to narrow field

Barcelona, Spain (September 7, 2024) – After a day off and predominantly light winds for the Louis Vuitton Cup, it was a new day with the wind clocking round to the south-south-west and delivering a breeze that topped out at 17 knots, along with a swell that was both off alignment with the wind and of significant size.

On the penultimate day of the first stage of the challenger selection series, the focus is on advancing to the next stage, and one of the five challenger teams soon won’t be making that step.

The star of the day was INEOS Britannia, scoring first a win against Alinghi Red Bull Racing and then inflicting the first Challenger defeat on Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with a clinical display of pace, power, and racecraft from Sir Ben Ainslie’s team.

Against the Italians, the British dominated right from the start and negated the high-mode that the Italians can deploy to such devastating effect on initial drag race off the start line. Having navigated this trap and seizing the lead, the British never looked back, although a small nosedive on a gybe exit on the final downwind leg to the finish was a reminder of the fine margins between success and failure in these AC75s.

INEOS Britannia survived and slapped a 25 second defeat onto Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, with both teams secure in their passage to the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

“We all know the America’s Cup is a bit of a battle to try and get the maximum performance out of these boats and for whatever reason we haven’t really done a great job of that so far, but today in those conditions we set the boat up well and showed what it’s capable of,” said Ainslie.

“We haven’t really raced that much in that sort of swell and breeze strength but it certainly felt like we got it hooked up in that stuff and it was going well. We did a nice job on that right hand side and if you’ve got a bit of extra speed, it makes the tactics look pretty good and we’ve got to keep looking to find those gains and take each day at a time.”

For the Swiss and French, it was a tough day at the office for both teams and they remain locked in battle for the final semi-final spot but with the Swiss holding a slender one-point advantage. Orient Express Racing Team came in with high hopes today of securing a win against NYYC American Magic and, despite it being close right to the finish, it was the Americans who recorded the win, leaving Quentin Delapierre knowing that it’s do-or-die tomorrow in their race against INEOS Britannia.

“I honestly think it was our best race so far, for two reasons: that was the first time we sailed the boat in those conditions, and the first time we took a start (started a race) in those conditions,” noted Delapierre. “We didn’t have any unforced errors or big mistakes so it’s really encouraging. I hope it’s not too late. Hopefully tomorrow will be a great day for us and we will be able to push hard on the Brits. I think tomorrow will be lighter, which is quite good news for us.”

NYYC American Magic secured their berth in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals with their win against the French, but Tom Slingsby knows there’s plenty of development and technique work to be done before the knock-out stage.

“Really it’s consistency with us, our maneuver consistency needs work, some maneuvers are as good as anyone and then we have some bad ones and it gets quite tough to sail tactically when you don’t know what you’re going to do in the maneuver,” shared Slingsby.

“You want to tack on them, but then there’s the thought that the more you throw at them, the closer you are to a bad one. But if we can chip away at some small things we can make some big improvements. I think we sailed pretty well against Luna Rossa, but then in the next race against the French we were quite wobbly.”

Talking about a possible Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final against INEOS Britannia, Slingsby notes how they are getting better. “The way they came at us yesterday when we had a nice lead and were able to chip away at us, and then what they did today to Luna Rossa, that’s really impressive,” admitted Slingsby.

“Their rate of improvement has been a little higher than us recently, but we’ve still got time, and we’ll try to get on a roll because we know we can beat them. They’ve improved but we’ve got to improve quicker.”

Succumbing to the loss against the British and then a second loss to Emirates Team New Zealand today, Alinghi Red Bull Racing looked to be struggling for horsepower in the breeze and waves. Maxime Bachelin, port helm took a modicum of positives away from both races but knows that it will be a tricky final race against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

“We were expecting a better performance from us in the waves, so we are a bit disappointed I would say,” shared Bachelin. “Tomorrow is just one match, and we will go for it and try to win this one as we can see that Luna Rossa is beatable.”

Andy Maloney, trimmer on Emirates Team New Zealand, commented about their uncustomary ragged start but clinical race execution thereafter against the Swiss:

“We didn’t get off to the best start and I think that was probably our biggest mistake in the race. It was tricky conditions to sail the boat and great practice for us out there in that stuff, that’s really what we need to work on.

“Everyone’s got great boats and great packages, so we know it’s going to be a lot about the pre-start and that first exchange off the line, trying to predict the first shift, who’s going to win on the first interaction – that’s going to be a lot of the race so we’re really focusing on that. Today we didn’t quite nail that, but we will go back and look to see how we could have done better.”

If the schedule is completed, tomorrow’s racing will see the final spot in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final secured. It’s a straight deal – Orient Express Racing Team must beat INEOS Britannia to draw level with Alinghi Red Bull Racing. For the Swiss, they will guarantee their spot if they beat Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli but will face a race-off if the French finish tied on points.

UPDATE: After securing a place in the Louis Vuitton Challenger Selection Series Semi-Finals, American Magic reports how their helmsman Paul Goodison sustained an injury and is currently undergoing treatment. Here’s their statement:

“Paul’s recovery is being monitored daily, and we look forward to his swift return to the port helm of Patriot. In the interim, Olympic medalist and multiple World Champion Lucas Calabrese will helm Patriot. Lucas has been an integral part of our helmsman rotation for over two years, training extensively alongside the crew, and is fully prepared to take on this role as we continue our campaign.”

Viewing details – Race information – Results – Weather forecast

2024 Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series
August 29-September 8: Double Round Robin
September 14-19: Semi Finals (Best of 9)
September 26-October 7: Finals (Best of 13)

Team New Zealand competes in the round robin stage only, and the results of their races are not included in the challenger leaderboard. Races start at 14:00 CET (08:00 ET) and run until 16:30 or 17:00, depending on the schedule.

Following the publication of the AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule on November 17, 2021, the AC75 Class Rule and AC Technical Regulations were finalized on March 17, 2022. The entry period was from December 1, 2021 until July 31, 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup could be accepted until May 31, 2023. The Defender was to announce the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the reveal, finally confirming Barcelona on March 30, 2022. The 37th America’s Cup begins October 12, 2024.

Teams revealed to challenge defender Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
• INEOS Britannia (GBR)
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA)
• NYYC American Magic (USA)
• Orient Express Racing Team (FRA)

2023-24 Preliminary Regattas
September 14-17, 2023 (AC40): Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
November 30-December 2 (AC40): Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
August 22-25, 2024 (AC75): Barcelona, Spain

2024 Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series
August 29-September 8: Double Round Robin
September 14-19: Semi Finals (Best of 9)
September 26-October 7: Finals (Best of 13)

2024 America’s Cup
October 12-21: 37th Match (Best of 13)

For competition details, click here.

Additionally, 12 teams will compete in the 2024 Youth & Women’s America’s Cup.

Noticeboard: https://ac37noticeboard.acofficials.org/
Event details: www.americascup.com/en/home

Source: ACE