Mistakes keep USA and Swiss alive

Barcelona, Spain (September 16, 2024) – With Alinghi Red Bull Racing and NYYC American Magic one loss away from elimination from the Louis Vuitton Cup, both their opponents today fumbled away advantage in the one light air race to keep the Swiss and USA teams alive in the best of 9 challenger semi-finals.

With the conditions teetering at the minimum limit of 6.5 knots, the opening race of the day between Alinghi Red Bull Racing and INEOS Britannia got underway first with the British holding an early positional advantage over the first two legs, but after falling off the foils on the third leg, the Swiss sustained flight through the zephyrs to stay on their foils and accelerated away to a massive lead.

Now shortened to five legs, Alinghi Red Bull Racing themselves fell off the foils on the final leg but sustained a slow displacement crawl to finish before the 45-minute race time limit.

“INEOS did a really good race in the beginning and then they fell off their foils on the left boundary,” noted Swiss helm Arnaud Psarofaghis. “When we got there we had a bit more pressure and we could manage to tack, the guys did a really good job and really focused on the maneuver to make sure that we nailed them as much as we could and that put us back in the game.

“From there we kept on fighting because we were racing more against the time than against INEOS Britannia. Anything can happen in the next few days, it doesn’t look so great for the breeze, so we’ve got one win, still in the game and we keep pushing.”

For British helm Ben Ainslie, the loss to the Swiss was somewhat negated by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s loss today to NYYC American Magic. With a layday tomorrow, both the British and Italian yachts have to stay in race configuration to attempt to close out their semi-final pairings on September 18.

“I guess it’s the only slight upside – not that you ever wish anyone to lose – but from a difficult day for us the fact that had they won and been through to the Finals, they would be able to get a couple of extra days under the belt in the shed,” noted Ainslie. “So I guess it evens things out and it’s still not done. We keep saying internally that it’s not done until you get those five wins.”

The second, and what turned out to be the last race of the day was in the other semi-final with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli at match-point against NYYC American Magic. While the two teams often exchanged the lead, this was a sloppy effort by the Italians that controlled the start but were tripped up by fouls and mistakes throughout the race.

Tactical positioning was everything and the Americans, having split tactics whilst trailing on the second upwind leg, clicked into better pressure on the right boundary of the course and came back with starboard advantage, and having closed significantly, seized the lead. Penalties ensued further up the leg as the Italians crossed too close first behind and then ahead, but the crucial moment of the race lay at the end of leg four at the leeward gate.

NYYC American Magic were on starboard to the right marker whilst Luna Rossa approached the same mark on port, and with inside rights, tried to force a penalty in the zone around the mark. But the move failed for Italy as on a subsequent slow turn-up into the wind, they fell off their foils as American Magic sailed around the outside of them high on their foils and at speed.

Game, set and the first race win to the Americans who sailed consistently and conservatively over the next two legs, high on their foils completely unopposed with Luna Rossa unable to regain flight, to close the race out and extend the series to 1-4.

“The boat felt really good,” noted USA helm Tom Slingsby. “We have been making some changes, and in those light conditions that were kind of a weak spot for us a week ago, the boat feels as good as it ever has in those conditions.”

As for the pivotal leeward mark incident, Slingsby spoke about the Italy’s mistake. “I would have thought the play there would be to go and shoot for it, but then turn up. We were fast into that mark, and I decided that as long as I gave him room, we were always going round the front of them.”

As for the team’s outlook, Slingsby remained positive: “I think the hardest one is the first one and now we are off and running. If you look at the four races they have beaten us, it’s by a total of 50 seconds over them all – and we just beat them by a lap. So, yes, we are confident.”

Italian helm Francesco Bruni had the wheel during their problems, admitting it was a day to forget. “We felt that definitely two of those penalties were clearly for us and we are not judging very well the few centimetres here and there but it can happen, you can have a bad day, we just have to learn from the mistakes and then look forward and get better for the next one.”

As for the leeward mark, Bruni added: “We felt that we were overlapped inside the zone and so we had the rights on the mark, and they forced us to do a very tight turn which was not our proper course, but clearly the mistake was to go for everything or nothing, it would’ve been better just to go around the other gate and keep the race open. It was a bad judgement in that moment.”

With super light winds prevailing for the rest of the afternoon, at 1710 the race committee announced the abandonment racing for the day. The Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals will continue on September 18 with two more races planned for each pairing.

Tomorrow, however, will see the start of the Youth America’s Cup with fleet racing for the teams in the equalized AC40s starting at 14:00 CET.

Viewing details – Race information – Results – Weather forecast

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 9: 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, but the results of their races were not included in the challenger leaderboard.

2024 America’s Cup
October 12-27: 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