Top six advance in Youth America’s Cup

Barcelona, Spain (September 23, 2024) – After no wind yesterday, the Youth America’s Cup was able to complete the 8-race qualifying series today for Pool A and B to finalize the six teams advancing to the next stage.

With six teams in each pool, it will be Italy, USA, and Great Britain from the America’s Cup group that will meet Sweden, Spain, and Australia from the Invited Teams group. A four race series will advance the top two for the one race, winner-take-all final.

Among the Invited Teams, which had two races today, the top teams showed their potential early, always vying for the lead and showing incremental improvements race after race. How they will fare against the America’s Cup teams remains to be seen but, for certain, they are all excited for the challenge.

“Well, we’d love to go to the Semi-Finals and win,” admitted Spanish trimmer Jaime Framis. “But realistically, we’re up against three teams in Group A who have all the knowledge of the big teams in the Cup. They have a lot more hours on the boat than we do, plus they are really, really good sailors.

“The goal was to get in here, and from this point on it’s going to be about enjoying and doing the best we can. One step at a time and we’ll welcome whatever comes our way.”

Ludvig Lindqvist, helmsman for the Swedish Challenge who topped the standings, is now eyeing the Semi-Final fleet racing with much interest: “It’s a new regatta now, I suppose, and you’ve got to go in with confidence. I think we’ve got a bit of homework to do tonight and the key has got to be that we’re on it at the start and then always be fast, – I think that’s going to solve a lot of problems.”

Asked how they expect to fare against Italy, USA, and GBR in the Semi-Final, Lindqvist responded: “They look very good. We’ve been racing them during the summer, having a lot of discussions, a lot of races, so I think if we come with good confidence and have a good day we can absolutely be up there.”

Cole Tapper, the fast-rising foiling star for Andoo Team Australia was brimming with confidence ahead of the Semi-Finals and is keen to get racing, saying: “Yeah, I think we can make an upset. The team’s been sailing really well, and I think each day we come out we’re better and now our boat-handling is better and that just allows us to race even harder, so I guess we’re right in the mix.

“We know we’re fast and maybe we’ve been a little bit on the back foot in terms of our maneuverability but to be honest, we’ve gone just so much better throughout this, and we’re getting a lot more rock solid. Today we weren’t even really thinking about the boat handling, it was more into the racing so that’s a very free feeling and it’s really exciting.”

The America’s Cup Teams took over the fleet of AC40s to complete their final four races. When they got underway in 12-14 knots, Italians Marco Gradoni and Gianluigi Ugolini confirmed their star billing and ‘favorites’ tag with wins in the day’s opening two races.

The smoothness of their sailing style and their short, sharp comms between helms and trimmers is something that everyone wants to emulate, and they finished the day clear ahead on the leaderboard – despite some uncharacteristic handling errors in the final two races.

“I think our group was really difficult, and tomorrow we’re going to meet three other teams, and we need to discover them, to know what they can do, and then just work on our strengths,” noted Gradoni adding, “You’re never confident enough but we don’t feel the pressure, I never feel the pressure, but it’s going to be tough, it’s only four races and it’s not going to be easy.”

The Italians though were pushed hard by Harry Melges and Kyle Navin, representing NYYC American Magic, and this is a team to watch who are making steady improvements through the regatta.

“We will be looking at the rewind of the races that we did today,” said Melges. “I think it’s just about tying up all the little things, looks like it’s going to be breeze more similar to today so we might jump in the simulator and just get a little warmed up before racing.”

Third place was secured by Athena Pathway from Great Britain, led by Nick Robins, who proved that they could handle the pressure. A final race showdown in Race 8, saw the British really show their outright speed and potential when up against New Zealand for the final podium spot and qualification through to the Semi-Finals.

It was nip and tuck all the way around the course between the British and New Zealand crews, while, a technical issue on the first leg forced the French to retire. Robins and his co-helm James Grummett kept it clean and sailed fast, pushing the leader NYYC American Magic all the way to the finish line, eventually finishing second by just a boat length – enough to take third in the qualifying series.

“We’re still learning so much about the racing and the boats,” said Grummett. “We had a tricky first day that we got to learn a lot and gained on the next day and then today the race was super tight, especially on the start line, so we’re still learning from all the interactions.”

The Semi-Finals start tomorrow with a southerly flow expected to be around 10 knots, with the final to be held in between the first two races of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final on September 26.

Viewing details – Race information – Results – Weather forecast

Format: Beginning September 17, 12 teams were split into two groups of six for an initial fleet race series in the AC40s. The top three teams from each side after eight races race together in four fleet races to decide the top-two crews and from there it’s a one-race, winner-takes-all for the title on September 26.

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 Youth America’s Cup and Women’s America’s Cup.

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

Source: ACE