The business end of the Louis Vuitton Cup began on Saturday under bright sunshine on the stunning waters off Barcelona, with the first day of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals seeing two utterly ruthless performances from the top two Challenger teams to emerge from the initial Round Robin series – INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
On a shifting and tricky day, with a seven to 13 knot wind coming in across the Mediterranean from the south-south-west, it was time for the superstars of the sport to shine – and they did so with clinical execution. With Sir Ben Ainslie’s selection of the Swiss Alinghi Red Bull Racing tight racing was expected, but apart from some initial exchanges in the pair’s opening race, it was all one-way traffic in favour of the British.
‘Britannia’ looked to have the horsepower that the team were demanding early in the competition, both upwind and downwind, and in both races the British were able to stretch into enormous leads that were never challenged. Two race wins from two and INEOS Britannia are on a roll after a performance the likes of which haven’t been seen by a British boat in living memory in the America’s Cup.
Speaking afterwards, Dylan Fletcher, Olympic gold and silver medallist and port helm on INEOS Britannia, confirmed that confidence was building in the team, but remained measured about their performance, saying: “We’ve been working hard since the Round Robins, a massive effort from the shore team to get Britannia ready for the semis, and it feels like we’re building some good momentum. It was a very tough day out there, with the breeze up and down, we weren’t really sure and it was difficult to know what jib to be on. So we are happy to get through it and I’m sure Alinghi Red Bull Racing are going to come out fighting even harder tomorrow.”
“We’ve been working hard on the manoeuvres and the big feature has been tacks for us, as we kind of felt like our gybes have been basically good for a while, but we’ve been looking at our tacks and they’ve been getting better. I think, for me, the key thing is just consistency, just building that consistency, and then being able to look out – heads out of the boat.”
For Arnaud Psarofaghis, skipper of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, it was a very different set of emotions, with the young Swiss staying positive despite the heavy losses today, saying: “It was tough conditions. We made mistakes for sure, but we tried what we could to come back. We took some wrong decisions in the first race when the right side was paying, and then in the second race just before the start we went into a lull in the breeze and then from there it was game over. INEOS did a really good job. We just need to stay focused, fight every day and you never know what can happen.”
In the other Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final match-up, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli faced down the challenge of NYYC American Magic who have been on the back-foot since the injury to their port helm Paul Goodison and some momentum-sapping performances at the end of the Round Robin series. The racing was tight, with the Americans taking control early in both matches through some brilliant sailing from Tom Slingsby, but then small manoeuvre errors just crept in when it mattered most. When behind, Luna Rossa’s helmsmen Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni kept the races tight and the Italian team took their opportunities with both hands when they presented themselves.
The final tally at the end of a thrilling opening day shows Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli at 2–0 in the standings, but Francesco Bruni was keen to highlight just how close he felt the racing was, saying: “The conditions were super hard, a real struggle today out there. It was very hard to have a read of the pressure and the performance of the boat, and it was so shifty and puffy. It was really a strange day, a very different day to what we have seen so far in Barcelona, so it was something completely new for probably for all of us, and we just managed to get the best out of the day, but wow it was very fatiguing.”
Tom Slingsby meanwhile bemoaned the execution errors but still very much feels that the team are getting closer and have more than a chance of success going forwards, saying: “We’re really happy with the way we sailed. The guys did an amazing job, but to lose two tight ones, it hurts. We’ve made some improvements to the boat and it feels a bit better, a bit more reliable. We feel like we are right in the race. We know that it could have gone either way today and we are excited heading into tomorrow.”
Asked about momentum in the team, Slingsby added: “It feels like it’s going in the right direction. To think about where we were even a week ago, now it feels like we’re closing in, we’re catching them. They can overtake us, but it feels like we can overtake them as well now. In the past we haven’t really found a way past them, today it felt like we could do that. So, look, we feel like we are in the hunt, we are confident, we started well today, we can still make some improvements, and it’s going to be a race.”
The opening day of racing provided lead changes aplenty, falls off the foils and some of the best tactical and technique sailing so far in the competition. The winners, INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, received a shot of pure momentum today, whilst for the losing teams it was back to the bases and a long evening of analysis.
Racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals resumes Sunday in Barcelona with two more races for each pairing. The beachfront Fanzones are packed, the Official Race Village in the Port Vell is buzzing, match racing in the world’s greatest high-performance yachts is intriguing, and Barcelona is fully alive to the beat of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Sunday could be a telling day on the water.
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