After Wednesday’s weather-enforced cancellation of racing, the Louis Vuitton Cup schedule got right back on track on Thursday (5 September) with five races completed in a shifting 6-10 knot thermal southerly breeze that challenged the sailors.
The big story of the day was Alinghi Red Bull Racing — a team that at their own admission has had a ‘reset’ — scoring their second win of the regatta to now move off the bottom-step in the rankings with the very real prospect of a safe passage through to the semi-final stage.
In their race against NYYC American Magic, the Swiss were sublime. Capitalising on some uncharacteristic manoeuvre execution errors, and a penalty in the pre-start awarded against the Americans, Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed a super-clean race, showing pace and bravery to never be headed after the start. Such was the confidence in their speed, the Swiss were able to use every ounce of their tactical and wind-spotting nous to dominate in a textbook match-race.
Elsewhere, there were professional performances from Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, with the Kiwis scoring an impressive win over INEOS Britannia and a not-all-their-own way win against Orient Express Racing Team — despite a considerable winning margin in the end. For Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, it was a swift and accurate dispatch of Orient Express Racing, in the Italians’ only race of the day, with the French finishing just over a minute behind.
For INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record, it was a tough day out after losing a very close battle with NYYC American Magic that effectively came down to the last gybe on the course, and a heavy defeat to Emirates Team New Zealand who were ruthless in their execution.
Sir Ben Ainslie put a brave but realistic face on the performances. “It’s hard to come off the water after getting two losses — nobody likes that,” he said. “But, at the same time, we have to take the positives from these races and for sure we’re getting closer to some other teams in performance in these light airs and in certain areas where we’ve been struggling a little bit.
“Certainly, coming back against the Americans was strong for us and we are kicking ourselves about that finish where it was a hard call on which side to defend and then making a tough job of that last gybe into the finish. We will go and look and analyse all of that and there will no doubt be some good learnings, but for me it feels like we are, in general, progressing the right way.”
After completing the scheduled five races today, the Louis Vuitton Cup will pause on Friday ahead of an exciting crescendo to conclude the second round robin over the weekend. There are another five races on the card for Saturday 7 and a scheduled three races on Sunday 8 September as Barcelona welcomes the world to this ‘jewel in the sun’.
