Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, the team representing the Circolo della Vela Sicilia yacht club, secured their place in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final after a last race against NYYC American Magic on Thursday (19 September) where there were plenty more questions than answers before the starting gun fired.
Overnight, the Italian shore team burnt the midnight oil repairing a damaged mainsail traveller track system that had given way in the semi-final race on Wednesday and gifted the American team a race win to close to 4-3 in this first-to-five series.
The Italian shore team heroes were described as looking like “zombies” on Thursday morning but their efforts were thoroughly rewarded with the Italian boat gleaming in the Barcelona sunshine, looking good as new, and the team regaining its imperious form of earlier in the semi-final.
Luna Rossa performed a classy ‘sail-by’ to applaud their opponents on NYCC American Magic | Credit: Ian Roman/America’s Cup
The win was hard-fought from the initial stages, with American Magic’s Tom Slingsby expertly winning the start and making the first cross upwind. A downspeed tack on the second cross was ultimately the undoing of American Magic with the Italians able to power through to leeward and take a lead that they would never lose.
In the shifting south-easterly breeze that filled and phased across a relatively flat sea-state, Luna Rossa initially extended but some great calls on the second upwind leg brought American Magic back in contention and just eight seconds adrift at the mid-way point.
Picking a big pressure patch on the second downwind leg allowed the Italians to extend and for American Magic it was roll-the-dice time on the final windward leg. Unfortunately for them, there were no opportunities to make gains and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sailed away to record a 61-second final delta and secure their place in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final against INEOS Britannia — scheduled to start next Thursday 26 September.
Luna Rossa received a rapturous welcome upon their return to dockside | Credit: Ian Roman/America’s Cup
Scenes of jubilation abounded on the water with the Italians releasing the pressure of what has been an intense 24 hours for the team. Shoreside at the official race village and at the fan zones at Bogatell and Plaça de Mar, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli fans mirrored the on-water joy with applause continued at the afternoon presentation of the team on the main stage.
After the two boats dropped sails, Luna Rossa performed a classy ‘sail-by’, with the Italian crew applauding their American opponents in a sporting gesture very much in the spirit of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup.
Jimmy Spithill, skipper of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli was proud of what his team had achieved. “It was an incredible effort from the guys on the shore when you look at what happened yesterday, and a lesser team really could’ve crumbled, and I’ve seen this,” he said. “This is my eighth campaign in a row now and you always face a couple of moments in a campaign where you kind of find out what you’re made of, and I really felt like yesterday was one of those for the entire team.”
For NYYC American Magic, their journey in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup comes to an end and for the New York Yacht Club, the club that created the event and held the famous ewer for 132 years, the wait goes on for the Auld Mug to return to their West 44th Street clubhouse in Manhattan.
Speaking about the lossm Tom Slingsby, starboard helmsman for the American team, was clearly emotional: “Stepping ashore it’s brutal, it’s really tough. I mean you’re representing so many people when you’re steering one of these boats, and you’ve got 60-plus people back at the base who are relying on you and hoping we can get there. It’s just such a wide team that put so much trust in you and it is brutal. You’ve just got to lick your wounds congratulate the better team and try to come back stronger.”
Shoreside, the competing sailors all respectfully exchanged friendly and professional handshakes and even a few hugs, with Francesco Bruni giving praise to the NYYC American Magic Team. “I think they did a fantastic job, honestly,” he said. “They put a lot of pressure on us because they were very strong opponents. The work that Lucas has done to sail at this level it’s really impressive, and congratulations to all the team. It was exactly what we needed: a strong team to fight with to make us stronger and thanks to them that really happened.”
So, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli secure their spot in their second consecutive Challenger Selection Series Final, and after their bounce-back win today will be riding a wave of momentum. Facing them now is a fired-up Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia who secured their place in the Final on Wednesday having eliminated Alinghi Red Bull Racing 5-2. It really is anyone’s final.
