Sail-Off Drama in Barcelona
by Mark Jardine 9 Sep 15:11 BST
9 September 2024
Round Robin Sail-Off - INEOS Britannia vs. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin Day 9 - 9th September 2024 © Ricardo Pinto / America's Cup
The sun was back out in Barcelona to conclude the Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin Series, with one challenger's 37th America's Cup campaign coming to an end.
At the same time, the Round Robin winner was yet to be determined, earning the right to choose your semi-final opponent.
With the wind hovering around the 6.5 knot lower limit, racing was initially delayed by a few minutes, but was under way with the first start at 14:18 local time.
Broadcast
- The wind trend graph has been a useful addition over the last few days.
- The start countdown timer needs to be in a consistent position. It flips between the top of the screen, superimposed on the water, above the line on a graphic and sometimes not displayed at all.
- Live wind was displayed more often, which was useful, but I'd be happy if this was shown all the time.
Orient Express Racing Team vs. INEOS Britannia
A huge race for the French team. Anything less than a win would see them exit the 37th America's Cup.
Orient Express took their final approach to the line early, having to slow to make the pin end of the line, while INEOS Britania went off the mid line with pace and soon gained an advantage over the French team. When Orient Express tacked at the boundary, the Brits followed suit right on top of them.
INEOS Britannia rounded the first windward gate with a 25 second lead, and by the first leeward gate had stretched this out to 47 seconds.
The communication between Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher on INEOS Britannia is sounding far more assured, no doubt helped by the turn of speed the team have found in the past few days.
At the second windward gate the British performed a very light wind tack, and both boats were going way beyond the lay lines to stay on the foils. At this point, the lead was 1 minute 24 seconds.
Some of the angles were very high downwind in the lulls, with INEOS Britannia at one point almost beam reaching at 34 knots in 5 knots of wind. Staying foiling in light winds is the number one priority and both teams managed to achieve that goal on the second downwind leg, with the French closing the gap to 1 minute 4 seconds.
Orient Express briefly came off the foils on the final upwind leg, but just managed to save it with only the bustle in the water. With INEOS Britannia rounding the final windward mark 55 seconds ahead, French hopes were all on the Brits coming off the foils on the last downwind leg.
INEOS Britannia took the race win by 1 minute 11 seconds, and with it Orient Express Racing Team exited the 37th America's Cup. It's sad to see this popular team out, but they have performed superbly on a short campaign and minimal budget and will be back much stronger in the next Cup cycle.
With the British team on six wins, the pressure was now on Luna Rossa to win, to avoid a sail-off to decide the winner of the Round Robins.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs. Alinghi Red Bull Racing
In a shock move, Luna Rossa failed to enter the start area, resulting in a disqualification and handing Alinghi the race win.
This meant a sail-off was required to determine the Round Robin winner, and the right to choose your semi-final opponent.
The reason for the Italian loss was soon revealed to be their starboard foil arm failing to lower, with their technical team stepping on the boat to try and fix the issue.
Emirates Team New Zealand vs. New York Yacht Club American Magic
Without injured Paul Goodison, Lucas Calabrese took on port-side helming duties on American Magic.
The Kiwis entered the start box on time, but the Americans fell off the foils in the pre-start and picked up a boundary penalty. They got back foiling and started on port, but were instantly on the back foot with 75 metres to lose after the start.
American Magic did well on the first upwind leg to close the gap, and rounded the top gate just 7 seconds behind Emirates Team New Zealand.
The area that the US team looked weak though is during the manoeuvres - their bottom speed in both the tacks and gybes was significantly lower than the Kiwis. By the first leeward gate the America's Cup Defender extended their lead to 31 seconds.
The area that the US team looked weak though is during the manoeuvres - their bottom speed in both the tacks and gybes was significantly lower than the Kiwis. By the first leeward gate the America's Cup defender extended their lead to 31 seconds.
American Magic fell off the foils on the second upwind leg allowing the Kiwis to stretch their lead and win the race by a leg.
This is the last we'll see of Emirates Team New Zealand racing until the America's Cup Match itself, which starts on 12th October.
Round Robin Sail-Off - INEOS Britannia vs. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
After a nervous pre-start, INEOS Britannia came off the line slightly faster than Luna Rossa and managed to tack on top of the Italian team on the first tack.
Luna Rossa was forced to tack away early, while the British team chose to continue further right for more pressure and a right hand shift. On the next engagement INEOS Britannia again tacked on the Italians with a lead of 18 seconds at the first windward gate.
On the first downwind leg this lead extended to 29 seconds, with the Brits continuing to match the Italians move for move up on the second upwind leg, extending the lead to 33 seconds, but always aware that a single mistake in the light breeze could flip this race in an instant.
At the second leeward gate INEOS Britannia had again extended, leading by 49 seconds, and had just one lap left to win the Round Robin and choose their opponent in the semi-finals. They completed the final upwind leg successfully, but the lead was cut to 37 seconds, leaving just one leg for the British team to stay calm, stay foiling and win the Round Robins.
The British team kept it smooth to win the race. What a way to finish the Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin Series!