INEOS Britannia, the British Challenger of Record racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd in the 37th America’s Cup, has ended day two of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final with two more wins against Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI).
The day began with a tense moment between the Brits and the Swiss in the pre-start, with Ben Ainslie’s crew having to take quick action to avoid a collision between the two AC75 race boats. The British team stayed calm and collected to execute a slam gybe away and then accelerate across the start line. INEOS Britannia finished that race with a 2300m lead and their second race against the Swiss with at 1000m lead. After winning four out of four races against Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the Brits now need to win one more race to secure their spot in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final.
INEOS Britannia Team Principal and Skipper Ben Ainslie said: “I thought at one point we might have been going on-board the Swiss boat, but thankfully we managed to keep the boats apart and the guys did a great job keeping the boat up on the foils. We managed to get ahead and sail a nice race, but it certainly gave us some action. We are really pleased with our performance but there’s still things we can improve on and we are working really hard to try and get one more win to make sure we are in that final.”
In that dramatic first race, INEOS Britannia was the port entry and after crossing the bow of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the British boat rolled into a tack to come back and engage. The Swiss matched the move with their own tack, but their execution wasn’t quite good enough and they dropped off the foils. The Alinghi crew accelerated in the solid breeze and were able to get foiling again, but Ainslie and his team had grabbed the opportunity. No sooner was the Swiss boat moving at speed than they found themselves in the cross hairs of INEOS Britannia, who were on the right-of-way starboard tack.
Everyone watching held their breath for a moment before both boats gybed away at the last moment to avoid what would have been a high-speed collision. Ainslie and his team managed a truly fantastic piece of boat-handling to keep the boat on the foils. They accelerated away – hitting the protest button. There was no penalty given, but the job was done. The Swiss boat almost capsized in their gybe, falling back off the foils. At the start gun, the Swiss were slow and 200m from the line. The gap was 1000m by the time they were fully up to speed, and from there the gap steadily increased to 2300m at the finish. The margin at the first gate was 1 min 19 seconds, and at the finish was 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
The conditions freshened for the final race of the day, and the Swiss and British boats were bow-to-bow off the line, but INEOS Britannia worked out enough of an advantage to be able to tack right in front of the Swiss boat as they were forced to turn at the boundary. The Swiss had no choice but to tack back, and with very little distance to the boundary, INEOS Britannia were able to force Alinghi Red Bull Racing into a punishing series of short, quick tacks on the left-hand side of the course.
The gap extended, and eventually, the Swiss had to accept the inevitable and sat in the second-hand airflow of the British boat across to the right-hand side. Ainslie and the crew had picked their lane perfectly and were able to round the left-hand mark without another manoeuvre, leaving the Swiss to do the extra tack and take the right-hand mark. The deficit was 15 seconds. The rest of the race saw an extension on every leg by the British boat, leading to a victory margin of 48 seconds, and a 4-0 advantage in the first to five points series.
INEOS Britannia Co-Helm Dylan Fletcher said: “It was a fantastic battle with Alinghi at the start and on that first leg but it was great to get ahead of them in that second race. The conditions were great out there and the team put on a really impressive performance. The first race was probably as close as you want to get these boats, it was certainly spicy but it all came out well. We’re happy to get two wins and feel like we are in a good place but our focus is very much still the Semi-Finals.”
In the other half of the draw, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli also went to 4-0, beating New York Yacht Club American Magic in both their races on Sunday. Although the Italians were pushed all the way in the second race, with the Americans just two seconds behind them at the finish.
The third day of the Semi-Finals takes place on Monday, with it all to race for as the first team to win five races in each pairing will progress to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final (26 Sept-7 October). Racing resumes from 13:00 BST (14:00 CEST) and UK viewers can watch live on TNT Sports.
