Deadlock continues in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final as INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli end another race day on equal points. It was exhilharating racing at the top end of conditions, with Ben Ainslie’s British crew reaching the fastest speed in America’s Cup history, hitting 55.6 knots.
The British Challenger of Record, racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron in the 37th America’s Cup, won the first race of the day on Tuesday after the Italian boat nosedived round a mark, sustaining damage and the team having to retire from the race. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli managed to repair the damage and come back to take the win in the second race after INEOS Britannia sustained a boundary penalty in the pre-start which put them on the back foot for the rest of the race.
INEOS Britannia Team Principal and Skipper Ben Ainslie said: “This was a big day for both teams, we were right at the top of the wind limit in those races. Luna Rossa unfortunately had an issue which put them out of the first race, but they did a good job to regroup and come back to win that second race. We had an issue in the pre-start of the second race which put us massively out of position and on the back foot. We pushed really hard and kept close to the Italians but we couldn’t get passed them. With both teams on four points each, we’ve just got to keep going and keep pushing hard. We’ve got two good teams going at it hammer and tongs and it was never going to be easy. We always expected it to be tough and it’s no surprise we are in this position, it could definitely go all the way.”
The pre-start duel in the first race followed a now familiar routine with Luna Rossa leading away from the line, and giving INEOS Britannia the choice of whether to turn back inside them, or go past. Once again, Ben Ainslie and his crew turned back inside, and set up to return to the line to leeward of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
Almost dead even off the line, it was a drag race to the boundary. The Italian boat tacked simultaneously with INEOS Britannia and as they set up on port tack, Luna Rossa started to squeeze out in front and the British eventually had to tack away. The Italian team let them split and sailed on for the boundary.
The two extra tacks had cost the British 80m by the time they had tacked back to port. All of those gains evaporated as the Italians tacked and closed for the next cross. The breeze was going left, handing the advantage back to INEOS Britannia who were able to tack in front of the Italians to take the left-hand mark. The Italians took the right hand mark, just one second behind and bore away.
It was then that the race took its dramatic turn, Luna Rossa buried the bow on the bear away and onboard microphones picked up a loud bang. The TV cameras showed the jib fairing washing away down the deck. Initially they stayed in race mode, forcing Ainslie and co. to continue sailing the course, but eventually retired, with INEOS Britannia getting the point and a 4-3 overall lead. The race was now on for the Italian team to repair whatever damage they had suffered.
Luna Rossa managed to do a repair job between the two races and get back in the game. The second race of the day started after a couple of attempts to get under the maximum wind limit. While it might have started under the wind limit, the breeze was well above the maximum 21 knots for most of the race, with a building seastate. It resulted in some of the fastest speeds we have seen so far, with INEOS Britannia hitting the America’s Cup speed record of 55.6 knots on the bear away from the final gate.
Unfortunately for Ben Ainslie and his British crew, the race had been settled in the pre-start, as their boat had skidded over the boundary while tacking back towards the start line. It cost them a penalty, forcing them to start 75m behind Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
The Italians snatched at the opportunity and covered INEOS Britannia tightly up the first leg. They built a safe lead of 12 seconds at the first gate, and then carefully protected the favoured side of the course. It enabled Luna Rossa to stay in front and take the win, despite an average speed that was 0.2 knots slower. The final margin was 16 seconds, and once again the series was even, this time at 4-4.
The Louis Vuitton Cup Final resumes on Wednesday from 13:00 BST (14:00 CEST). All the action will be live for UK viewers on TNT Sports.
