INEOS Britannia, the British Challenger of Record racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd at the 37th America’s Cup, pulled off a brilliant comeback to end the first day of the Louis Vuitton Cup tied on points with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA).
Ben Ainslie’s British team is battling the Italians for a spot in the America’s Cup Match against the Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand. The Louis Vuitton Cup Final kicked off on Thursday with the AC75 race boats being pushed to their limits with windspeeds at the top end of the 21 knot limit. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli managed to take the win in the first race, before INEOS Britannia came back fighting in the second to secure equal points on the board.
INEOS Britannia Team Principal and Skipper Ben Ainslie said: “It was amazing racing out there but really tough in those conditions. It was a challenge for both teams and a fair result coming away with a win each. There’s a good mood in the camp, we know we are in a fight but that’s where we want to be. The team are doing a great job and as always it’s a whole team effort.”
The first race of the finals saw the biggest breeze of the regatta so far, over 20 knots from the south-west with a sea state to match. It was settled early, with Luna Rossa timing their final approach perfectly. INEOS Britannia set up to push the Italian boat, but both were late to the start line and that left Luna Rossa in a controlling position.
Ben Ainslie and his crew pushed hard all the way around, and gained, or matched the Italian boat on all but one of the downwind legs. Upwind it was a different story, as the Italian crew managed their tactics around the race course to leave their opponents with only bad options – extra manoeuvres or second-hand air. The gaps extended steadily upwind and eventually Italy took the point by 46 seconds.
After a long wait for the wind to drop below the threshold, the second race was almost identical to the first – but with key roles in the action reversed. Once again, Luna Rossa sailed deep into the start box and down the boundary before turning back to the line. This time, INEOS Britannia chose to go back in front of them and lead back to the start. Once again, both boats were a little late, but this time the British were set up to leeward at the left-hand end of the line with a tiny edge.
Ben Ainslie and his crew turned that small advantage in distance and speed at the start into a few metres by the time they reached the boundary. When both boats tacked INEOS Britannia was able to find a ‘lane’ – clear air to windward of Luna Rossa. Finally, when Luna Rossa tacked back, the British were able to slam their manoeuvre right in front of the Italian boat, forcing them to perform an extra tack to get out of Britannia’s dirty air. It was potentially game over, but there was still a long way to go in tough, nerve-jangling conditions.
The Italians had to do the extra tacks on that first leg, and INEOS Britannia rounded seven seconds in front. They increased that advantage with another show of downwind speed to 17 seconds at gate two. The gap see-sawed; down to seven seconds at gate three, but the British boat always had enough in the tank to take the pressure off downwind. Despite the tricky conditions, Britannia was sailing fast and clean, hitting speeds of 50 knots around the marks.
INEOS Britannia extended to each of the downwind gates and controlled the upwind legs to maintain their advantage at around 13 – 17 seconds, with the victory going to INEOS Britannia by 18 seconds at the finish. Two remarkably tight races, with remarkably even boats separated only by making the right choices in starting strategy.
Ainslie said: “We’re obviously frustrated with the first race, so it was important to come away with the win in the second. We managed to get the lead in that race and do a good job protecting. The Cyclors did an amazing job generating the power to get the boat round that course. We look forward to going again on Saturday”
The Louis Vuitton Cup Final resumes on Saturday, with two more races scheduled. UK viewers can keep up with all the action live on TNT Sports from 13:00 BST (14:00 CEST).
