America's Cup: Barcelona thriller! "Britannia" and "Luna Rossa" bow to bow
Tatjana Pokorny
· 30.09.2024
This Monday was supposed to be a rest day in the final of the challenger round of the America's Cup. But nobody rested in Barcelona. The foresighted race director Iain Murray had scheduled races 5 and 6 at the start of the week. Knowing full well that strong winds were to be expected on the following day and that it could become calm again later in the week. Murray's decision turned out to be absolutely right.
A precisely placed match race move
Barcelona's America's Cup stage showed its sunny side on 30 September. The two duels between the Louis Vuitton Cup finalists Ineos Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli began in winds of between 16 and 19.20 knots. The typical south-westerly wind called "Garbi" remained just under the wind limit of 21 knots. With relatively flat water, everything was in place for another muscle show by the powerful Cup chasers from Great Britain and Italy.
With the score at 2:2 going into the day, experts and fans alike had expected the duels to be highly charged. The British were able to shine in the first race. A precisely placed match race move in the pre-start phase brought the preliminary decision even before the starting signal for race 5. In the last half minute before the start of the race, "Britannia" had set herself in front of the bow of her opponent "Luna Rossa". The down winds did the rest. The Italians fell off the foils.
Today, everything was won in the starts. Or lost." Dylan Fletcher
"Luna Rossa's" co-pilots Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni recovered quite quickly in the fresh winds. Nevertheless, "Britannia's" helmsmen Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher took the nicely acquired advantage into the race. It was thanks to their extremely concentrated defence that they were actually able to collect this winning point. The "Luna Rossa" crew fought hard, biting into the stern of "Britannia" and piling on the pressure.
"Britannia" slithers, but does not fall off the foils
The Azzurri's attacks and their lurking for an opportunity to overtake were almost rewarded in the end. Such an opportunity presented itself when Sir Ben Ainslie and his crew went round the starboard buoy at the leeward gate. The British rocket briefly lurched, briefly hit the water, but was able to stay on the foils. Nevertheless, the slip reduced the lead. "That cost us some distance," admitted co-pilot Dyland Fletcher.
And suddenly "Britannia" and "Luna Rossa" were once again engaged in a classic match race duel on the cross, in which the British were able to stay just ahead. After a close exchange of blows on the right-hand side of the course, Ben Ainslie and his co-pilot Dylan Fletcher were able to keep the "Luna Rossa" duo Spithill/Bruni at bay on the long starboard layline and round the final windward gate with an eight-second lead.
The eight sailors and cyclists on "Britannia" turned this into a twelve-second victory at the finish line. They would have loved to win race 6 in this final of the challenger round of the America's Cup. But the Italians did not play ball. They did not allow themselves to be thrown off their stride again in the pre-start phase. In the meantime, the wind had shifted further to the south-west. The race began with a short, controversial sprint to the left-hand side of the course. Seven quick lead changes showed how close the race was for a short time.
The second point goes to the Silver Arrow
The Italians then used their right of way advantage - and "Britannia" was now downwind - to extend their lead. They did not relinquish their lead until the finish. Whether they were a tad faster or - as Dylan Fletcher said - managed to "take a nice spin on the right-hand side": the second victory point of the day belonged to Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
The line was crossed by Jimmy Spithill, Francesco Bruni, Andrea Tesei, Umberto Molineris, Bruno Rosetti, Enrico Voltolini, Emanuele Liuzzi and Cesare Gabbia with a 17-second lead. "Britannia's" crew of Ben Ainslie, Dylan Fletcher, trimmers Bleddyn Mon and Leigh MacMillan as well as cyclists Ryan Todhunter, Harry Leask, Luke Parkinson and Neil Hunter were no longer able to jeopardise the Silver Flash. "Luna Rossa" roared to the finish at 51 knots.
The score is 3:3 in the clash of the giants among the challengers. Not even the crews were in any doubt on Monday in Barcelona that their series has every chance of going the distance. The winner needs seven victory points to punch their ticket to the 37th America's Cup match. This means a maximum of 13 races. "It was 50:50 today. The game is on and we are ready for a good fight," said Francesco Bruni - and smiled.
America's Cup coach Willcox on decisive moments
Does he think the final will go the full distance of 13 races or do he and his team know a shortcut? "I don't know, I'd need a crystal ball for that. I don't know a shortcut either. It's tough." Does Bruni agree with the assessment that the British have a downwind advantage and that "Luna Rossa" has an advantage on the cross? "Sometimes maybe, it depends on the conditions. Today it looked like that, but every day is different. Tomorrow could be different again," replied the 51-year-old from Palermo cautiously.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's coach Hamish Willcox explained that the consistent winds on the day also contributed to the fact that there were "hardly any overtaking lanes" for the teams behind. When asked about key moments in the race, Willcox said: "One was when I heard that we got within 1.5 metres of the course limit. That could have been a very decisive moment..."
"You saw today that one or two small mistakes can make all the difference." Dylan Fletcher
For the British rivals, Ben Ainslie's co-skipper Dylan Fletcher said: "You could clearly see today how important the pre-start phase is." At 36, Dylan Fletcher is by far the youngest of the four helmsmen of the two finalists in the Louis Vuitton Cup at his America's Cup debut. The 2021 Olympic 49er champion, whose co-skipper Stuart Bithell joins Erik Heil's Germany SailGP team, joined the British Cup team late.
Tension rises on course for the America's Cup
Dylan Fletcher has been fulfilling his role as co-pilot to sailing star Ben Ainslie very well so far. His view of the fourth race day was matter-of-fact: "We took the lead in the first race and were able to defend it well. In the second race, 'Luna Rossa' was able to defend well. It's really difficult to overtake in today's winds. Which only adds weight to the pre-start phase. That's nothing really new, it just shows how close these boats are to each other."
The quintessence of the latest findings on the course was summarised by British Olympic rowing champion Matt Gotrel, who is strengthening Britannia's cycling team and providing power on board Britannia: "We're now pretty happy with the boat's performance across all wind ranges. Now it's more about better realising your sailing skills." This is good news for the sport and the fans: the top teams and their second-generation AC75 foiling boats have moved very close together - and are thus creating growing excitement.
Click here for the results in the Louis Vuitton Cup final after six of a maximum of 13 duels between Ineos Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
