America's Cup: "Luna Rossa" gala after breakage - the Spithill match is underway

Just when you think it could be a purely sporting, highly exciting day of racing, the Louis Vuitton Cup has new twists and turns in store. This was also the case in races 7 and 8 on Tuesday in the America's Cup city of Barcelona.

High tension in the battle for the America's Cup ticket

The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team and Ineos Britannia gave the spectators - and themselves - more excitement than they could have wished for. The fact that there was still no preliminary decision at 4:4 in the evening in the struggle between the Cup heavyweights for just one ticket to the 37th America's Cup match only added to the ongoing high tension.

The third "player" on 1 October was once again Garbi: the typical Spanish summer wind is caused by the temperature difference between the sea and the land. It drives dry and warm air masses from the desert in south-east Spain and comes from the south-west. Garbi interfered powerfully in the action on Tuesday, bringing the teams pressure of up to 23 knots again and again during the races after just possible starts close to the Cup limit of 21 knots.

The Italians dived deep into the starting box in the first race of the day, closely followed by "Britannia". But then "Luna Rossa" executed a finely placed and very sharp turn. This surprised "Luna Rossa's" co-drivers Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni and gave them the windward position at the start line. This early advantage went to "Luna Rossa", who also won the bow-to-bow powerplay to the left-hand side of the course.

Suddenly the Silver Arrow went into a nosedive

With a deliberately tight turn directly to leeward of the "Britannia", the Azzurri forced their opponents to turn away immediately. Soon afterwards, the Italians reached the extreme right-hand limit on the Cup course. However, shortly before tacking, there were problems on board with the left foil arm, which initially could not be moved into the water. When this was finally achieved, "Luna Rossa" tacked and was suddenly confronted by the British again.

"Britannia" had caught up with the friendly support of a wind shifter on the left-hand side and now tacked onto the Italian layline on the course to the port mark of the windward gate - a smart move in a duel at eye level. "Luna Rossa" rounded the starboard mark at the windward gate and sped away at more than 50 knots. The British did the same on the other side in the split.

One would have loved to see how this arm wrestling would have continued on the downwind leg. But neither the sailors nor the spectators were granted any further insights into this race. Suddenly, the "Silver Arrow" crashed bow-first and plunged deep into Barcelona's waters. The wet shock was followed by the boat coming to a standstill. On-board cameras showed parts of the panelling flying across the deck. They had come loose due to the sheer speed of the dive into the water and were whirled across the deck by the mountains of spray.

"Luna Rossa" flash repair in 30 minutes

The Brits then completed two more laps solo before the Italians officially retired from the race. "We gave up after letting the Brits do a few more laps," Jimmy Spithill commented on the scenario in the evening. In the afternoon, all available helpers had flocked on board "Luna Rossa" after the crash and the retirement, descending on Italy's Cup pride like a busy swarm of bees.

The technicians and the support team set to work, coming on board with carbon fibre rollers to carry out the necessary repairs that were possible in the short time available before the next scheduled start. After half an hour of intensive work, the Italian "silver bullet" was not only ready to go again, but also ready to race. The crew was determined to turn the tide back in favour of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the second race of the day.

The Brits themselves made this possible with an annoying mistake in the pre-start phase. They came too close to the course limit, turned too late, skidded in the once again powerful winds and slipped over the imaginary line. As a result, they received a painful penalty, from which they were unable to recover despite putting up a great fight.

It was a bit of an unnecessary mistake." Luke Parkinson

The twelve-second gap at the first gate was reduced to seven seconds by the halfway point of the race. But in the end they were 16 seconds behind, as Italy's cyclists raised their clenched fists to the blue sky above Barcelona. "Britannia's" flight controller Luke Parkinson said in the evening in Barcelona: "We had a good wind. Of course there was another sporting pre-start between Jimmy and Ben. Everything was moving very quickly towards the course limit. We just lost the distance a little bit."

The fastest sailing race ever?

Luke Parkinson continued: "It's really frustrating to have a mistake like that at the start. But these things happen. But we fought pretty well after that." However, they did not manage to get past. "We know that our boat is really fast. The boats are pretty evenly matched. So it's more about the wind shifts, the small advantages on the course. We sailed the boat very well today in the second race, but the Italians also did a good job, blocking us the whole time," said Luke Parkinson.

It must have been one of the fastest sailing races ever." Luke Parkinson

Commenting on the strong wind conditions, Luke Parkinson said: "Those were pretty strong winds today. Maybe the strongest we've ever sailed in." Commenting on the damage to "Luna Rossa", Parkinson said: "We sail these boats at the limit. It's very easy to have a problem. It happened to them today. Hopefully it won't happen to us. It's part of the sport when you push design boundaries."

Team CEO, skipper and helmsman Ben Ainslie summarised the fifth day of racing as follows: "We are experiencing very close racing here. Both races today had their challenges. 'Luna Rossa' had a big challenge in the first race, then did a great job to regroup. In the second race, we had a few problems ourselves and started the race a little behind. We put up a good fight, but they were fantastic in defending their lead."

Tomorrow is a big day." Ben Ainslie

Ben Ainslie explained the avoidable pre-start mistake in the second race: "We had a plan of where we wanted to be. For various reasons that didn't work out. We had a problem with the control of the boat. That put us in a pretty scary position. But nobody is panicking because of that. We are regrouping and will continue to push hard. The longer this duel goes on, the more important the points become."

Who will be in the America's Cup match?

Ben Ainslie did not entirely agree with the argument that some of the British victories were Italian "gifts" as a result of technical problems. "This game is about reliability and performance. We had our own issues. We lost a race because the time limit kicked in. We were way out in front then. That's the way it is in sport. I think both teams are pretty equally strong."

Ben Ainslie also wants to see the close duel for the Louis Vuitton Cup and the ticket to the 37th America's Cup match as motivation: "I love a good fight. If you're in the sport and want to reach the highest level, you have to be ready for a good fight."

That's what "Luna Rossa" helmsman Jimmy Spithill also wanted in the evening: "Two clean races tomorrow, that would be nice. What I'm happy about: Every time we've had an issue, we've got stronger and stronger and stronger. At the top end you always have to deal with resistance. We know that: We can do this." With the momentum of victory on his side after the crash landing, Spithill made a deliberately self-confident appearance in the interviews after the race.

The repair solved Nascar-style

Commenting on the break situation, the 45-year-old said in his eighth America's Cup campaign: "We solved it Nascar-style today. You have to do what you can. Losing a cover in conditions like this is a significant thing." Spithill, who is steering for the Italian team for the third time, did not want to go into further details about other breakages on board, such as wind instruments that may have been torn off the bow, even after several enquiries.

The Cup star, who is well versed in all the tricks of the trade, was tempted to say, "Maybe it's a one-design problem". And to comment on what happened: "For some reason, we lost the lift. We just don't know why. It's too early to say for sure. It certainly cost us the lead at the time."

Jimmy Spithill clearly enjoyed putting the spotlight on his team's strengths after this race day: "I think the momentum is on our side after our victory in the second race. The answer to what happened in race one today? I have the feeling that it was our best response so far. We will take the momentum with us tomorrow." The man who was the youngest skipper in Cup history when he won his first America's Cup in 1999 at the age of just 20 also pointed to the strong Italian fan support in Barcelona.

Louis Vuitton Cup Final: Races 9 and 10 on Wednesday

Spithill did not do this without taking a swipe at his British rivals. The Australian is known for occasionally using his verbal armoury at major competitions and said: "We clearly have the biggest fan base here. There's nobody even close. I don't think I've seen a British flag since I've been here. That's one thing. And, man, we barely even get into our team camp every day because there are so many supporters."

Click here for the "Nosedive" by "Luna Rossa".

Louis Vuitton Cup, final, live broadcast of races 7 and 8 on 1 October: