CHANGING FORTUNES ON DAY THREE OF LOUIS VUITTON PRELIMINARY REGATTA
Another glamour day in Barcelona with four tantalising match-ups on the penultimate day of action at the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta. No change at the top of the leaderboard overnight with Emirates Team New Zealand holding firm after a win against the Swiss whilst the charging Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli kept the pressure on and secured the second podium spot with a clean win against INEOS Britannia.
For the British and French teams though, there were plenty of positives to take away with both securing their first points of the regatta. INEOS Britannia enjoyed an impressive opening win against Alinghi Red Bull Racing where the potential of ‘Britannia’ was stunningly revealed. Looking fast both upwind and downwind, Sir Ben Ainslie’s team secured the lead in the closing stages of the first windward leg and romped home, never headed again, to a resounding 33 second victory.
Ainslie was pleased with that performance saying: “It was a much better day. I felt like we were finding our groove a bit with how we were sailing the boat. It’s very small differences as expected at this level, but, a good race against Alinghi Red Bull Racing but a shame against the race with Luna Rossa with the pre-start entry – it was a nice pre-start – other than that I think it would’ve been quite an interesting race without the penalty as there was a difference in sail plan decisions. So yes, a good day, a positive day, every day we’re out there we’re learning more about how to sail the boat and improving on that which is a good feeling.”
For Orient Express Racing Team, the French bounced back from their Foil Cant System issues of yesterday and looked super-positive on the water. Their win against NYYC American Magic was awarded soon after they started as NYYC American Magic were forced to retire with a rudder rake cylinder issue that brought ‘Patriot’ to a halt before they could start
