INEOS Britannia second in the Challengers Leaderboard after intense Day 3 at Louis Vuitton Cup
INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron in the 37th America’s Cup, sits second on the Challengers Leaderboard after the third day of the Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selection Series). It was a double race day for the Brits, with them first facing Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI) and then Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA). Ben Ainslie’s crew secured a win in the first race but was beaten by the Italians, who now sit at the top of the scoreboard.
In their first race against Alinghi, INEOS Britannia had a plan for the pre-start which they managed to execute. On the approach to the start line, the Brits pulled off a maneuver which left the Swiss in their dirty air, causing them to fall of their foils. This gave a huge advantage to INEOS Britannia, with them more than 1000m ahead by the time Alinghi got across the start line. In leg two, the Brits had a lead of 1400m, but it wasn’t all plain sailing, The light wind conditions made it extremely difficult to stay up on the foils, especially in maneuvers. As INEOS Britannia was on the sixth and final leg of the race, they fell victim to the light conditions and fell off their foils after a gybe – a heart-stopping moment with Alinghi remaining on the foil. Ben Ainslie’s crew put in all their effort to get their AC75, Britannia, back up and flying to secure the win by 1min25secs, and most importantly, take their second point.
INEOS Britannia Team Principal and Skipper Ben Ainslie said: “It’s a great example of why you can’t take any of these races for granted.
“We had a great lead there but it just went light for us on that gybe and we fell off the foils as the Swiss were coming for us. You’ve just got to stay calm in those situations and everyone on that boat did the best they could to get us back up on the foils and made that final gybe stick – it’s all part of the game.”
In the fifth and final race of the day, the Brits faced Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA), who played their 15-minute delay card in order to change a damaged jib. After a wind delay, the race got underway with both teams nailing the start and INEOS Britannia taking the lead at first. The leader then chopped and changed throughout the first leg until the Italians capitalised on a slow maneuver from INEOS Britannia to secure the lead. The Brits then faced another fall off the foils on the third leg, with them having to sail extra distance to get back up. This then left them 2mins25secs behind Luna Rossa. The crew worked hard to try and close the gap but eventually the Italians crossed the finish line 1mins24secs ahead of them, handing the Brits their first loss of the challenger series.
INEOS Britannia Trimmer Leigh McMillan said: “We had a really good start against Luna Rossa and we had the jump on the first split but they got a bit of extra breeze and then we had a tricky gybe and fell off the foils again, so we will be looking at that maneuver and working on that. Overall, I feel like we are making really good gains and there are lots of positives to take away and continue pushing.”
The first race of the day was NYYC American Magic v Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA), an extremely close race in which the Italians took the win. The second race, between Emirates Team New Zealand and the French Orient Express Racing Team, ended just as the Kiwis crossed the start line, as the French retired after an issue meant they did not enter the start box. The fourth race saw the French face the Americans, but it was another unfortunate outcome for Quentin Delapierre’s crew as the ended with a DNF (Did Not Finish), handing the win and point to American Magic.
The Round Robin stage of the Louis Vuitton Cup continues tomorrow, with INEOS Britannia set to race Orient Express Racing Team (FRA). UK viewers can catch all the races live on TNT Sports from 13:00 BST (14:00 BST).
