It’s a big day at the inaugural, historic, Puig Women’s America’s Cup. A day where the top three from each group – Invited Teams and America’s Cup Teams – will be decided and the Semi-Finalists selected from the finest female sailing athletes on the planet. The racing is going to be fast, furious and competitive with everyone wanting to make a name for themselves and feature on the radars of the senior teams of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup.
With everything to play for, we have a perfect Barcelona day in store with a predicted 12-18 knots of breeze which will see the fully-equalised AC40’s on the limit and hitting speeds well in excess of 40 knots. There will be thrills – and maybe even spills – across both fleets, but at the end of the day the podiums will be set and the pecking order established.
The schedule for the day is for Group B, the Invited Teams, to sail four races starting from 1100 CET and running through to approximately 1300 CET. Then there will be a short changeover as the America’s Cup teams jump in for their four fleet races starting from 14:10 CET.
For the Group B racing, Race Director Iain Murray, is expecting 10-16 knots from the west, the ‘Ponent’ wind that comes down the mountains and can produce shifty conditions. The swell will be building throughout the day with the expectation of 1.1 metre waves from the south-west by the afternoon – and that’s challenging. The afternoon racing for Group A is also expected to be pushing the upper wind range of 17 knots for the AC40s with the mean being between 12-18 knots, and possible gusts up to 20 knots.
A full-on day at the Puig Women’s America’s Cup. Strap in and enjoy the spectacle. This is going to be brilliant.
CHECK BACK HERE FROM 11:00 CET FOR LIVE COVERAGE FROM THE RACECOURSE OF THE PUIG WOMEN’S AMERICA’S CUP:
Race 5
With the wind testing the upper limit of 17 knots, Group B (Invited Teams) are cleared to race and at the start, in relatively flat water, NED receive a total of three get-back penalties whilst GER with a new helming duo get away cleanly and lead from SWE. CAN up in the hunt to leeward of GER on a long drag race from the left to the right boundary. SWE have gone far left and at the top gate, it’s SWE who tack in under the starboard tackers of GER and CAN to lead at the port marker.
At the first gybe on the right boundary (looking downwind) GER spin out and CAN fall into displacement, allowing AUS to come through into second as SWE streaks away in the lead. NED, after a terrible start, are up into third. At the leeward gate, SWE come in on the port layline and round up with a 24 second lead over AUS with NED rounding up on two boards 18 seconds further back.
SWE covering from up the course and going from the left to right boundary and at the final windward mark, round with their lead out to 29 seconds. NED score a penalty again but manage to stay ahead of ESP in third. Down the final run, SWE make no mistakes, win the race cleanly and move into the podium positions. AUS clean in second and NED sail fast to stay ahead of ESP and secure 5 points for third.
1. SWE
2. AUS
3. NED
4. ESP
5. GER
DNF CAN
