The America's Cup: Honours even at the Louis Vuitton Cup Final

With a solid south-westerly ‘Garbi’ breeze that topped the upper wind limit of 21 knots more than once, it was survival sailing at times with the sailors opting for double-board round-ups at the leeward gates and minimising manoeuvres throughout the eight-leg races. With speeds in excess of 52 knots on the bear-aways at the windward mark this was top-class match-racing from two of the world’s finest America’s Cup teams.

The opening race saw Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli come out fast and slugging, with the encounter effectively decided at the start when a match-hardened Jimmy Spithill powered the Italian AC75 back to the starting line, clear ahead and to windward of the British boat, forcing INEOS Britannia into an early tack away shortly after the start.

From there it was a case of the rich getting richer – primarily down to some fine execution and near-perfect tactical race-craft by Spithill and co-helm Francesco Bruni, who established a lead in excess of 30 seconds before keeping a loose cover on the British who simply could not find any opportunity to get back into the contest. A 46-second winning delta was the final reward for the Italian crew.

After a couple of delays as the upper wind limit of 21 knots was breached – the first time this has happened in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup this summer – racing in Race 2 got underway with Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher turning the tables on the Italians, starting fast and smart, leading back to the start line to leeward and ahead.

From there, after an initial tack on the left-hand boundary, a bow-to-bow drag race back across to the right boundary eventually saw INEOS Britannia establish a lead that they never looked like surrendering over the rest of the race.

Luna Rossa managed to kept it close but the British were able to sail their own race, picking windshifts supremely and showing some devastating deep downwind angles. The result was an 18-second victory to INEOS Britannia and a notable momentum shift for the British.

With the series tied after the opening day’s two-race action, the schedule sees the teams return to duty on Saturday September 28 when lighter conditions forecast. If today’s arm-wrestling at 50 knots was anything to go by, this Louis Vuitton Cup series is going to be a mighty battle fought all the way to the very end. INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli are locked in combat, with the first of them to score seven points progressing to take on the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, in October’s Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match.

Whoever does win the Louis Vuitton Cup will be match-fit, that’s a certainty. This series could go right to the wire and as fans flood into Barcelona to visit the free-to-enter Official Race Village and Fanzones at Plaça del Mar and Bogatell, this weekend’s four-race schedule will be unmissable.

Text and images courtesy of The America’s Cup. To read the full release, visit americascup.com.